France declared a state of emergency and banned the TikTok short-video app on the Pacific island of New Caledonia on Wednesday after three young indigenous Kanak and a police official were killed in riots over electoral reform.
The state of emergency, which entered into force at 5am local time,, gives authorities additional powers to ban gatherings and forbid people from moving around the French-ruled island.
Police reinforcements adding 500 officers to the 1,800 usually present on the island, have been sent after rioters torched vehicles and businesses and looted stores. Schools have been shut and there is already a curfew in the capital.
Rioting broke out over a new bill, adopted by lawmakers in Paris on Tuesday, that will let French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years vote in provincial elections – a move some local leaders fear will dilute the Kanak vote.
“No violence will be tolerated,” said Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, adding that the state of emergency “will allow us to roll out massive means to restore order”.
He later signed a decree declaring a state of emergency that will last for 12 days and announced that French soldiers would be used to secure New Caledonia’s main port and airport.
Authorities also decided to ban TikTok, which the government during a bout of riots on France’s mainland last summer said helped rioters organise and amplified the chaos, attracting troublemakers to the streets. TikTok could not immediately be reached for comment.
A spokesperson for New Caledonia’s President Louis Mapou said three young indigenous Kanak had died in the riots. The French government later said a 24-year-old police official had died from a gunshot wound.
“He took off his helmet [to speak to residents] and he was shot right in the head,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
Noumea resident Yoan Fleurot said in a Zoom interview that he was staying at home out of respect for the nightly curfew and was very scared for his family. “I don’t see how my country can recover after this”, Fleurot said, adding he carries a gun during the day when he goes out to film the rioters he called ‘terrorists’.
The Police were outnumbered by protesters, locals said.
Culled from SCMP