Kanaks, Wallisians Continue to Fight

Nearly two years after trouble first broke out, fighting continues between Kanaks and Wallis and Futunians in the village of St Louis near Noumea. So far the death tally stands at three with victims on both sides. Several people have been wounded, some seriously, including a police officer shot by a Kanak sniper.

The story goes back about 40 years ago when Wallis and Futunians began arriving in the village to settle around the Catholic mission.

By 2000, there were around 140 families. As their numbers increased, so did tension with their Kanak neighbours although not all Kanak families living in St Louis are hostile towards them.

In December 2001, things came to a head when the two sides set upon each other with their hunting rifles.

A year later, an agreement was finally reached when local authorities gave in to Kanak demands for the Wallis and Futunians to move out of the village and the Wallisians accepted the resettlement plan.

The families were to be resettled during the course of 2003 and things quietened down.

Then in June, without warning, hostilities resumed. For many Wallis and Futunian women this was the last straw. They moved out with their children and took refuge for several weeks in a council gymnasium before lodgings were found.

Although police have intervened when the fighting gets bad, the Wallisians have complained that they've been largely left to fend for themselves. No measures have been taken to disarm either side. The Wallisians also complained about the detention of Laurent Vili, a Wallisian man, for the alleged murder of a Kanak man early in the conflict while Kanaks suspected of similar crimes were allowed to go free.

Vili was held in a Noumea prison for over eight months before being transferred to a prison in France for health reasons.

Surprisingly, the St Louis problem was not on the agenda when French president Jacques Chirac visited in July. The problem is an embarrassment. It directly undermines the principle of a common shared destiny underlined in the Noumea Accord.

There are currently around 30 Wallis and Futunian families still living in St Louis. The police, with a dozen vehicles including two armoured vehicles, are still camped outside the village.

Some people cite socio-economic problems as the reason behind the conflict. More sinister rumours suggest there is a deliberate move to destabilise the community and the strife is the result of political manipulation.

St Louis has long been a hot spot in New Caledonia and was notorious during the civil strife of the 1980s. The question many are asking is whether the departure of the families from Wallis and Futuna will really solve St Louis' problems.