Vanuatu pushes France to accept ICJ jurisdiction in Pacific islands dispute

What the report says

Vanuatu has asked the International Court of Justice to hear a sovereignty dispute with France over two small, uninhabited Pacific islands, Matthew Island and Hunter Island, according to Al Jazeera’s report from 1 September 2026. The Hague-based court said it had received Vanuatu’s application, but any case depends on France agreeing to the court’s jurisdiction because Paris has not accepted the ICJ’s compulsory authority in disputes with other states.

The islands sit east of New Caledonia and southeast of Vanuatu, and the disagreement is tied to the region’s colonial history. Vanuatu, which was jointly ruled by France and Britain until independence in 1980, argues that full decolonisation is incomplete while the islands remain under French control. France has long maintained sovereignty, while Vanuatu says the colonial-era arrangement was imposed without Indigenous consent.

The dispute has broader implications beyond the land itself. Control of the islands also affects surrounding waters, including fishing rights and possible seabed resources. Al Jazeera reported that bilateral talks in 2025 led to new negotiations after earlier rounds in 2018 and 2019, but Vanuatu said this year that the process had stalled and that it would seek an international legal ruling.

The case has also become part of political debate in France, where far-right figures have used it to attack President Emmanuel Macron’s government. The ICJ said no proceedings will move forward unless France agrees to take part.