Tonga’s Proud Diaspora Confronts Daunting Challenge of Disaster Response

Whether as seasonal laborers or international athletes, tens of thousands of Tongans — more Tongans than the Tongans actually living in Tonga — have resettled around the globe, a vast diaspora that holds tight to its pride and passion for its faraway South Pacific home.

So when a violent volcanic eruption and tsunami struck Tonga nearly two weeks ago, these overseas Tongans were buffeted too, first by worry for their loved ones’ well-being as the disaster cut communication lines, then by the daunting challenge of delivering assistance.

Connectivity has gradually returned in some parts of the country. Many, if not most, Tongans overseas have been able to reconnect with relatives, hearing stories of mothers grabbing bare-bottomed babies and running for safety as the waves approached, or of a blanket of ash settling on cherished family homes. There is a feeling of immense gratitude that the death toll was somehow limited to three.

But the country faces a long recovery, especially on its hard-hit outer islands, and the Tongan diaspora is contending with the ongoing pandemic, a snarled global supply chain and limited internet access as it tries to help.

Tongans overseas, who typically have greater earning potential than those within the country itself, have a long history of sending money home. In 2019, remittances to Tonga were worth the equivalent of 37 percent of its gross domestic product, the highest figure of any nation in the world, according to data from the World Bank. Tonga’s G.D.P. per capita was about $4,600 in 2020, less than one-thirteenth that of the United States.