copenlu/druid huggingface dataset:
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-03-08): Vanuatu has not lost faith in negotiations over the disputed Matthew and Hunter Islands, despite recent moves by France, a Vanuatu MP says. [...] The MP represents the island of Tanna, whose chiefs had historically visited Matthew and Hunter for rituals and other ceremonial activities. [...] According to reports, Vanuatu is planning commemorations to mark the anniversary, this weekend, of Vanuatu's own flag-raising expedition on Hunter Island in 1983.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (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 Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-01-14): The Ambiguous History of Matthew and Hunter Islands: Tracing the Roots of Vanuatu and French Claims @article{Song2023TheAH, title={The Ambiguous History of Matthew and Hunter Islands: Tracing the Roots of Vanuatu and French Claims}, author={Lili Song and Morsen Mosses and G{\'e}raldine Giraudeau}, journal={The Journal of Pacific History}, year={2023}, volume={58}, pages={232 - 250}, url={https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:255933756} [...] ABSTRACT 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 from the New Hebrides to New Caledonia, we find no archival evidence suggesting that such…
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (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. [...] Mosses, M. 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.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (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 [...] Regardless of who is currently sovereign over Hunter and Matthew, in 2009 New Caledonia’s national liberation movement (NLM),Footnote 140 the Front de libération nationale kanak et socialiste (FLNKS), signed an agreement (the Kéamu Accord) with the FLNKS stipulating that it would restore the islands to Vanuatu once New Caledonia was independent.Footnote 141 The FLNKS reaffirmed their support for Vanuatu’s claim in 2019, citing the close cultural ties between the islands and Vanuatu. The 1998 Noumea Accord between the French and FLNKS stipulates that the territorial integrity of New Caledonia must be maintained.Footnote 142 This provision undoubtedly intends to prevent a Mayotte style situation where one part of the population prefers to remain attached to France, but it also commits France to maintaining New Caledonia’s territorial integrity, including Matthew and Hunter, should they prove to attach to New Caledonia. The Noumea Accord also stipulates that for the time being international relations are exclusively a matter for the French government: whilst New Caledonia has no autonomy in this sphere, it is nonetheless to be associated with the French state in the exercise of this function.Footnote 143
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (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. [...] At the same time, Article 47 of UNCLOS states that an archipelagic State may draw straight baselines "joining the outermost points of the outermost islands and drying reefs of the archipelago provided that within such baselines are included the main islands." As such a state, if Vanuatu can also claim Matthew and Hunter islands as part of its territory and archipelago, it would be able to draw its baseline to the islands and thereby extend its EEZ from the islands without concern for Article 121.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (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 Vanuatu (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 Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2019-10-03): France’s bid to extend New Caledonia’s continental shelf has been used to justify its claim to Umaenupne (Matthew) and Umaeneag (Hunter) islands. These uninhabited volcanic islands, located to the east of New Caledonia and the south‐east of Vanuatu, are claimed by Vanuatu. There were colonial disputes over the islands, even before the joint French–British condominium of New Hebrides gained independence in 1980. Since then, repeated French assertions of sovereignty have angered governments in Port Vila. [...] With the 2009 Keamu Agreement, the FLNKS acknowledged that the islands belong to ni‐Vanuatu customary leaders from Tanna. At the time, Victor Tutugoro of the FLNKS joined customary leaders from Tanna to state that "the indigenous Kanak people do not have a traditional history on these islands", in contrast to customary authorities from Vanuatu’s Tafea province. At the signing of the Keamu Agreement, Tutugoro described it as "a solemn commitment between the Kanak people and the people of Vanuatu that whatever the political and institutional future of New Caledonia, Matthew and Hunter Islands will remain the property of the people of Vanuatu."
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-10-05): Vanuatu, country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, consisting of a chain of 13 principal and many smaller islands located about 500 miles (800 km) west of Fiji and 1,100 miles (1,770 km) east of Australia. The islands extend north-south for some 400 miles (650 km) in an irregular Y shape. The Torres Islands are the northernmost group. Southward from the Torres group, the main islands are Vanua Lava and Santa Maria (Gaua) in the Banks Islands group, Espiritu Santo, Aoba (Ambae), Maéwo, Pentecost, Malakula, Ambrym, Épi, Éfaté, Erromango, Tanna, and Anatom. Some 200 miles (320 km) to the southeast of Anatom, two uninhabited islands, Hunter and Matthew, are claimed by both Vanuatu and France (as part of New Caledonia).
