(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 19.​ The Baku Initiative Group (BIG), in collaboration with its international research partners, has published a study titled“New Caledonia: Colonial Legacy, the Struggle for Self-Determination, and the Crisis of 2024,” Trend reports.

The research explores the roots and consequences of the May unrest in New Caledonia, shedding light on the repression faced by the Kanak people, the chronology of events, the scale of violence and destruction, and the response of France, the United Nations (UN), and regional powers.

Conducted from March through June 2025, the study highlights the colonial roots of the Kanak people's resistance and critically assesses the systemic denial of fundamental rights to colonized populations. It argues that France's attempt to maintain control over the territory through force and administrative means-disregarding the Kanak people's right to self-determination-has only deepened the conflict.

The study presents several key conclusions that highlight both the local dynamics of New Caledonia and its broader political implications. The crisis of 2024 demonstrated that France's efforts to retain control over the territory through coercive and administrative means-while disregarding the indigenous Kanak people's right to self-determination-have only deepened tensions.

"The French response in the form of repression, emergency rule, and arrests shows an unwillingness to engage in dialogue and reveals that colonial reflexes remain strong," the study notes. It concludes that the question of New Caledonia's status is not solely France's internal affair and that lasting peace is only possible through a just resolution based on international law.

The agreement signed on July 12 between France and New Caledonia, the report asserts, confirms the forecasted outcomes of the research: the Kanak people must be the ones to determine the island's future, and New Caledonia should advance toward full independence in a phased manner.

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