A Papua New Guinean anthropologist has warned that a campaign by authorities to remove communities from informal settlements in Port Moresby will not solve growing social problems in PNG’s capital.

The government is determined to end the role of settlements as what Prime Minister James Marape describes as “breeding grounds for terror” as part of its law and order reforms, but recent evictions have run into problems.

Almost half of Port Moresby’s estimated population of around 500,000 live in settlements, often without legal title or access to basic services. Some of the settlements have become notorious as crime hotspots.

However, in late January, police moved into the settlement at 2-Mile, sparking clashes with residents that resulted in two deaths and numerous injuries.

Police then moved to evict another settlement at 4-Mile, but this met with a legal challenge which led to the National Court placing a stay order on the eviction.

While the campaign is essentially paused, Marape has said his government would soon announce a permanent plan to replace unplanned settlements with properly titled residential allotments.

He also apologised to residents affected by the evictions, in recognition that many law-abiding and hard working families have made settlements their home over the years.

In numerous cases, homes were destroyed or razed to the ground, people were left homeless and then simply moved to other areas of vacant land or ended up living with wantoks in other parts of Morebsy.

A PNG anthropologist who has done extensive work on settlements, Dr Fiona Hukula, noted that settlements are long-established communities, stretching back decades.

“Essentially, people came to work in the towns and the cities, like in Port Moresby, and so where there was low cost housing, or where people weren’t able to afford housing, they started living in settlements, and some of the settlements on the outskirts, there’s stories that they made some kind of connection and deals with the local landowners.”

Dr Hukula said over the decades, migration to the towns and cities had grown significantly, but the available housing had not kept pace.

“People are just now coming into the city, really, to access better services, health and education. Some Papua New Guineans are coming to the city to escape various forms of conflict and violence.

“And this is now where we’ve seen just an influx of people coming into the city, and obviously there’s nowhere to live, and they live in settlements, and many of Moresby settlements are populated by families who have been there for several generations.”

‘Difficult thing I have to do’
Many of Moresby’s settlements are now populated by families who have been there for several generations. Removing people from these communities is a complex challenge.

“An eviction is not going to solve the problem, because people will just go and find somewhere else to stay (in Moresby), especially if they’re generational families who have lived in these settlements, who don’t necessarily have the ties back to their rural villages and their connections to their people in their village,” Dr Hukula said.

Adding to the complexities of the eviction drive are social connections forged in the National Capital District (NCD) over the years.

The head of the NCD Police Command Metropolitan Superintendent Warrick Simitab admitted that for him personally, leading the eviction exercises such as at 2-Mile had not been easy.

“It’s been difficult, because I grew up here. I grew up in NCD. For example in 2-Mile. Most of my classmates that I went to school together with, they live there. So for me personally, it’s a difficult thing that I have to do,” he told RNZ Pacific.

Simitab would not be drawn on when the evictions would start up again, saying things were paused while political leaders decide next steps.

Criminal hotspot
The local MP for Moresby South Justin Tkatchenko said the 2-Mile settlement had become a notorious criminal hotspot, and that the people of the city had had enough of it.

“Hold ups nearly every night and every day, women have been raped, attacked, citizens have been held up, cars stolen, injured, abused for nearly 20 years,” he said.

Things came to a head when police were shot at and those living in 2-Mile refused an ultimatum given by police to hand over the criminals, he explained.

Tkatchenko said the government was steadily working on resettling settlers with proper, legal allocations of land to live on.

“We have already allocated land and sub-divided that land for over 400 families in the 2-Mile Hill area and other areas. Some have already been resettled and moved, and others will follow suit,” the MP said.

Dr Hukula acknowledged that crime linked to some settlements was an issue that the general population keenly wanted addressed.

But she said persisting with displacing communities from other settlements would not address the underlying cause of the problem.

‘Ticking time bomb’
“It is a ticking time bomb. It’s going to be like this, where there’s evictions and then people move. And the thing is that the cycle of violence continues, and that’s what we’re trying to address here, the crime.”

The anthropologist stressed that “not everybody in settlements are criminals”, saying the people who lived in settlements were often working people, “people who are doing the menial jobs in the offices, the office cleaners, the people who are drivers, all of these kinds of people also live in settlements.

“And so when they’re being kicked out, there are people who can’t go to work, children who can’t go to school”.

Dr Hukula has researched and written about how settlement communities have developed informal systems of settling disputes or addressing law and order problems such as through local komiti groups or village courts.

These provided a way in which the communities could maintain order and general respect between their people. But “because the settlements have just exploded now it’s not like necessarily everybody comes from the same area or the same province” she said, making it harder to maintain a social balance.

