E.Macron: “New Caledonia is French because it chose to remain so.”

Reality:

The claim that New Caledonia “chose” to remain French is a blatant falsification, a distortion of reality imposed by a colonial France that maintains its hold through scandalous demographic and political manipulation. The three self-determination referendums (2018, 2020, 2021) recorded results of 56.7% (2018), 53.3% (2020), and 96.5% (2021) in favor of staying part of France, but these figures are misleading. For decades, France has orchestrated mass settler colonization. Between 1969 and 1989, the non-Kanak population rose from 60% to 70% of the total, relegating Kanaks to less than 43% of the population by 2019. This demographic engineering deliberately drowned out the indigenous voice, skewing the outcomes of the first two referendums. The third referendum in 2021 was a mockery. Boycotted by independence supporters (with only 43.9% participation, compared to 85.7% in 2018), it was imposed by France despite Kanak protests, in the midst of a health crisis, to crush any genuine aspiration for self-determination. To present these referendums as a “free choice” is a colonial maneuver to legitimize the oppression of a people dispossessed of their own land.

Source : 

https://www.euronews.com/2023/07/26/emmanuel-macron-insists-new-caledonia-belongs-to-france-out-of-choice

https://www.isee.nc/population/recensement/communautes

https://journals.openedition.org/bagf/11108

https://www.jean-jaures.org/publication/le-referendum-dautodetermination-de-decembre-2021-en-nouvelle-caledonie-analyse-des-dynamiques-electorales/