President Emmanuel Macron described the riots in New Caledonia in the French-Pacific region as an 'unprecedented rebellion movement' that no one expected.
During a tour of police headquarters in the capital Noumea on Thursday, he said the coming days and weeks would be difficult but that Paris would “go to the end” to restore calm.
Rioting, looting and arson sparked by controversial electoral reforms have left six people dead, including two police officers, and hundreds injured.
New Caledonia, a group of islands between Australia and Fiji, has been a French territory since the 19th century. Tensions have been rising for some time between the central government in Paris and the indigenous Kanak people, who make up about 40% of the small archipelago.
Kanak protesters fear a new law granting voting rights to French residents who have lived there for more than a decade will weaken the influence of indigenous people.
But the violence that began on May 13 was the worst unrest since the 1980s.
A state of emergency was declared, and President Macron said he would send 3,000 troops from France during the Paris Summer Olympics if necessary.