In Dr Hukula’s view, “the village courts and the community leaders still play an extremely important role in being that bridge” between the authorities and the settlement community, and should be supported to play that role.

She said one of the other main things the government could do to help the situation was “to make sure that there’s affordable housing for all levels, all kinds of Papua New Guineans”.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A new documentary film on the devastating “ecocide” happening in West Papua will be screened at a weekend solidarity forum in Auckland Tāmaki Makaurau this weekend.

The 90m feature film, Pesta Babi (“The Pig Feast”) — Colonialism In Our Time, produced by award-winning Papuan journalist Victor Mambor and directed by Dandhy Dwi Laksono, tells a story about the impact of the Indonesian government and military on the lives of thousands of Papuans trying to protect their rainforests from destruction.

It also relates the plight of thousands of internal refugees in the Melanesian region.

The peaceful resistance of local communities is revealed in the documentary as they face up to 54,000 Indonesian troops and large corporate entities make big profits at the expense of an ancient culture.

Dorthea Wabiser of the environmental and human rights group Pusaka, will speak on the deforestation and displacement of communities in the south-eastern district of Merauke  where Indonesia is destroying 2.5 million ha of rainforest for palm oil, sugar cane, biodiesel, rice and other crops.

Military force is deployed to silence any dissent from communities.

Pesta Babi (The Pig Feast).                              Trailer: Jubi Media

Solidarity group hosts
The solidarity group West Papua Action Aotearoa with West Papua Action Tāmaki are hosting the two-day public forum on March 7 and 8 with the speakers from West Papua including environmental champions and filmmakers who operate in militarised zones at considerable risk to their personal safety.

Also, a media talanoa featuring Jubi Media founder Victor Mambor and others will be hosted by the Asia Pacific Media Network (APMN) at the Whānau Community Centre and Hub on March 9.

“The forum is an important event with a number of speakers and filmmakers from West Papua telling the hidden stories of the Indonesian occupation of their country,” said organiser Catherine Delahunty.

The climate impact of their destruction was incredibly serious as was the use of the military to enforce an end to traditional life, food sources, and forests, she said in a statement.

“These people are our Pacific neighbours with a devastating story to tell that our government and others across the world have chosen to ignore,” she said.

“They have a right to come here and to be heard despite the media bans in Indonesia and the desire of successive New Zealand governments to ignore structural genocide in our region.

NZ citizen kidnapped
“Only when a NZ citizen was kidnapped by Papuan soldiers did the government show any interest in West Papua, and this quickly faded once he was safely released thanks especially to West Papuan efforts.”

Other speakers at the forum include veteran activist and writer Maire Leadbeater, Green MP Teanau Tuiono, Hawai’an academic Dr Emalani Case, journalist and author Dr David Robie, Dr Arama Rata of Te Kuaka, and PNG academic Dr Nathan Rew.

• Forum Day One (public sessons), Saturday, March 7:  Old Choral Hall, University of Auckland, 7 Symonds St,  9am–4pm.
• World Premiere of “Pesta Babi” (The Pig Feast) documentary with Q&A – The Academy Cinema, Lorne St, CBD (below the Auckland Public Library), March 7, 6-8.30pm.
• Forum Day Two (solidarity development), Sunday, March 8: The Taro Patch, 9 Dunnotar Rd, Papatoetoe.
• Media Talanoa, Monday, March 9: “Kōrero with Victor Mambor: West Papua: Journalism as Resistance” – Whānau Community Centre and Hub, 165 Stoddard Rd, Mt Roskill (Next to Harvey Norman), 6-8pm.
• Further information: Catherine Delahunty, West Papua Action Tāmaki and West Papua Action Aotearoa. Tel: 021 2421967

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The Media Council of Papua New Guinea (MCPNG) has condemned an alleged assault on a senior female reporter and called on the police to conduct a full independent investigation into the incident last Friday.

Council president Neville Choi also condemned the attack and threat against one of its own
members, saying reporters in Papua New Guinea must be “respected for the work that they do in informing and educating the public of what is happening around them”.

A statement at the weekend by the MCPNG detailed the circumstances of the attack and although the reporter was not named in the report, she was bylined in her news story about injuries suffered by prisoners in an attempted break-out at the Bomana jail near the capital Port Moresby.

The reporter, Rebecca Kuku, is an experienced reporter of The National daily newspaper.

Her article reported that “more than 50 remandees were injured, and nine hospitalised in what a top official described as a failed jail break” at the Bomana Correctional Service Institution on Monday, 23 February 2026. Photographs of some of the injured remandees were published with the article.

The MCPNG statement said “an attack on one journalist is an attack on the media industry”.

