Electoral reform is the latest flashpoint in a decades-long tussle over France’s role in the mineral-rich island, which lies in the southwest Pacific, some 1,500 km (930 miles) east of Australia.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters called for all sides to de-escalate a situation that was “of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region”.

Vanuatu’s prime minister, Charlot Salwai, chairman of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, which also includes Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, said the indiscriminate destruction of property would affect New Caledonia’s economy in a big way and have a cascading effect on the lives of all New Caledonians, including Kanaks.

France should establish dialogue with FLNKS, which has condemned the violence, and annul the constitutional reform that sparked the crisis, he said.

“These events could have been avoided if the French government had listened,” he added.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong in parliament called for calm and said Australia supported discussions between all parties.

More than 200 people have been arrested, and 64 gendarmes and police injured, while road barricades put up by the protesters were causing a “dire situation” for medicine and food for the population, Le Franc said in a televised news conference.

Main and secondary roads in Noumea were blocked by barricades with burning cars and car carcasses, some with booby traps, he said.

“I am calling on those at the head of the CCAT to stop these actions, which are murderous, deadly actions that can leave families in mourning,” he said of the traps.

There were also confrontations overnight between CCAT members and self-defence groups who are also in breach of the curfew and a weapons ban, he said.

Noumea resident Yoan Fleurot told Reuters in a video interview that he has seen looting and destruction of property. Some storeowners willingly let their shelves be raided, pleading that their shops not be destroyed, he said.

Fleurot said he is armed with a firearm and has video surveillance installed around his house, adding he has only ventured out in daylight to check on his parents or his properties.

“Caledonia will have a hard time recovering from this crisis... Everything, 80%, is destroyed,” he added.