PARIS –
French President Emmanuel Macron said during a visit to New Caledonia on Thursday that inequality had increased in the French-ruled Pacific archipelago and was a driving force behind the deadly civil unrest that broke out last week.
According to census data and experts from New Caledonia, the island region is characterized by large disparities in education and employment, despite equal opportunities policies that were part of previous political agreements in the 1980s and 1990s.
According to the 2019 census, the poverty rate among indigenous Kanaks, the largest community, is 32.5%, compared to 9% among non-Kanaks.
