Three victims of last year’s December earthquake are calling for reconsideration of the VT70,000 fee they are being asked to pay to replace their lost passports.
The victims, who requested anonymity, live in Mele Maat and say their homes were badly damaged during the quake. In the chaos, their passports were either destroyed or lost.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. The earth shook, the house collapsed, my passport was lost, but I was told I still have to pay 70,000 vatu, The breakdown of the cost includes a VT50,000 fine and a VT20,000 fee for issuing a new passport.”one victim told VBTC.
Affected residents say “many passports were either buried under rubble, washed away, or lost while people fled for safety — and we are now required to first provide a report from the Vanuatu Police Force confirming the loss or damage due to the earthquake before applying for a new passport.”
The victims are questioning why they are being penalised for something beyond their control:
“Why should someone who committed no crime but lost a passport during a natural disaster still be fined so much?”
Director of Passport Services, Mr. Jeffrey Markson, responded by saying that some exceptions have been made — such as for people who were in the Billabong building or French Embassy during the earthquake — and their fines were waived.
“In natural disasters, we can waive the fees, but people must report the loss immediately. If months pass and only now they report it, it becomes harder to accept,” he said.
Mr. Markson explained the fine exists to encourage responsibility, noting that some people have a pattern of losing passports shortly after receiving them.
“We’ve seen cases where a person gets a passport today and loses it tomorrow. People need to take this document seriously, which is why the VT50,000 fine exists,” he added.
While Immigration hasn’t confirmed any policy change yet, the victims hope authorities will take action to assist genuine disaster-affected cases and allow them to replace their documents without the full financial burden.
