International Disaster Response Law (IDRL) in Tonga

This report was commissioned to examine Tonga’s legal and policy frameworks relating to disaster response, in particular the effectiveness of these frameworks in facilitating the smooth entry of international humanitarian assistance into Tonga during a disaster. This report aims to examine the relevant legal and policy frameworks in Tonga against the recommendations contained in the Guidelines for the Domestic Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance (also known as the “IDRL Guidelines”), which were adopted by the state parties to the Geneva Conventions at the 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in 2007. The IDRL Guidelines are the outcome of nearly a decade of global research and consultations undertaken by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and serve as a practical set of recommendations to governments on how to prepare their relevant legal and policy frameworks to facilitate and receive international humanitarian assistance in to a country, in response to a disaster.

This report is only the third of its kind to be undertaken in the Pacific region, the first having been completed by the Vanuatu Red Cross Society in 2011 and the second by the Cook Islands Red Cross Society in 2012. This report also uses the IFRC’s Model Act for the Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assistance (Model Act) as a guidance tool. The Model Act serves as an example of how States can integrate the recommendations of the IDRL Guidelines into their national laws. The Model Act was developed over a two-year period as a collaboration between the IFRC, the United Nations Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). 

The Category 5 cyclone, which struck Tonga on the 2nd January 2014, was the most powerful storm ever recorded in Tonga and had devastating impacts on the Ha’apai island group. The devastation caused by TC Ian revealed the existing limitations in the nation’s readiness and preparedness. The event highlighted clearly the need to seal the gaps in the existing legal and policy frameworks with a number of core changes implemented particularly to the institutional organization and administration of disaster response.