FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron arrived in New Caledonia today, insisting that police reinforcements sent in to help battle violent unrest would “stay as long as necessary.”

He also demanded the removal of protesters’ barricades in the Pacific archipelago, where the indigenous Kanak people have long sought independence from France.

Kanak leaders, who had declined Mr Macron’s offer of talks by video a week earlier, greeted him in person today, joining a meeting in the capital Noumea with rival loyalist leaders who want New Caledonia, which was seized by French forces in 1853 under Emperor Napoleon III, to remain part of France.

The president opened the meeting by calling for a minute of silence for the six people, including two gendarmes, killed in shootings during the violence.

He then said that a state of emergency imposed by Paris for at least 12 days on May 15 to boost police powers could only be lifted if local leaders call for the dismantling of barricades that demonstrators and people trying to protect their neighbourhoods have erected in Noumea and beyond.

“Everyone has a responsibility to really call for the lifting of the barricades, the cessation of all forms of attack, not simply for calm,” he said.

French authorities say that more than 280 people have been arrested since violence first flared on May 13 as the French legislature in Paris debated contested changes to New Caledonia voter lists.

MPs have now approved a Bill that would, among other changes, allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for at least 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections.

Opponents fear the measure will benefit loyalist politicians and further marginalise the Kanaks, who long suffered from strict segregation policies and widespread discrimination.

The unrest continued to simmer as Mr Macron jetted in, despite a 6pm to 6am curfew and more than 1,000 reinforcements for the archipelago's police and gendarmes, now 3,000 strong.

“I will be very clear here. These forces will remain as long as necessary. Even during the Olympic Games and Paralympics,” which open in Paris on July 26, the president said.

The violence is the most severe in New Caledonia since the 1980s, the last time France imposed on state of emergency on the archipelago. This week, military flights have evacuated stranded tourists.

The cost of the destruction is estimated in the hundreds of millions of euros.