Each year, Pacific nations celebrate their independence. This year alone, Fiji marked 55 years of nationhood, Papua New Guinea celebrated its 50th anniversary, and Vanuatu commemorated 45 years since gaining independence. Yet within this same Blue Pacific family, there are Pacific peoples who have never known that freedom. In Kanaky New Caledonia, the indigenous Kanak people continue to live under French administration, still denied full control over their land and future.
Against this backdrop the Pacific Peoples’ Mission to Kanaky New Caledonia, led by the Pacific Network on Globalisation (PANG), the Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) and the Protestant Church of Kanaky New Caledonia (EPKNC), travelled in April 2025 to hear from communities after the May 2024 unrest. The delegation included Vanuatu development specialist Anna Naupa (Head of Mission), Tongan lawyer and former law society president Lopeti Senituli, Aotearoa New Zealand academic Dr David Small, Fijian gender and community advocate Emele Duituturaga-Jale, Kanak writer and activist Roselyne Makalu, and Lifou youth and church leader Punda Neudjen.
Findings from the ground
EXAMINING the path to decolonise, the mission’s report documents that “France is not a neutral party in the decolonisation process.” It records evidence of election delays, imprisonment of Kanak leaders, withdrawal of student support, and heavy policing of Kanak communities.
“The May 2024 uprising was led by those most impacted by France’s flawed decolonisation process,” the report states. “The unrest stemmed from deep-rooted socio-economic inequalities and a long history of eroded trust between France and the Kanak people.”
After the uprising, France imposed curfews and restricted media coverage. Communities described these as measures of control, not peacekeeping.
One leader told the team: “France is trying to manage our independence through its own timeline. That is not decolonisation; that is occupation under another name.”
Structural inequality
The mission found that many economic and social institutions are structured to benefit France and french settlers.
Land remains concentrated in state and private hands. Customary landowners control barely a quarter of the territory. Economic policy continues to favour the nickel industry and external investors.
“After more than a hundred years of mining our nickel resources, we still have potholes on our roads,” one landowner said.
“The most likely career for our youth is to work in the mines.”
The education system remains French-centred, with local languages and knowledge marginalised. A new ten-year residency rule for scholarships has excluded hundreds of Kanak students, making it harder for Kanaks to be in the seats of economic and policy decision making.
Public health is strained. About one-fifth of doctors left after the 2024 unrest, leaving northern and island hospitals, those mostly used by Kanaks, understaffed.
The justice system, the mission wrote, “operates with a double standard.” Kanak youth represent more than 80 percent of prisoners, with many detained during the crisis with little due process.
Community resilience
Despite repression, the mission found strong examples of self-organisation. Women and youth have led local recovery. La Natte Kanak uses weaving and cultural education to sustain livelihoods; Solidarité presqu’île de Ducos distributes food and coordinates relief.
“Families had nothing,” said organiser Yaelle Saihuliwa. “We could not wait for help that never came.”
“To protect our culture, we have to plant pandanus,” said Mami Danguinuy, founder of La Natte Kanak.
The mission described these as “expressions of sovereignty”, proof that Kanak communities are already practising self-determination at the local level.
Political implications
The mission warns that France’s control over elections and governance structures has turned the Nouméa Accord into a mechanism of dependency.
“There is a pattern of maintaining authority while claiming progress,” the report noted.
“France continues to delay the inevitable question of independence.”
The delegation calls for the creation of new institutional arrangements to replace the Accord and for Pacific regional oversight to guarantee fairness.
Regional solidarity
The mission urges Pacific leaders to take an active role through the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). These bodies, it says, must “accompany Kanaky’s decolonisation process, ensure human-rights monitoring, and revitalise solidarity networks linking Pacific peoples.”
“We reaffirm the solidarity and ongoing support of Pacific peoples for the right to self-determination of the Kanak people,” the delegation wrote.
It also calls for the immediate release of FLNKS President Christian Tein and other detainees, free provincial elections under neutral observation, and international recognition that France has breached its obligations as an administering power.
A call to the region
For PANG, the report represents more than an account of one country’s unrest. It is a test of regional principle.
The Pacific cannot champion self-determination abroad while ignoring colonial realities at home.
“The world is already in the fourth international decade of decolonisation,” the report reminds. “Self-determination is an inalienable right of colonised peoples.”
The mission frames Kanaky’s struggle as a Pacific responsibility. It warns that regional silence would entrench colonial control and undermine the Blue Pacific’s shared commitment to justice and sovereignty.
The report’s final words place that duty squarely with Pacific leaders: “The immediate demand is for tangible actions that pave the way for sovereignty and independence for Kanaky.Solidarity must move beyond statements to collective political action.”
The question now is: will the region answer the call?
PACIFIC NETWORK ON GLOBALISATION (PANG) is a regional watchdog set up to ensure Pacific peoples’ right to be self-determining. PANG mobilises movements and advocates based on substantive research and analysis to promote a Pacific peoples’ development agenda.
Meeting with the Senate Inaatr ne Kanaky, and the EPKNC church leaders. Picture: SUPPLIED
Meeting with the pro-independence movement, PAIKA. Picture: SUPPLIED
The cover of the Pacific Peoples’ Mission to Kanaky New Caledonia. Picture: SUPPLIED
