New Caledonia reopening its international airport and shortening curfew as unrest continues to ebb

PARIS (AP) — The French Pacific territory of New Caledonia is shortening its overnight curfew and reopening its international airport that was closed to commercial flights for more than a month because of deadly violence that wracked the archipelago where pro-independence Indigenous Kanaks want to break from France.

La Tontouta airport that links New Caledonia’s capital, Nouméa, to Sydney, Tokyo, Singapore and other Pacific hubs will reopen Monday, the territory’s high commissioner announced in a statement Sunday.

The overnight curfew is also being shortened by two hours, its start pushed back from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., because of “the improvement in the situation and in order to facilitate the gradual return to normal life,” the high commissioner said.

Violence that flared on May 13 over controversial voting reforms led to nine deaths, including two gendarmes, and widespread destruction of shops, businesses and homes. Tourists trapped by the airport’s closure were evacuated on military flights.

With France now plunged into frenzied campaigning for snap parliamentary elections, French President Emmanuel Macron has suspended the reforms that would have altered voting rights in New Caledonia. The revolt prompted France on May 15 to impose a state of emergency on the archipelago and rush in reinforcements for police who were overwhelmed by armed clashes, looting and arson.

Both sides of New Caledonia’s bitter divide — Indigenous Kanaks who want independence and those loyal to France — erected barricades, either to revolt against authorities or to protect homes and properties. Pro-independence protesters erected barricades of charred vehicles and other debris, turning parts of Nouméa into no-go zones.