Tonga is officially supporting the ban of landmines by adopting the Anti-Personnel Mines Ban Convention and becoming a new state party member of the Mine Ban Convention.

The President of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production, and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines (the AP Mine Ban Convention) HE Chikawa Tomiko, welcomed the accession to the treaty by Tonga, the 166^th member of this landmark humanitarian disarmament instrument, "We welcome the great news that the Convention will enter into force for the Kingdom of Tonga on 1 December 2025," she said on 26 June.

Tonga is the second-to-last country in the Pacific region to join the Convention, following the Marshall Islands’ ratification of the Convention earlier this year.

“We are hopeful that the Kingdom of Tonga’s accession will encourage other states both in the Pacific and elsewhere to join the Convention, thus advancing our goal of universalization of the Convention,” added the Convention President.

With Tonga’s accession, there is near universal acceptance of the Convention in the Pacific.

The Federated States of Micronesia, the only country in the region yet to accede to the Convention, has been actively engaging with representatives of the Convention in the recent year, including through its participation in the Intersessional Meetings held in June.

People's Representative of Tongatapu 1, MP Tevita Puloka represented Tonga to the Intersessional Meetings.

Meanwhile, the State Party to the Convention will meet at the Twenty-Second Meeting of the States Parties (22MSP) in Geneva in December this year, with Tonga as a formal member.

AP Mine Ban Convention

The Convention was adopted in Oslo and signed in Ottawa in 1997, and entered into force twenty-six years ago, on 1 March 1999. It is the prime humanitarian and disarmament treaty aimed at ending the suffering and casualties caused by anti-personnel mines by prohibiting their use, stockpiling, production, and transfer, ensuring their destruction, and assisting victims. Together, the States Parties have destroyed over 53 million anti-personnel mines. Implementation of the treaty has contributed to peace and development by making billions of square meters of land safe again for human activity and providing support to those that have fallen victim to the weapon.