Ben Bohane
South of Vanuatu, in the deep ocean teeming with fish and birdlife, lie two contested islands being fought over by Vanuatu (population 350,000) and France, which has the largest EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) in the world, totalling 11 million square kilometres.
Little wonder Vanuatu is framing this as a “David versus Goliath” fight. Vanuatu calls these islands by their ancient “kastom” (culture) names: Umaenupne and Umaeneg. On most maps, however, they are called by what British sea captains named them: Matthew and Hunter islands. France has
controlled them since 1965.
France derives much prestige, wealth and a permanent UN Security Council seat thanks to its overseas territories and vast maritime domain, spread across multiple oceans. Now, some politicians and security analysts in France are worried that these two islands, taken from Vanuatu before its independence in 1980, could prompt sovereignty claims in other jurisdictions, from Mexico to Madagascar, if Matthew and Hunter are returned to Vanuatu.
Responding to a story in Le Figaro newspaper that discussed the possibility of the French President Emmanuel Macron ceding these islands as a “major symbolic turning point”, French far-right politician Marie Le Pen tweeted in December last year: “Let’s be clear: national sovereignty is not negotiable and cannot be surrendered. The French people do not expect Macron’s government to carve up our overseas territories, which are real levers of power, influence and economic development, behind their backs, but to give itself the means to protect and defend them.”
Rising in parliament this week, Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Jotham Napat issued a response of sorts. He thundered that France was “dragging its feet” on negotiations following two postponements and was withholding relevant historical documents relating to France’s claim. Macron agreed to formal negotiations to resolve the issue during his 2023 visit to Vanuatu, saying it could be “resolved by Christmas”. He renewed this commitment in a meeting with Napat in July 2025. Years later, there is still no resolution.
Napat warned last month: “We will not take a passive approach. And we will not abandon our claim. We will defend our sovereignty with determination … We have carefully evaluated all of the legal options that are available to us. We are trying the diplomatic pathway, but we are also ready to change strategy as soon as is necessary.”
A rising tide of anger
The escalating rhetoric comes a week after diplomatic confrontations embroiling France, Vanuatu and New Caledonia.
A trade delegation from New Caledonia arrived in Port Vila earlier this month to boost economic ties but was quickly overshadowed by a diplomatic spat when one of the delegation, the new president of New Caledonia’s pro-independence FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) movement, Christian Tein, met with Vanuatu’s PM Napat.
Vanuatu has long supported independence for its indigenous “Kanaky” neighbours, and meetings between Vanuatu and the FLNKS are quite routine. But when Tein affirmed to the Vanuatu Daily Post newspaper in a front-page splash that “Matthew and Hunter islands belong to Vanuatu”, then France’s ambassador weighed in on social media, and the New Caledonia government suspended all trade ties with Vanuatu.
Again, this is nothing new – indigenous Kanak chiefs have long recognised Vanuatu’s claims to Matthew and Hunter islands, declaring they had no kastom links to them and France should not have included them as part of New Caledonia, which France did in 1965.
In 2009, Vanuatu and Kanak chiefs signed the Keamu Accord, acknowledging that Matthew and Hunter belonged to Vanuatu.
France finds itself battling on three fronts in the Pacific at the moment: rising independence movements in New Caledonia, Tahiti (French Polynesia) and now an increasingly heated dispute with Vanuatu over Matthew and Hunter islands.
Vanuatu claims its southern islanders from Tanna, Aneityum and Futuna were regularly visiting these two disputed islands long before the first European got wet in the Pacific Ocean.
These islands weren’t of much interest to British and French ships navigating the seas of the 18th and 19th centuries due to their small size and remoteness.
Both are volcanic, but only Matthew remains an active volcano.
Matthew (Umaenupne) was first named by British sea captain Thomas Gilbert in 1788, in tribute to the owner of his ship. Gilbert would later bequeath his name to the Gilbert and Ellice islands which today form the nation of Kiribati.
Hunter (Umaeneg) island was named by British captain Thomas Fearn aboard his trading ship Hunter in 1798. It’s thought he also named it Hunter to honour Vice Admiral John Hunter, who was then the governor of NSW, the second after Arthur Phillip. Hunter Street in Sydney and the Hunter Valley are similarly named after him.
