SYDNEY, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The French overseas territory of New Caledonia has announced a curfew from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time following overnight riots over proposed constitutional reform, Australian media reported on Tuesday.
Protests and violence broke out ahead of a vote in the French National Assembly on changes to the New Caledonian constitution, according to the Australian ABC News broadcaster.
New Caledonia's main airport, La Tontouta International Airport, has been closed, the ABC News report said.
The French High Commission in New Caledonia said in a statement overnight on Monday that there had been further significant and ongoing disturbances in the capital, Noumea and surrounding townships.
The rioters damaged shops, pharmacies, car dealerships and video surveillance cameras, Australia's 9News network quoted the statement as reporting.
Many injuries have been reported among the police, though no serious injuries among the general public, with an initial total of 36 arrests, according to the statement.
Under the Noumea Accord signed in 1998, the French overseas territory was granted the right to three referendums on its future political status.
All of the three referendums, held in 2018, 2020 and 2021, rejected independence.
The pro-independence Indigenous Kanaks rejected the result of the last referendum, held in December 2021, which they had boycotted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ABC News reported.
The latest voting reform, which triggered Monday's violence, proposes the residency requirement to qualify for New Caledonian citizenship to be reduced to 10 years.
The reform means about 14.5 percent more voters would be added to electoral role and separatists fear that expanding voter lists would benefit pro-France politicians, according to the ABC News. ■