Serious unrest

Austrian women are stranded in New Caledonia

Anger at France is high in New Caledonia.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Delphine Mayeur)

Unrest is currently gripping the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. The first plane to evacuate tourists has now landed in the capital Nouméa. As the Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday evening, two Austrians are also currently on the archipelago.

A Hercules transport plane of the Australian army was waiting at the domestic airport Magenta on Tuesday, as correspondents of the news agency AFP reported. Two flights were initially planned, wrote Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in online networks.

According to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday evening, the two Austrians are safe and well. Everything is being done to provide them with the best possible support and to enable them to return quickly and safely, a spokeswoman explained.

Helpers are preparing to evacuate the tourists.

(Bild: APA/AFP/Australian Department of Defence/Handout)

New Zealand also sent a military aircraft to New Caledonia to fly out 50 tourists as a first step. "In cooperation with France and Australia, we are working on further flights in the coming days," explained New Zealand's Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

Six dead and hundreds injured
The unrest in the overseas territory, in which six people have already been killed and hundreds more injured, has been going on for over a week. The riots were triggered by a change in electoral law promoted by the French government, which, according to independence supporters, would reduce the influence of the original population.

France deployed hundreds of security forces to New Caledonia to bring the situation under control. According to the authorities, 270 people have been arrested so far.

The road to La Tontouta International Airport near the capital Nouméa has been blocked for days by pro-independence protesters. Dozens of roadblocks that were cleared by security forces on Sunday were later largely rebuilt.

Flights to and from New Caledonia have been suspended since Tuesday. La Tontouta Airport is to remain closed to commercial air traffic until at least Thursday morning, the operator announced.

The representative of the French government in New Caledonia, Louis Le Franc, stated on Tuesday morning that the gradual "return to calm" was continuing. At the same time, he announced that additional forces would be deployed in the coming hours to contain the ongoing violence.