‘Vanuatu is not for sale’: Government hits back at New Caledonian MP

Vanuatu has hit back at a New Caledonian politician after he addressed Prime Minister Jotham Napat using the country’s colonial-era name and suggested some of its southern islands could be placed under French administration.

The Vanuatu government has described the letter by French National Assembly member Nicolas Metzdorf as insulting, neo-colonial, and disrespectful of the country’s sovereignty.

It says the letter was not officially received by Napat or his office through diplomatic channels but has rejected its content.

“Vanuatu is not the New Hebrides. We ceased to be a condominium in 1980,” the government said.

Metzdorf, a member of New Caledonia’s anti-independence camp, sent the letter after Vanuatu raised its sovereignty claim over the Matthew and Hunter Islands at the United Nations.

In the letter, dated 1 October, Metzdorf addressed Napat as the prime minister of the “Condominium of the New Hebrides” - the name used when Vanuatu was jointly administered by Britain and France before independence in 1980.

Matthew and Hunter Islands, known in Vanuatu as Umaenupne and Umaeneag, are at the centre of a long-running sovereignty dispute involving Vanuatu and France. Photo/vanuatudigest.com/Bob Makin/file

Metzdorf also mocked Vanuatu’s economy and currency, the vatu, and proposed a “land lease for an indefinite period” that would bring the southern islands of Tanna, Erromango, Aneityum, and Futuna under French administration.

He suggested residents would receive access to French schooling and healthcare as well as French nationality and a European passport.

The Vanuatu government rejected the suggestion that its land, ocean resources or citizenship could be exchanged for economic or political benefits.

“Vanuatu is not for sale. Our citizenship is not a joke for your amusement,” it said.

The government also rejected Metzdorf’s comments about Matthew and Hunter, saying the islands are part of Vanuatu’s history and customary claims.

Vanuatu has taken its sovereignty claim to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after breaking off bilateral negotiations with France. Paris has not accepted the Court’s compulsory jurisdiction over the dispute and has yet to confirm whether it will take part in the case.

The dispute has also drawn a strong response from New Caledonia’s independence coalition, the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS), which supports Vanuatu’s claim to Matthew and Hunter.

FLNKS President Christian Tein called on the French government and National Assembly to disavow Metzdorf’s comments and apologise to Vanuatu.

“Racist, xenophobic, and childish remarks directed at our sister nation in Melanesia must no longer be tolerated,” Tein told journalists.

FLNKS President Christian Tein has called on France to distance itself from Nicolas Metzdorf’s comments and apologise to Vanuatu. Photo/RRB/file

The FLNKS says the reference to the “New Hebrides” is a serious diplomatic insult to an independent Pacific nation.

Vanuatu says it will raise the matter with the Pacific Islands Forum and the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, arguing the letter reflects colonial attitudes that still exist within parts of the French political establishment.

The row comes as the dispute over Matthew and Hunter islands moves into an international legal process with Port Vila calling on Paris to participate in the ICJ case.