The Australian connection
The dispute over the islands primarily has its origins in the actions of another Australian, Bob Paul, who was a planter and aviation pioneer living on Tanna Island in the 1950s and 1960s, back when Vanuatu was known as the “condominium of the New Hebrides” and jointly administered by Britain and France.
Today, Bob Paul is well remembered by chiefs on Tanna, including Peter Marcel, president of the Nikolaten Council of Chiefs. He told me that “Bob Paul was the first to show us how to run a business, how to run trade stores and bring in tourists. He did a lot for our island”.
In 1962, Paul flew over Matthew and Hunter islands and, assessing from his map the two islands had not been claimed by anyone, he decided to claim them for himself and his flying friend Henri Martinet.
“It was a bit of a lark when he claimed them,” says Paul’s son Brett from his home in Queensland, who remembers an idyllic childhood growing up on Tanna. “But my father always believed the islands ultimately belong to Vanuatu.”
Paul and Martinet’s claim in 1962 prompted the British and French resident commissioners to make inquiries about who the islands belonged to. The British consulted their Foreign Office, Colonial Office and admiralty.
They also asked France and Australia. The French then conducted internal inquiries and concluded that the islands were part of New Caledonia. Britain was content with that view, and together they wrote to the Joint Court to advise that the islands belonged to New Caledonia.
Paul and Martinet’s claim was struck off. At no stage in the process were any Ni-Vanuatu people consulted, so the decision was made by European colonial powers before Vanuatu’s independence.
France’s claim to sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter islands has been recognised internationally ever since they were handed to the country in 1965. Vanuatu’s claim is rooted in kastom and its ancient connections to the islands, long before the first French sailor turned up on their shores.
Vanuatu enshrined their own sovereignty over the islands in legislation upon the declaration of its independence.
Many would also argue that any deal done by Britain and France in the colonial period, with no consultation of the indigenous population, is legally null and void today. While a European mindset focuses on the strategic and resource value of such islands, what they ignore is the kastom value of these islands to Vanuatu.
A sacred connection
Matthew and Hunter islands play a crucial role in the kastom and spiritual life of Vanuatu’s southern islanders. Indeed, these islands aren’t just “rocks in the sea” but the home of their god, Matjajiki.
Chiefs from Vanuatu’s southern islands claim that the two islands also contain ancient cemeteries where their ancestors elected to be buried close to Matjajiki, and that these cemeteries were taboo to visitors.
More importantly, chiefs say they need Matjajiki, the spirit who brings them food and fish.
“Matjajiki works to bring life to our gardens for six months every year – he is our gardening spirit. After the annual yam harvest, he eats the first yam, drinks some kava and goes to rest for the rest of the year on Umaenupne and Umaeneg,” says chief Peter Marcel on Tanna.
“Without the power of Matjajiki, nothing would grow.”
While the islanders all identify as Christian, their veneration of ancestral spirits and the benevolent work of Matjajiki is at the heart of their identity.
Magic stones can still be found in their gardens, and rituals of thanks are still performed through the cycle of yam planting and harvesting. Matthew and Hunter are important places in the cosmology, and some even say that the survival of southern Vanuatu depends on them.
France’s possession of these islands has cut the ability of Ni-Vanuatu people to visit and pay respect to their god. When a boat carrying chiefs in 1983 to plant the Vanuatu flag and perform kastom rituals arrived at the two islands, they were intercepted by a French navy ship and forced to turn around.
No chiefs or ships from Vanuatu have been allowed since.
According to Tony Tevi, a geologist who is Vanuatu’s director of oceans and marine resources, geology and tectonic plates affirm Vanuatu’s ownership.
“Matthew and Hunter sit on the Pacific plate, not the Australian plate, which New Caledonia is on. Also, there are no volcanoes in New Caledonia, but plenty here in Vanuatu.”
For him, a further “insult” comes from France conducting military exercises on the islands every year, using a place reserved for the gods as target practice.
“The French military visit every year with their patrol boats to claim ‘effective occupation’ and do their live firing exercises on the very place – the very place! – that for us in Vanuatu is one of the most sacred and important places. That is very unacceptable.”
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.
From our partners
Discover more from PressNewsAgency
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.