More than 96 percent of voters on the Pacific territory of New Caledonia rejected independence from France in a third referendum on Sunday, final results showed.
“Tonight France is more beautiful because New Caledonia has decided to stay part of it,” said the French president Emmanuel Macron after the final results announcement.
The archipelago of about 185,000 voters, near Australia, was granted three independence referendums under a 1988 deal aimed at easing tensions on the islands.
Having rejected a breakaway from France in 2018 and then again last year, the inhabitants were asked one last time: “Do you want New Caledonia to accede to become independent?”
With all ballots counted, 96.49% were against independence, while only 3.51% were in favour. But with turnout a mere 43.90%.
Turnout was particularly low in Kanak-majority areas, according to AFP.
The result could exacerbate ethnic tensions, with the poorer indigenous Kanak community generally favouring independence over the wealthier white community.
Pro-independence campaigners boycotted the vote, saying they wanted it postponed to September because “a fair campaign” was impossible with high coronavirus infection numbers.
The main indigenous pro-independence movement, the FLNKS, had called the government’s insistence on going ahead with the referendum “a declaration of war”.
France has 13 overseas territories, home to 2.7 million people, which are generally poorer and have higher unemployment than the mainland, leading to long-standing accusations of neglect.
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