They say a god lives on these islands. Both France and Vanuatu want them

Vanuatu demands France hand back remote Matthew and Hunter Islands in the Pacific Thu 25 Jun 2026 at 5:20am Three hundred kilometres east of New Caledonia are two islands believed by some to be inhabited by a god. Bruno Senges didn't encounter one during a sailing trip to Matthew Island in 2021, but after setting foot on its rugged shoreline, he is reluctant to rule the theory out. "It's breathtaking, the volcano is active, there's thousands of birds — it's magic," he said. Fifteen kilometres away, Hunter Island is equally striking. Sulphur-yellow cliffs plunge into the ocean, part of a mineral-rich landscape unlike anywhere else in the French territory. "New Caledonia is not volcanic, so it's very untypical for our landscape," Mr Senges said. The landscape more closely reflects Vanuatu's Tafea Province 300 kilometres to the north. Tafea has strong cultural ties to Matthew and Hunter, yet they are under French control as part of New Caledonia and have been at the centre of a sovereignty dispute since Vanuatu gained independence in 1980. France reinforced its claim in 1975 by installing on the islands plaques declaring its sovereignty — a move some in Vanuatu saw as carefully timed before it gained independence. Now, formal negotiations have begun over the future of the islands, with Vanuatu seeking to secure sovereignty. New Caledonia's pro-independence president publicly backed Vanuatu's claim last month, deepening political divisions with New Caledonia's French-loyalist government, which later suspended trade ties with Vanuatu. Meanwhile, Vanuatu's prime minister has publicly accused France of "dragging its feet" ahead of a second round of talks expected in Paris later this month. Why do the islands matter? Matthew and Hunter are sacred to communities in Vanuatu's southern islands, who refer to them as Umaenupne and Umaeneg. A 2011 UN report recognised them as places of worship and ritual that date back many generations. "On the Tafea island groups there is a god that looks after them and the god resides on those islands," acting director of Vanuatu's Department of Oceans Tony Tevi said. France, meanwhile, has no cultural attachment to the islands — not even among indigenous Kanak people, who have inhabited New Caledonia for thousands of years. In 2009, the Kanak and Socialist Liberation Front (FLNKS) signed the Keamu agreement formally recognising Vanuatu's claim after establishing no ties between the islands and their history. "Paris is very far away from Vanuatu, so coming from the cultural point of view, these islands belong to the Tafea Province and people," Mr Tevi said. But culture is not what makes them important to France. Even though they are tiny specks in a vast ocean, ownership of Matthew and Hunter Islands comes with rights to an exclusive economic zone of roughly 350,000 square kilometres — an area larger than the United Kingdom. With that comes control over fisheries, potential minerals, scientific research or future military positioning in an increasingly contested region. If Vanuatu were to gain ownership of the islands, former Vanuatu prime minister Sato Kilman said they would provide major economic benefits for his country. "There are talks of possibly something under the islands and we believe what's there will be economic for us,"he said. But experts say it's unlikely France will concede them. Political volcanoes The waters around Matthew and Hunter, as well as other French Pacific territories, help give France the largest exclusive economic zone in the world, according to University of Paris-Saclay law professor Géraldine Giraudeau. "With that comes the right to explore and exploit resources, the main one being fishing licenses which they can issue to foreign fishing fleets," she said. The islands are also politically sensitive in France and New Caledonia. Last month, Kanak political leaders, seeking decolonisation from France, voiced support for Vanuatu's claim to Matthew and Hunter during a visit to Vanuatu to drum up business opportunities. The comments were splashed on the front page of Vanuatu’s largest newspaper. Soon after, New Caledonia's pro-France government suspended all trade cooperation with Vanuatu, describing its exclusion as a "lack of respect that cannot remain unanswered". "Because the FLNKS have recognised Vanuatu's sovereignty of the islands, it became an independent vs loyalist issue [in New Caledonia]," Ms Giraudeau said. "In France, nobody was speaking about Matthew and Hunter until recently when negotiations commenced. "Then an MP raised the issue and created the narrative that France would concede sovereignty and that's unacceptable." The French embassy in Vanuatu declined to comment when approached by the ABC. Election deadline With French elections to be held in 2027, Ms Giraudeau said the dispute needed to be resolved in the next 12 months otherwise Vanuatu's claim would likely fall on deaf ears if there was a change in government. "If the issue is not solved, we can assume that if the right wing gain power, they would not negotiate with Vanuatu,"she said. Ms Giraudeau said negotiating a co-managed agreement would likely be the wisest solution for both countries, however even that would likely draw heavy criticism from France's right wing. Vanuatu, meanwhile, hasn't ruled out escalating the matter to the International Court of Justice, but its government concedes it doesn't have the legal resources France does. But Mr Tevi said there was no need for court involvement. "We had spiritual connections, cultural connections and traditional linkages long before international law or colonisation," he said. "I hope one day they realise that legally and culturally the islands belong to Vanuatu."