Vanuatu has taken France to the International Court of Justice over two uninhabited volcanic islands, Matthew and Hunter, that both countries claim. The case was filed on August 31, 2026, a Monday, and the court confirmed receipt the same day.
Vanuatu knows the islands as Umaenupne and Umaeneg, or Leka. They sit roughly 300 km east and southeast of New Caledonia. Combined, they cover less than one square kilometer, yet they give France an exclusive economic zone of 350,000 square kilometers. Vanuatu’s application asks the court to rule on sovereignty and on the maritime boundary with New Caledonia.
The Prime Minister’s Office said the islands “have always been part of Vanuatu long before colonization.” Deputy Prime Minister Johnny Koanapo, who leads Vanuatu’s negotiating team, said talks had run their course. “After formal negotiations, and several decades of diplomatic engagement with no outcome, it is clear that judicial determination offers the clearest pathway,” he said. On the substance he was blunt: “Matthew and Hunter have always belonged and always will belong to the people of Vanuatu.”
Talks that went nowhere
The two governments met to discuss the dispute in 2018, 2019 and 2025. A second round in Paris in the summer of 2026 ended without a deal. Vanuatu has pressed its claim since independence from France and the United Kingdom in 1980.
Koanapo also put a request to Paris. “France is a global champion of international law, and the rules-based order,” he said, adding that agreeing to take part in the proceedings would show its commitment to that order.
France holds its position
Paris is not budging on the merits. Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot reaffirmed French sovereignty over the territory. Speaking at a Pacific islands conference in Palau, Éléonore Caroit, France’s junior minister for the French-speaking world, described the stance as “clear and firm,” a mix of dialogue and openness, but “especially a reaffirmation of France’s sovereignty.” RFI reported that France has no intention of ceding the islands. As of September 2, France had not formally answered the filing.
That silence matters more than usual. France ended its general acceptance of the court’s compulsory jurisdiction in 1974, so the ICJ cannot move forward on Vanuatu’s application alone. The court said as much in its own statement: “No action will be taken in the proceedings unless and until France consents to the Court’s jurisdiction in the case.” The application has been transmitted to the French government.
The law of the sea question
If France consents, the dispute would turn partly on Article 121(3) of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. It says that “Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.” Whether two bare volcanic islands meet that description would bear directly on the 350,000 square kilometers at stake.
Sources
- Vanuatu moves against France at ICJ over 2 Pacific islands
- France asserts sovereignty over disputed Pacific islands as Vanuatu turns to ICJ
- Vanuatu takes France to world court over Matthew and Hunter islands
