A fern from a Pacific island carries 50 times as much DNA as humans do.

New Caledonia needs a new referendum on independence, not more politics from Paris

• How New Caledonia caught fire – podcast

The unrest that has gripped Kanaky-New Caledonia is the direct result of Emmanuel Macron’s partisan and stubborn political manoeuvring to derail the process towards self-determination in my homeland.

The deadly riots that erupted two weeks ago in the capital, Noumea, were sparked by an electoral reform bill voted through in the French National Assembly, in Paris.

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© Photograph: Theo Rouby/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Theo Rouby/AFP/Getty Images

Electoral reform was the spark for unrest, but Indigenous protesters say they are fighting to correct years of widening inequality

“I don’t know why our fate is being discussed by people who don’t even live here.”

The 52-year-old Indigenous Kanak – who gave his name as Mike – spoke from a roadblock just north of New Caledonia’s capital, in the hours before France’s president arrived in the Pacific territory that has been paralysed by violent protests.

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© Photograph: Delphine Mayeur/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Delphine Mayeur/AFP/Getty Images

Visit by president intended to quell serious unrest over plans in Paris to expand voting eligibility to include more French nationals

• Explainer: Why is there unrest in New Caledonia?

French security forces will remain in New Caledonia as long as necessary, Emmanuel Macron has said, after France’s president arrived in the Pacific territory in an urgent attempt to calm tensions after more than a week of riots that have left six dead.

Macron was due on Thursday to hold a day of talks aiming to turn the page on deadly riots, sparked by anger among Indigenous Kanak people over constitutional changes backed by Paris that would give voting rights to tens of thousands of non-Indigenous residents. Local leaders fear the change will dilute the Kanak vote and undermine longstanding efforts to secure independence.

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© Photograph: Ludovic Marin/EPA

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© Photograph: Ludovic Marin/EPA

Xavier Decramer and his family made a home in Nouméa but the eruption of violence has prompted them to leave ‘with a heavy heart’

New Caledonia was only ever supposed to be a stopover, a pause on a family sailing trip around the world. “But we discovered,” a French national, Xavier Decramer, says from his boat in the Nouméa marina, “a very nice place to stay and to live. The infrastructure was amazing as far as the roads, the libraries, the schools … and also a very peaceful place.

“It’s small, people are kind to each other … say hi to everyone … It was a very courteous place, and, and we really enjoyed that.”

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© Photograph: Xavier Decramer and Maeva Zebrowski

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© Photograph: Xavier Decramer and Maeva Zebrowski

French president to travel to territory after state of emergency declared by Paris last week; Australia sends government planes for citizens

Karl Nehammer, the Austrian chancellor, hosted the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak.

“The leaders committed to implementing stronger frameworks to deal with migration, and that new innovative solutions are crucial to this end,” Nehammer said.

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© Photograph: Theo Rouby/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Theo Rouby/AFP/Getty Images

French leader to leave for archipelago on Tuesday night with intention of restoring ‘calm and order’

• People in New Caledonia: how have you been affected by the riots?
• Why is there unrest in New Caledonia? Everything you need to know

The French president will travel to the Pacific island of New Caledonia on Tuesday, just over a week after riots erupted in the French overseas territory leaving six dead and hundreds injured.

The unrest over plans for an electoral overhaul has resulted in dozens of shops and businesses being looted and burned, with cars torched and road barricades set up. A state of emergency and curfew remain in place, with army reinforcements.

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© Photograph: Agnes Coudurier/AFP TV/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Agnes Coudurier/AFP TV/AFP/Getty Images

The French Pacific territory has been gripped by violence and riots, with at least six people left dead in unrest sparked by new voting rules

• Australia and New Zealand sending evacuation flights for stranded tourists
• Call out: how have you been affected by the unrest?

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© Photograph: Nicolas Job/AP

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© Photograph: Nicolas Job/AP

French forces launch operation on Sunday to regain access to parts of Nouméa and allow airport to reopen

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has called a meeting of his defence and security council to discuss the deadly unrest in the Pacific territory of New Caledonia.

It is the third such meeting in less than week, the previous two having resulted in the decision to declare a state of emergency in the French territory and then to send reinforcements to help government forces on the ground restore order.

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© Photograph: Delphine Mayeur/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Delphine Mayeur/AFP/Getty Images

Operation will aim to retake road linking airport with Noumea, as the capital’s mayor says the situation is ‘not improving’

French forces have launched a “major operation” to regain control of a road linking New Caledonia’s capital Noumea to the main international airport, as another person was killed in a sixth night of violent unrest.

Officials said more than 600 heavily armed gendarmes were dispatched to secure Route Territoriale 1, the main road connecting the capital with the airport. Flights to and from New Caledonia’s main island have been cancelled since the unrest began, stranding travellers and cutting off trade routes.

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© Photograph: Delphine Mayeur/AFP/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Delphine Mayeur/AFP/Getty Images

The frustration that erupted into deadly violence in the French territory last week has been building for years

In the middle of the main road in Rivière-Salée, north of Nouméa, sits a burnt-out car. After days of rioting, young men with masked faces wave a Kanak flag as vehicles pass. All around is desolation. Shops with gutted fronts, burnt buildings, debris on the pavements and roads. Gangs of young people roam the area.

The violence that erupted last week is the worst in New Caledonia since unrest involving independence activists gripped the French Pacific territory in the 1980s.

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© Photograph: Chabaud Gill/ABACA/REX/Shutterstock

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© Photograph: Chabaud Gill/ABACA/REX/Shutterstock