Electoral reform in France reignites old conflicts in New Caledonia

Swiss linguist Jean Rohleder had to interrupt his work in New Caledonia owing to violent rioting. He explains what's really behind the protests. Jean Rohleder, a Swiss linguist at the University of Bern, was already on his way to New Caledonia, a French territory comprising dozens of islands in the South Pacific, when protests broke out. He intended on returning to where he had spent nearly a year studying the indigenous language of an ethnic group, but because the airport in the capital Nouméa was closed, he travelled to the Australian capital of Canberra instead. There, he was able to find short-term accommodation at a university. What is happening on this tropical island east of Australia, to which French President Emmanuel Macron had to rush in May? Macron travelled 16,000km to spend 24 hours there, a trip triggered by violent protests breaking out around the capital. Jean Rohleder Jean Rohleder is working as a post-doctoral researcher at LACITO, a research institute of the ...