An uneasy calm has returned to New Caledonia after the deployment of hundreds of French security forces to shut down violent protests on the Pacific island territory sparked by opposition to a controversial Constitutional reform. While the international airport remains closed to commercial traffic, Australia and New Zealand began evacuating nationals on government planes.
“A return to calm continues on the whole territory,” wrote the French state representative in New Caledonia, Louis Le Franc, in a statement published Tuesday, announcing the deployment of additional security forces.