The statement said that the attack happened about 11am on Friday, February 27, as Kuku was about to enter Correctional Service headquarters to attend a Press conference.

‘Confronted by 5 officers’
“She was confronted by five Correctional Service male officers who questioned her about an article that she had reported on in relation to injuries sustained by prisoners at the Bomana Correctional Service facility,” the statement said.

“One of the CS officers punched the female reporter on her left ear, to which she reacted by pushing him away in self-defence, while another officer attempted to slap her across the face.

“Following the incident, the reporter returned to the office and reported the matter to her editor before filing a formal police complaint regarding the attack.”

“The unprovoked attack was in relation to a news article in The National carrying the reporter’s byline entitled “50-plus prisoners injured in ‘failed’ jail break.”

The MCPNG quoted a brief statement by The National newspaper management:

“The National merely reported a serious assault upon prisoners perpetrated, it has been confirmed, by warders.

“The Prime Minister has ordered an investigation. For warders to now assault a journalist is reprehensible and does nothing to improve the image of the service.

“We are fully supporting our journalist in filing a criminal assault case. We are calling on the CS command to look into this and discipline the officers responsible.

“We have lodged a complaint with the CS management. Regardless of this we will continue to report fairly all matters to do with CS including this incident.”

‘Damning evidence’
Since the incident, said the MCPNG, said it had received “damning evidence” which included Whatsapp messages and voice notes which reflected the “very worrying conduct of officers” within the Correctional Services.

The media council reminded the public that “freedom of the press is the fundamental right
of journalists and media organisations to report, publish, and disseminate information, news, and opinions without government censorship, intimidation, or undue restriction”.

President Neville Choi condemned the attack and threat, saying reporters in Papua New Guinea must be respected for the work that they do in informing and educating the public of what is happening around them.

He added that citizens not happy with a news report could raise a formal complaint with the MCPNG Media by writing to the council, or via its website complaints page.

In a comment reported by ABC News, Choi said public servants and authorities needed to understand the importance of journalists.

“We’re not here to point fingers at anybody, we’re here to report the facts and for our citizens to make more informed decisions and even for authorities to pay attention to what may be happening that they don’t know about.”

The National reported that Prime Minister James Marape had ordered a full investigation.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A number of remand prisoners at Papua New Guinea’s Bomana Prison have been injured in a confrontation with Correctional Services officers.

Port Moresby General Hospital has confirmed to local media that nine inmates were rushed to hospital, and that two are in a critical condition.

Sources at the maximum security prison in Port Moresby told RNZ Pacific that on Monday officers conducted a standard activity in a cell block where they ordered 62 men held on remand to vacate their cells and allow a search.

The stated objective of the search was to locate contraband, specifically mobile phones.

However, the inmates allege that officers destroyed property belonging to remandees, including “essential legal and court documents, clothing, bedding, and various personal necessities”.

They also claim officers misappropriated property, including food rations.

When the inmates subsequently protested about their belongings being destroyed or taken away, a confrontation resulted.

Officers responded ‘violently’
They claim officers responded violently, called in off-duty officers for reinforcement and brutally assaulted most of the 62 remandees with bush knives, iron bars and other instruments.

A source within PNG’s Correctional Services has confirmed to RNZ Pacific that a confrontation took place between inmates and officers.

Acting Correctional Services Commissioner Bernard Nepo also confirmed the incident to The National newspaper, but did not address the circumstances around the injuries.

RNZ Pacific spoke briefly with the Minister for Corrections, Joe Kuli, who said he was not aware of the incident, but that he would seek information from officials.

RNZ Pacific has sought comment from Correctional Services.

The inmates are seeking intervention by higher authorities over what they describe as “inhumane treatment” and misconduct by Correctional Services officers.

Many of the inmates are being held in prolonged pre-trial detention. Due to a backlog in PNG’s court system, some remandees wait years in prison before going to trial.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea is under a close watch for money laundering, running a risk of being abandoned by global investors.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has placed PNG on its “grey list” due to “strategic deficiencies” in government oversight.

The grey-list means that watchdog officials are monitoring closely, and that the government is time-bound to address their blind spots.

PNG is now one step away from the far more precarious “black list”, where other countries are compelled to stay away in order to protect the international financial system.

There are only three countries on the black list: North Korea, Iran, and Myanmar.

Prime Minister James Marape told local media outlet NBC that he accepted the conclusions of the FATF and welcomed their support.

“There is no point blaming the past. What has been identified, we will fix,” Marape said.

Need secure economy
“It is in our country’s interest to have a secure economy, not one with gaps that can be exploited.”

