Tonga – France stands ready to meet the population’s urgent needs (19 January 2022)

France stands ready to meet the Tongan people’s most pressing needs through the FRANZ mechanism for the regional coordination of humanitarian assistance in the event of natural disasters in the Pacific Island nations.

All possible measures are being taken – coordinated by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs’ Crisis and Support Center (CDCS) – to deploy reconnaissance flights operated by the New Caledonian Armed Forces (FANC) to gather information and aerial views of disaster zones, obtain satellite images of the impacted areas, with support from the Airbus Foundation, and deliver drinking water and food from New Caledonia to affected communities. Consultations are under way with Tonga’s authorities for this purpose.

Items such as tents, tarps and tool kits, among other items, from the emergency stock in Nouméa maintained by the CDCS, in partnership with the Red Cross, can be mobilized, as well as a water purification unit with a 250,000 liter/day capacity operated by 40 rescue workers from military units of the civil protection service, and purification stations with a 5,000 liter/hour capacity provided by the French Red Cross in New Caledonia.

The European Union Civil Protection Mechanism (EUCPM) has been activated and the armed forces in New Caledonia that are always standing by and ready to take action in the Pacific will be able to assist with the delivery of this emergency assistance.