May 27, 2024
Kanak independence dream keeps burning
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An authority on New Caledonia says France needs to realise the Kanak people will never give up the fight for independence.
Canterbury University senior lecturer David Small was married to the late Susanna, a Kanak independence activist and feminist, and has made multiple visits to the territory since the 1980s.
He says the current spontaneous uprising happened because French President Emmanuel Macron undermined Kanak leadership by taking independence off the table.
“They do actually have to recognise, whether they like it or not, that the place is ungovernable and they will not get peace and stability as long as they expect Kanak people to go “ok, we cannot get independence so we will give up that struggle now.’ That is simply not going to happen,” Dr Small says
A problem for France is not the Kanaks at their barricades but the settlers and their heavily-armed militias who have undermined attempts at independence.