As the 55th Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting (55PILFM) convenes in Koror (Palau) from 30 August to 4 September 2026 under the theme “Building Economies. Life. Action. Unity”, the French State is deploying a diplomatic display operation whose true nature is incompatible with its obligations under international law.

While Paris seeks to impose the fiction of a completed decolonisation process to legitimise its “Indo-Pacific” agenda, the situation on the ground reveals an administering Power in clear and manifest breach of international law. A solemn appeal is addressed to Pacific Leaders: The Blue Pacific family must not allow itself to be misled by a facade narrative that conceals documented violations of decolonisation commitments and of the fundamental rights of the Kanak indigenous people.

1. The Pacific Peoples’ Mission: regional solidarity listening to the ground realities

Following the violent upheaval of May 2024, regional civil society deployed the Pacific Peoples’ Mission to Kanaky New Caledonia. Guided by Oceanian values of solidarity and pastoral care, this mission walked alongside local communities, custom leaders, and women and youth networks to document human suffering and bring the direct voice of the Kanak people to the region.

From the Treaty of Rarotonga (1985) to the Biketawa and Boe Declarations (2018), our regional framework has always affirmed that true security is impossible without human dignity, indigenous rights, and self-determination. The findings of the Pacific Peoples’ Mission serve as a moral compass for the region under the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent.

Conducted directly within local communities (tribus), customary areas, and urban centres, the Pacific Peoples’ Mission deployed an Oceanian methodology grounded in Talanoa, pastoral presence, and active listening. Through direct encounters with customary authorities, women’s collectives, youth groups, and families of detainees, the delegation documented first-hand accounts of deep-seated trauma, law-enforcement abuses, and socio-economic distress. This grassroots approach provided an unvarnished human baseline that no top-down administrative reporting can capture.

This human-centred approach demonstrates why regional civil society is a trusted, essential partner on the ground. It provides the concrete reality behind the principle reaffirmed by the Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting (FFMM) on 07 August 2026 in Suva, which declared that the regional agenda must be “conceived by the Pacific, shaped by the Pacific and owned by the Pacific”.

2. Ground reality and critical breaking points right now

When the official Pacific Island Forum (PIF) Troika conducted its high-level visit to Kanaky in October 2024, the region hoped for decisive intervention. However, no formal report resulted from that visit. This diplomatic silence created a dangerous vacuum that the administering Power has actively exploited to impose security coercion and administrative control. Today, as Leaders deliberate in Koror, three critical developments demand immediate regional action:

• Human toll over material damage: While Paris focuses its narrative on financial balance sheets to justify tutelage and impute blame, civil society reminds the region that the true toll lies in 14 lost lives, hundreds injured, thousands of displaced workers, and lasting community trauma. Concerns over disproportionate force and human rights violations have been formally corroborated by the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) Opinion A-2026-1 and United Nations (UN) Committee against Torture findings (CAT/C/FRA/CO/8).
• Mass deportation and youth exile: While the 5 June 2026 judicial dismissal (non-lieu) granted to Christian Tein and CCAT leaders formally acknowledged the political nature of Kanak resistance, we denounce the ongoing, arbitrary transfer of numerous young Kanak individuals and remand prisoners without party affiliation. Taking advantage of overcrowding at Camp-Est, the State orchestrated these forced removals to metropolitan France without prior notification to families or legal counsel, breaching Article 9 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
• The colonial debt trap negotiated in Paris: As a local multipartisan delegation currently travels to Paris to address public finances, we warn against substituting heavy, long-term loans for the national solidarity and reparations owed by the administering Power for a crisis it unilaterally manufactured. Over-indebtedness must not become a colonial tool to crush local autonomy or burden future generations of Oceanian youth.

3. A shared pathway for regional leadership in Koror

Sustained by the testimonies gathered during the Pacific Peoples’ Mission and in harmony with regional political efforts, including the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Leaders Caucus’ decision of 31 August 2026 in Koror advocating for a decolonisation framework “of Kanak design and Melanesian spirit,” Pacific civil society respectfully outlines key priority areas for Forum consideration.

First, regional legitimacy remains the Pacific’s most meaningful diplomatic asset. Leaders have a vital opportunity to align France’s status as a PIF Dialogue Partner with verifiable commitments towards a clear self-determination process, in full compliance with UN General Assembly Resolution 1541(XV) and international law.

Second, to foster trust and transparent monitoring on the ground, the Forum is invited to consider a joint observation mission alongside regional civil society networks. Such an initiative would provide ongoing evaluation of humanitarian needs, community reconstruction, and detention conditions in close liaison with UN treaty bodies.

Third, guided by Oceanian values of care, family unity, and restorative justice, regional diplomatic good offices can play a pivotal role in securing the return of young Kanak individuals and activists transferred to metropolitan France. Following the 5 June 2026 judicial dismissal (non-lieu), ending arbitrary exile and respecting the presumption of innocence remain essential steps toward genuine de-escalation.

Finally, Pacific civil society stands ready to support member States, particularly C-24 members Papua New Guinea and Fiji, in leveraging the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) Emergency Statement 3(2026) and Resolution 80/98 to facilitate an official UN C-24 Visiting Mission during the upcoming UN General Assembly session.