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2021-11-09): 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. [...] Vanuatu claims sovereignty over Matthew and Hunter.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2013-01-01): Satellite image courtesy of Planet Labs Inc., 2020 (https://www.planet.com/). The roughly 1.1 x 0.8 km Hunter Island in the SE New Hebrides arc is shown in this 14 May 2020 PlanetScope satellite image (N is at the top). Several craters have formed across the island and geothermal activity has been noted on the N, NE, and SE coasts. [...] Photo by Michel Lardy, 1990 (ORSTROM, Vanuata). On 27 November 1976 a plume, water discoloration, and sulfur odor were reported from Matthew Island. It was later noted that no noticeable eruptive event or change in island morphology had occurred since 1958. This February 1977 photo shows the steaming crater of Matthew Island volcano. [...] NASA International Space Station image ISS006-E-26739, 2003 (http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/). Matthew Island is composed of two cones separated by a narrow isthmus. Only the triangular eastern portion of the small, 0.6 x 1.2 km wide island existed prior to the 1940s, after which eruptions began to build the larger western segment (part of which is seen in the photo). The western cone consists primarily of lava flows and contains a crater that is breached to the NW.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (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. In 1980, after 74 years of colonialism, the Republic of Vanuatu was created. With its independence came the desire to recover Hunter and Matthew Islands, that it claimed as its own. Three years after, the only ship of the ni-Vanuatu Navy unbolted the French sovereignty plate established on the islands and planted the flag of their country. For the French, this was an unacceptable test of their sovereignty in the South Pacific and its military was immediately sent to resettle its sovereignty. [...] Similarly, in 2009, the New Caledonia pro-independence party, the FLNKS, signed the Keamu Declaration with the Vanuatu prime minister, recognising the customary membership of Hunter and Matthew Islands to Vanuatu. The document was later denounced by the French government.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (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 In addition to their remoteness, their accessibility is limited, even dangerous, and only possible in calm waters, due to both their seismic activity and the steepness of their coasts. Matthew Island is home to an active volcano, and Hunter Island’s sulphurous fumaroles are still escaping. The islets are therefore unsuitable for permanent occupation, and the only infrastructure on the MHIs is the Matthew Island weather station set up in 1979. The geological characteristics of the islands make them ideal for observing the development of species, particularly avian species. Scientists were interested in them before politicians. Nowadays, French scientists monitor the MHIs as part of the New Caledonian Natural Park of the Coral Sea.Footnote 15 The MHIs’ perceived value mainly lies in their potential to generate maritime zones around them. As mentioned above, France and Vanuatu have both declared expansive maritime zones around the islets.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (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. [...] In July 2009, delegations from the Government of Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s FLNKS met on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu’s Tafea Province. Together with customary leaders, they signed the Kéamu Accord, described as "a solemn commitment between the Kanak people and the people of Vanuatu that whatever the political and institutional future of New Caledonia, Matthew and Hunter islands will always remain the property of the people of Vanuatu."
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-08-29): Matthew and Hunter islands (Umaeneag and Umaenupne in Aneityum language) in the far south of Vanuatu are rich fishing grounds claimed by both nations. It is difficult to validate France’s position, which is undermined by several key points Vanuatu regularly raises. Firstly, that Vanuatu’s southern Aneityum Island had long standing names and kastom stories relating to these uninhabited islands for generations before French settlement in New Caledonia. Secondly, that the indigenous Kanak chiefs themselves in New Caledonia have said the islands rightfully belong to Vanuatu. Thirdly, that geography lends weight to Vanuatu’s claims, since the islands are on the Vanuatu side of the tectonic Pacific plate as seen in this map. 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 Vanuatu (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 Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-02-02): The VSZ (10–23∘ S, 165–173∘ E), including from south to north the French, Matthew, and Hunter volcanic islets, Vanuatu and Eastern Solomon Islands, is among the world's fastest moving plate boundaries, with a convergence rate of up to 16–17 cm yr−1 in the northern part (around latitude −11∘; not shown in Fig. 1) between the Australian plate on the west and several Vanuatu micro-plates on the border of the Pacific plate to the east (Louat et Pelletier, 1989; Pelletier et al., 1998; Calmant et al., 2003). It has a history of producing numerous moderate to strong earthquakes (Louat and Baldassari, 1989; Cleveland et al., 2014; Ioualalen et al., 2017). The largest events recorded during the instrumental period (since 1900) have moment magnitudes of between Mw 7.8 to 8.0 and are located in both the northern (Mw 7.8 on 7 October 2009 and Mw 8.0 on 6 February 2013 events) and the southern parts (Mw 7.9 on 9 August 1901, Mw 7.9 on 20 September 1920 and Mw 7.9 on 2 December 1950 events) of the subduction zone.
