copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-02-15): Dayant claims that "the vast Exclusive Economic Zone surrounding the French Pacific represents a maritime resource position that gives France exclusive rights to enormous fish stock." Yet I would argue this misrepresents international law relating to the control of resources in colonial contexts. This goes well beyond the Hunter and Matthew islands issue. [...] With regard to Matthew and Hunter islands, Dayant’s description of the issue as "to date, relatively uninteresting" symbolises the widespread denial of long-standing claims by Pacific peoples. The dispute over the maritime boundary has been a sore point for decades, souring relations between Port Vila and Paris.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-11-08): The Vanuatu government is unhappy with France after French fishing vessels were spotted fishing illegally near Aneityum, and the Matthew and Hunter islands. The small, uninhabited islands of Matthew and Hunter have been the subject of a long running territorial dispute between Vanuatu and France, with both countries claiming sovereignty over them - in France's case, it says they are part of its territory of New Caledonia. [...] Vanuatu claims sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-12-28): Hunter Island and Matthew Island are two small and uninhabited volcanic islands in the South Pacific, located 300 kilometres (190 mi) east of New Caledonia and south-east of Vanuatu archipelago. Hunter Island and Matthew Island, 70 km (43 mi) apart, are claimed by Vanuatu as part of Tafea Province, and considered by the people of Aneityum part of their custom ownership, and as of 2007[update] were claimed by France as part of New Caledonia.[1]
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-09-06): The Matthew and Hunter Islands [edit]The Matthew and Hunter Islands were the cause of a maritime boundary dispute between Vanuatu and France (New Caledonia). They had been part of the New Hebrides until 1976, when France and Britain agreed to include them on New Caledonia maps instead of New Hebrides maps as had been in the case since the commencement of the 1906 Condominium of the New Hebrides. Lini's government rejected French sovereignty over the islands, and, in 1983, a Vanuatu Government-sanctioned mission led by Captain Leith Nasak on MV Euphrosyne II travelled to Hunter Island with traditional leaders from Southern Vanuatu to plant the ni-Vanuatu flag. The French patrol vessel, the Dunkerquoise prevented the Vanuatu mission from reaching Matthew Island www.taftumas.com. [...] See also [edit]References [edit]- Notes - ^ William F.S. Miles, Bridging Mental Boundaries in a Postcolonial Microcosm: Identity and Development in Vanuatu, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998, ISBN 0-8248-2048-7, pp.25-7 - Bibliography - HUFFER, Elise, Grands hommes et petites îles: La politique extérieure de Fidji, de Tonga et du Vanuatu, Paris: Orstom, 1993, ISBN 2-7099-1125-6, pp. 243–252 - Current relations between France and Vanuatu Archived 2012-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, as seen by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs - SONG, Lily, MORSEN, Mosses & GIRAUDEAU, Gerladine. 2023. "The Ambigiuous History of Matthew and Hunter Islands: Tracing the Roots of Vanuatu and French Claims." Journal of Pacific History January 2023, DOI: 10.1080/00223344.2022.2146577
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-11-05): Revisiting the Matthew and Hunter Islands Dispute in Light of the Recent Chagos Advisory Opinion and Some Other Relevant Cases: An Evaluation of Vanuatu’s Claims relating to the Right to Self-Determination, Territorial Integrity, Unlawful Occupation and State Responsibility Under International Law [...] This article examines the legal implications of the Chagos Advisory Opinion and some other relevant cases on the Matthew and Hunter Islands dispute. In doing so, the piece attempts to evaluate Vanuatu’s claims relating to the right to self-determination of the people of New Hebrides (Ni-Vans since 1980), the territorial integrity of New Hebrides/Vanuatu and the alleged unlawful occupation of the Matthew and Hunter Islands by France. First, the article submits that by transferring the administration of these islands to New Caledonia in 1976 France may have violated the territorial integrity of Vanuatu and the right to self-determination of its people. The article then considers the competing claims of sovereignty over these Islands and argues that the right to self-determination is likely to prevail over France’s claims of, inter alia, effectivités. The article submits therefore that France may be under an obligation to cease its unlawful occupation of these Islands. [...] Fonfreyde C, Simoni P, Colombani N, Buteau JF, Huruguen C, Bachy P, Baudat-Francesci J, Vuki N, Desgrippes C, Hnaije G (2013) Matthew et Hunter—Mission de Suivi Terrestre. Service de la pêche et de l’environnement marin, Direction des Affaires Maritimes. https://mer-de-corail.gouv.nc/sites/default/files/atoms/files/matthew_hunter.pdf. Accessed 15 Oct 2019
