Pacific leaders pressed to act on Kanaky decolonisation, West Papua rights Article by New Zealand media

Pacific Islands Forum leaders are under pressure to do more for Kanak people and West Papua, with advocates demanding stronger action on decolonisation, human rights and self-determination, Caliber.Az reports, citing Te Ao Māori News.

Kanak communities are still living with the trauma of the deadly unrest that swept Kanaky in 2024, while West Papuan communities face reports of escalating military violence and displacement.

At a caucus on the margins of the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting, which concludes today in Palau, the Melanesian Spearhead Group pressed for accelerated decolonisation in Kanaky and renewed regional and United Nations human rights missions to West Papua.

Vanuatu’s Climate Change Minister Ralph Regenvanu, who led the country’s delegation, said Kanaky and West Papua were among its key priorities. He said Vanuatu wanted West Papua returned to the Forum agenda and would seek strong regional support for Kanaky’s decolonisation.

The move brought both issues into a Forum agenda dominated by fuel costs, climate risks, regional security and geopolitical tensions.

Kanaky, New Caledonia, remains on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories under French administration.

The unrest that began in May 2024 left 14 people dead, hundreds injured and communities facing lasting trauma and economic hardship, according to a statement from Pacific civil society groups.

The MSG has now approved a roadmap supporting the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, known as the FLNKS.

After being briefed by FLNKS president Christian Tein, leaders called for a new decolonisation process that is “Kanaky in design and Melanesian in spirit”.

They also supported a renewed Pacific Islands Forum Troika mission to Kanaky to help prevent further violence.

Pacific civil society groups said the human cost of the unrest had been overshadowed by discussion of economic losses and reconstruction.

They called for greater regional monitoring of humanitarian and detention conditions, the return of Kanak people transferred to prisons in metropolitan France and an official United Nations visiting mission.

By Vafa Guliyeva