Claim: Matthew and Hunter Islands is a territory of Vanuatu (Matthew and Hunter Islands, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2023-07-26): Vanuatu chiefs have called on its government to ask the visiting French President to acknowledge that the Matthew and Hunter islands belong to them and not to New Caledonia. [...] The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association, which advocates for the eradication of colonisation of Melanesia, also urged Kalsakau to raise the issue of Matthew and Hunter islands with Macron. [...] In 2009, the New Caledonia pro-independence party, the FLNKS, signed the Keamu Declaration with then Vanuatu prime minister, Serge Vohor, recognising the customary membership of Hunter and Matthew Islands to Vanuatu.
Claim: Minerva Reefs is a territory of Tonga (Minerva Reefs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2024-07-06): The Minerva Reefs (Tongan: Ongo Teleki) are a group of two submerged atolls located in the Pacific Ocean between Fiji, Niue and Tonga. The islands are the subject of a territorial dispute between Fiji and Tonga, and in addition were briefly claimed by American Libertarians as the centre of a micronation, the Republic of Minerva. [...] Territorial dispute [edit]In 2005, Fiji declared that it did not recognize any maritime water claims by Tonga to the Minerva Reefs under the UNCLOS agreements. In November 2005, Fiji lodged a complaint with the International Seabed Authority concerning Tonga's maritime waters claims surrounding Minerva. Tonga lodged a counter claim. In 2010 the Fijian Navy destroyed navigation lights at the entrance to the lagoon. In late May 2011, they again destroyed navigational equipment installed by Tongans. In early June 2011, two Royal Tongan Navy ships were sent to the reef to replace the equipment, and to reassert Tonga's claim to the territory. Fijian Navy ships in the vicinity reportedly withdrew as the Tongans approached.[16][17][18] [...] - ^ Has Minerva got a king or a president? Pacific Islands Monthly, August 1972, p13 - ^ Song, Lili (2019). "The Curious History of the Minerva Reefs: Tracing the Origin of Tongan and Fijian Claims over the Minerva Reefs". The Journal of Pacific History. 54 (3): 417–430. doi:10.1080/00223344.2019.1573664. hdl:10523/12395. S2CID 166321414.
Claim: Minerva Reefs is a territory of Tonga (Minerva Reefs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-09-18): ANNE RIMMER set sail from New Zealand for Tonga aboard a cruising yacht on May 5. In this, her first report, she reveals a place that few can visit and none can call home: the underwater land of Minerva Reef. [...] South Minerva Reef is a double atoll, looking, on the map, much like a pair of spectacles. This lagoon is eight miles across, and the fringe of white breakers effectively makes a horizon all around us. [...] Passage to Tonga: Minerva Reef
Claim: Minerva Reefs is a territory of Tonga (Minerva Reefs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2020-02-25): The ownership of Minerva Reefs has been an unresolved issue between Fiji and Tonga for quite a while. Minerva reefs is a group of two submerged atolls named after the whaling ship Minerva that wrecked there in 1829. [...] Tonga declared Minerva part of its territory in 1972, after late King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV made a royal proclamation that it belongs to Tonga.
Claim: Minerva Reefs is a territory of Tonga (Minerva Reefs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2014-11-01): North Minerva is a circular reef approximately 2.5 miles around with one entry pass. It’s a volcano that never made it to the surface, but just a few tenths of feet below. [...] North Minerva Reef is one of those places that makes traveling by sailboat so special because you can’t get their by commercial airline or cruise ship. If you are sailing the South Pacific, make sure to visit North Minerva Reef. You’ll be glad you did!
Claim: Minerva Reefs is a territory of Tonga (Minerva Reefs, 2024-10-09)
Evidence (2022-05-21): Anarchists and nihilists turned out to be the least of their worries. By early 1972, the king of Tonga, Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV, had caught wind of the project, and began to voice concerns. The Minerva Reefs may have sat at a substantial distance from the core of the Tongan archipelago and beyond its territorial waters, but that hardly meant they were not a part of Tonga’s political and cultural horizon. The reefs had long served as seasonal lobstering and fishing grounds for Tongans and Fijians. Historical and human connections to the reefs ran deep.