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-09-09): France (for New Caledonia) and Vanuatu both claim sovereignty over the Matthew and Hunter Islands, two very small volcanic outcrops at the southern tip of the Vanuatu archipelago. Prior to its independence, the Condominium of New Hebrides was a joint colonial protectorate, with a legal personality distinct from both Great Britain and France individually, although France and the UK each retained jurisdiction over their own nationals.Footnote 95 [...] Since the adoption of UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the creation of the EEZ, small islands such as Hunter and Matthew, which adorn the Pacific Ocean, have of course taken on heightened importance. Not surprisingly, France, well aware of Vanuatu’s claim since at least 1980, has delimited its baselines on the assumption that Hunter and Matthew are French. Whilst these two outcrops are clearly above water at high tide and are therefore islands within the meaning of Article 121 of UNCLOS,Footnote 113 France has claimed an EEZ on the assumption that Hunter and Matthew are capable of sustaining human or economic life of their own. The combined claimed EEZ is 190,000 km2 Footnote 114 (indicatively shown on Figure 1), underscoring the great interest to states in laying claim to these micro territories. Interestingly, were Vanuatu sovereign over the two islands, they would form part of the Vanuatu archipelago and so could benefit from archipelagic baselines, thus obviating the need to demonstrate that the islands are capable of sustaining life within the meaning of Article 121 UNCLOS.Footnote 115
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-19): The long-running dispute over the Matthew and Hunter Islands, which sit between New Caledonia and Vanuatu, flared again recently with the visit of a French warship.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-10-28): In 1929, France took possession of Hunter and Matthew Islands and attached their management to their then-colony New Hebrides, now Vanuatu. After a quarrel with the United Kingdom 47 years later, in 1976, France decided to entrust the management of these two islets to another Pacific colony, New Caledonia. [...] This year has marked a revival in the intensity of the tensions. In January, France sent a small naval mission to Hunter and Matthew Islands to "reinforce its sovereignty". It did so by landing officers on the islands, polishing a commemorative plate and painting a French flag on a rock. [...] Which brings us back to Hunter and Matthew Islands. France’s grip on its regional territories is already under question, and they appear adamant to not budget on their claims of sovereignty in the region.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2014-01-16): In 2009, the Vanuatu Prime Minister and the independence movement of New Caledonia, the FLNKS, signed a document – with no legal value – recognizing the Vanuatu sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter islands. This gesture is all the more surprising given that France has always stated that the two islands belong to the territory of New Caledonia, and that Vanuatu’s economy is largely supported by French development aid, as well as aid from Iceland, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, and others. [...] The dispute spilled has also unsettled relations with neighbors. In 1982, for example, Fiji and New Caledonia signed an agreement on mutual recognition of their maritime boundaries, in which Fiji recognized French ownership of the Matthew and Hunter Islands. The action upset Vanuatu, which demanded that Fiji recognize Ni-Vanuatu sovereignty over the islands, stating that failure to do so would be a blow to peace in the region, but Fiji did not revoke its signature. [...] Nor are they big – Matthew is 0.1km² and Hunter 0.4km². So why are they so important for France? Is it because they are a sanctuary for the terns and playground for the studies of meteorologists and ornithologists? Of course not. France dreams of extending its sovereign rights over an additional 2,000,000km².
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-08-30): Those territories do not face immediate threats. However, territorial disputes generate long-term challenges to the integrity of one million square kilometers of its EEZ. In the Pacific Ocean, Matthew and Hunter Islands, administered by New Caledonia but claimed by neighboring Vanuatu, generate an EEZ of 350,000 square kilometers.[3] One such example of direct challenge to French legal rights in the country’s EEZ is a 2004 case in which the French Navy intercepted a Taiwanese fishing boat, which claimed that it was in a fishing zone authorized by the government of Vanuatu.[4] In 2017, France responded to an illegal campaign by Vietnamese fishing boats in the EEZ of New Caledonia, leading to three judicial condemnations in Nouméa.[5] In the Indian Ocean, France has a territorial dispute with Madagascar regarding the Scattered Islands – four islands which generate 640,000 square kilometers of EEZ for France in the Mozambique Channel, and that were attached to French overseas territories by a decree by President Charles de Gaulle in 1960, two months before the independence of Madagascar from France.[6] [...] [3] Jean-Tenahe Faatau, "Pacifique: Querelle autour des îles Matthew et Hunter en Nouvelle Calédonie (Pacific: Quarrels around Matthew and Hunter Islands in New Caledonia)," Outremers 360°, March 13, 2019, https://outremers360.com/politique/pacifique-querelles-autour-des-iles-matthew-et-hunter-en-nouvelle-caledonie.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2017-04-13): Matthew and Hunter: The border from France is deep [...] And Matthew and Hunter are on the same plate as we are in Vanuatu. [...] "If the question is whether the Islands of Matthew and Hunter are geologically related to Vanuatu or New Caledonia, then the clear answer is Vanuatu."
