French President Macron to visit riot-hit New Caledonia: spokesperson

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A road is barricaded by demonstrators as they protest against plans to allow more people to take part in local elections in the French-ruled territory, which indigenous Kanak protesters reject, in Noumea, New Caledonia, May 15, 2024. /Reuters

French President Emmanuel Macron will leave Paris for riot-hit Pacific territory New Caledonia "this evening," a government spokesperson said Tuesday.

Macron "will leave as soon as this evening," Prisca Thevenot said, after more than a week of unrest over his government's voting reform plans rejected by indigenous Kanaks.

So far, six people have been killed and hundreds more injured in riots that began earlier in May after the French parliament passed laws that granted French residents who have lived in New Caledonia for 10 years or more the right to vote in local elections.

On May 15, Macron declared a state of emergency in New Caledonia, a French territory comprising dozens of islands in the South Pacific.

(With input from agencies)