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): The Vanuatu government is unhappy with France after French fishing vessels were spotted fishing illegally near Aneityum, and the Matthew and Hunter islands. The small, uninhabited islands of Matthew and Hunter have been the subject of a long running territorial dispute between Vanuatu and France, with both countries claiming sovereignty over them - in France's case, it says they are part of its territory of New Caledonia.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2014-05-08): The Prime Minister, Moana Carcasses, has told Parliament he planned to lead a Vanuatu Government delegation to Paris in June in the next step to resolving the maritime boundary dispute between Vanuatu and France over the southern islands of Matthew and Hunter. Speaking in Parliament Friday, the Prime Minister said his Government was concerned about the unilateral decision by the New Caledonia Government on April 23, 2014 to establish what it called a Natural Park that covered the French territory’s entire Exclusive Economic Zone and included Matthew and Hunter, south of Tafea Province. [...] On Friday too, a protest note from the Vanuatu Government to the French Government, over the decision by the New Caledonia Government to establishment a marine natural park, that also covers Matthew and Hunter, was lodged with the French Ambassador to Vanuatu, Michel Djokovic.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-09-18): Madagascar claims the French territories of Bassas da India, Europa Island, Glorioso Islands, and Juan de Nova Island; Comoros claims Mayotte; Mauritius claims Tromelin Island; territorial dispute between Suriname and the French overseas department of French Guiana; France asserts a territorial claim in Antarctica (Adelie Land); France and Vanuatu claim Matthew and Hunter Islands, east of New Caledonia
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-11-08): Matthew Island and Hunter Island (Q1909475) Jump to search islands in France - Matthew and Hunter Islands Matthew and Hunter Islands 0 references
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): New Caledonia, French unique collectivity, southwestern South Pacific Ocean. It consists of the islands of New Caledonia and Walpole, the Isle of Pines, and several other island groups. Area: 7,172 sq mi (18,567 sq km). Population: (2024 est.) 273,900. Capital: Nouméa. Two small islands—Matthew and Hunter, to the east of New Caledonia—are claimed by both France (for New Caledonia) and Vanuatu. The main island, New Caledonia, has rich deposits of nickel that are among the largest in the world. Archaeological excavations indicate an Austronesian presence in the area c. 2000–1000 bce. The islands were visited by Capt. James Cook in 1774 and by various navigators and traders in the 18th–19th century. They were occupied by France in 1853 and were a penal colony from 1864 to 1897. New Caledonians joined the Free French cause of Charles de Gaulle in 1940; the islands were the site of Allied bases during the Pacific war. They became a French overseas territory in 1946. In 1987 and 2018 residents voted by referendum to remain part of France.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-09): The MHIs, known as Umaenupne and Umaenea (or Leka) Islands in the indigenous Vanuatu languages of Aneityum and Futuna, are two volcanic islets located about 162 nm southeast of Vanuatu and 241 nm east of New Caledonia, a French territory. Matthew Island covers an area of 70 ha and rises to 177 m above sea level.Footnote 13 Hunter Island, some 75 km to the east, covers just 65 ha, with an elevation of 242 m above sea level. They belong to the New Hebrides chain and are therefore geologically linked to the Vanuatu archipelago, while they are separated from New Caledonia by the New Hebrides submarine trench.Footnote 14 [...] The Islands of Matthew and Hunter are considered by the French Administrative authorities as being attached to New Caledonia. The British Government was content with this view.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-29): It had a troubled birth as one of its main islands – Santo – tried to breakaway in 1980, secretly supported by France. It took the PNG Defence Force, supported by British paratroopers, to crush the Santo rebellion known as "the coconut war" and keep a united Vanuatu at independence. Lingering mistrust of France has remained as France continues to claim Matthew and Hunter islands in the far south, saying they belong to New Caledonia’s Exclusive Economic Zone. [...] There is some irony in France now playing the China card to assert "a new imperialism" is on the rise in the Pacific given its continuing hold over New Caledonia and Tahiti despite clear rumblings for independence there. France’s claim to Matthew and Hunter also risks the very thing it is warning about since Vanuatu government insiders say one reason Vanuatu was among the first nations to recognise China’s claims to the South China Sea was so that China would support Vanuatu’s claims to Matthew and Hunter.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-07-26): MP for Tanna Johnny Koanapo told the Vanuatu Daily Post that "President Macron should declare that Matthew and Hunter are an integral part of Vanuatu and therefore should direct that processes are done by the two countries to finalise the delimitation of our maritime boundaries." Umaenupne (Matthew) and Umaeneag (Hunter) are uninhabited volcanic islands located east of New Caledonia and southeast of Vanuatu. Both are disputed territory, claimed by the Republic of Vanuatu and France, the administering colonial power in New Caledonia. Today, legislation in both Vanuatu and New Caledonia claims the two islands as part of each country’s territory, with significant implications for their Exclusive Economic Zone and control of maritime resources. [...] On 4 April 2009, the members of the Sénat coutumier issued a declaration stating: "We recognise through custom the historical fact that Matthew and Hunter islands belong in kastom to the chieftainships of Tanna." Their declaration highlighted the "lasting relations between the Loyalty Islands Province and the Tafea Province … to allow the free movement of people and trade to prosper between the two countries without ulterior motives."
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-07-03): Vanuatu and France have agreed to work together "in the spirit of friendship" to resolve a territorial dispute involving the Matthew and Hunter Islands. [...] Vanuatu claims sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-29): Natural hazards cyclones, most frequent from November to March volcanism: Matthew and Hunter Islands are historically active
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2017-01-18): On a visit to Europe this month, the foreign Minister of Vanuatu has scheduled a meeting in Paris to discuss two remote, unpopulated islands claimed by both countries since 1980. More on Matthew and Hunter Islands from Neal Conan in the Pacific News Minute. [...] There’s also a cultural claim. In ni-Vanuatu tradition, Matthew Island is called the House of the Gods where the spirits of the dead go to rest. And there is a historic dispute, the Islands were annexed by France in 1929. But as part of the New Hebrides, which it then ruled jointly with Great Britain. [...] Then there’s geography. France has taken this dispute before UNCLOS, the UN Conference on the law of the Sea. And one final complication, Hunter Island is also claimed by a micro nation called The Republic of Lost Island, one of those quixotic efforts to establish a tax-free libertarian haven. A report on the latest effort along those lines in tomorrow’s Pacific News Minute
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of France (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-09-24): Natural hazards cyclones, most frequent from November to March volcanism: Matthew and Hunter Islands are historically active [...] Matthew and Hunter Islands east of New Caledonia claimed by France and Vanuatu
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-03): Hunter Island and Matthew Island are two small and uninhabited volcanic islands in the South Pacific, located 300 kilometres (190 mi) east of New Caledonia and south-east of Vanuatu archipelago. Hunter Island and Matthew Island, 70 km (43 mi) apart, are claimed by Vanuatu as part of Tafea Province, and considered by the people of Aneityum part of their custom ownership, and as of 2007[update] were claimed by France as part of New Caledonia.[1] [...] - Song, Lily & Mosses, Morsen: "Revisiting Ocean Boundary Disputes in the South Pacific in Light of the South China Sea Arbitration: A Legal Perspective", The International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 33 (2018): 768 - 798 - Lili Song, Morsen Mosses & Geraldine Giraudeau (2023): The Ambiguous History of Matthew and Hunter Islands: Tracing the Roots of Vanuatu and French Claims, The Journal of Pacific History, DOI: 10.1080/00223344.2022.2146577
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-07-03): The Ambiguous History of Matthew and Hunter Islands: Tracing the Roots of Vanuatu and French Claims - Description: - Matthew and Hunter Islands (MHIs) are two small uninhabited islands located between Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Both Vanuatu and France claim sovereignty over the MHIs and vast maritime zones around them. This article examines the history of sovereignty claims to the MHIs. Although existing literature often refers to an annexation of the MHIs by France in 1929 and a 1976 transfer of the MHIs fro...
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-09-06): The Matthew and Hunter Islands [edit]The Matthew and Hunter Islands were the cause of a maritime boundary dispute between Vanuatu and France (New Caledonia). They had been part of the New Hebrides until 1976, when France and Britain agreed to include them on New Caledonia maps instead of New Hebrides maps as had been in the case since the commencement of the 1906 Condominium of the New Hebrides. Lini's government rejected French sovereignty over the islands, and, in 1983, a Vanuatu Government-sanctioned mission led by Captain Leith Nasak on MV Euphrosyne II travelled to Hunter Island with traditional leaders from Southern Vanuatu to plant the ni-Vanuatu flag. The French patrol vessel, the Dunkerquoise prevented the Vanuatu mission from reaching Matthew Island www.taftumas.com. [...] See also [edit]References [edit]- Notes - ^ William F.S. Miles, Bridging Mental Boundaries in a Postcolonial Microcosm: Identity and Development in Vanuatu, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1998, ISBN 0-8248-2048-7, pp.25-7 - Bibliography - HUFFER, Elise, Grands hommes et petites îles: La politique extérieure de Fidji, de Tonga et du Vanuatu, Paris: Orstom, 1993, ISBN 2-7099-1125-6, pp. 243–252 - Current relations between France and Vanuatu Archived 2012-03-09 at the Wayback Machine, as seen by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs - SONG, Lily, MORSEN, Mosses & GIRAUDEAU, Gerladine. 2023. "The Ambigiuous History of Matthew and Hunter Islands: Tracing the Roots of Vanuatu and French Claims." Journal of Pacific History January 2023, DOI: 10.1080/00223344.2022.2146577