Marape said that investors could be assured the PNG government was doing all that is can ahead of elections in 2027.

“Our investors will not run away . . .  Papua New Guinea will work its way out of the grey-list and towards a trusted, credible financial standing,”

But as many as 30 banks have publicly ruled out the possibility of investing in Papua LNG, an Exxon-backed project in the Gulf of Papua, as reported by AAP.

The project owners, seeking to produce six million tonnes of LNG per annum for a predominantly Asian market, have yet to make a final decision on whether to move forward.

Far-reaching consequences
A note from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in November 2025 called PNG “a fragile state” noting an “unstable social and political environment”.

It’s a judgment of PNG’s institutions, weakened by conflict and poor governance, thus creating ideal conditions for money laundering and corruption to thrive.

Michael Kabuni, an anti-money laundering researcher at Australian National University, told RNZ Pacific the grey-listing sends a signal to overseas banks and investors that business in PNG is rife with danger.

“We were saying all along that PNG was going to be added to the grey list. The evidence points to it.”

PNG’s greatest vulnerability is the exposure of each MP, bureaucrat and public servant to bribes and corruption, Kabuni said.

The more powerful an individual, the more likely they are to be targeted by criminals, and the greater those incentives to bend the rules would be.

“There was the anti-corruption body that was set up in 2014 called the task force suite,” he noted.

“It did an impressive job in confiscating proceeds of crime, arresting, prosecuting and jailing those involved. But eventually they went after the Prime Minister, and that task force was disbanded.”

Kabuni noted that MPs are given 10 million kina (NZ$3.9 million) each year in the course of their work, but rarely is it all accounted for.

He said it was also common for less money to be allocated to “integrity agencies”, such as watchdogs and enforcement bodies, than they are actually budgeted.

“It’s a combination of factors, from political interference, whether it’s appointments or interference into the investigations, to capacity and resources,” he said.

In the case of Papua LNG, Kabuni said he “would think” that the bank boycott was motivated in large part by the grey-listing.

“Investors use the mutual evaluation reports as a risk matrix to determine whether this country is safe.”

“It’s going to be difficult to draw investors finances . . .  we’ve never actually had an investor come in during the grey-list period.”

Risks for New Zealand
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand said banks were required to assess the associated risks with the countries that they dealt with.

“This may mean that transactions to or from Papua New Guinea may be subject to greater scrutiny,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Department of Internal Affairs said all customers from PNG are considered “high risk” under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009.

“This could be a PNG company operating in New Zealand or a non-resident individual (such as a person on a temporary work visa),” a spokesperson said.

“As a result, an enhanced level of customer due diligence must always be applied.”

Anti-money laundering expert Kerry Grass told RNZ Pacific that businesses dealings with PNG were inherently risky.

“Trade-based money laundering (trading value for value) is not captured as an activity under the AML/CFT Act for international reporting obligations of trade,” Grass said.

Escaping obligations
“Hence I can trade you a shipping container of car parts for 1kg of Cocaine hidden in a container of coconuts. That type of international trading is escaping obligations of reporting under the AML/CFT Act if no wire transfer is relied on.”

In an ideal world, Grass said, customs officials would be able to manage risk based on knowledge of the source, but this could be disguised.

Efforts to stop ill-gotten gains from PNG to NZ would depend on their ability to decipher this information.

“I don’t think New Zealand is actually operating at a jurisdiction level where these controls or knowledge are actually down to that level,” she said.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Several small Pacific countries regularly vote in support of Israel at the United Nations in spite of overwhelming opposition for the Zionist state in the Middle East over its genocide in Gaza.

Why?

In this AJ+ video short, senior presenter/producer Dena Takruri sets out to explain the Pacific backing for Tel Aviv, including from Fiji which is understood to be supplying peacekeepers for US President Donald Trump’s International Stabilisation Force (ISF) for Gaza due to be announced this week.

Israel has been building religious and diplomatic connections with the Pacific Islands, as six nations voted with it on the Gaza ceasefire issue.

“Israel is left standing alone with the backing of the US . . . and the South Pacific,” says Takruri.

“As Israeli’s biggest financial and military backer, the US makes sense.

“But why is a region in the Global South, on nearly the complete opposite side of the globe, co-signing genocide and apartheid?

Evangelical identity
“To understand the Pacific Islands countries, you have to understand the region’s identity. And that’s mostly Christian, like 90 percent Christian.

“And that’s because European missionaries in the 19th century focused on proselytising tribal leaders. Once their chiefs were swayed, their tribes would go with them.”

Christians in the Pacific took a very literal reading of the Bible, a feature of evangelicism.

For example, in Fiji, which has just opened an embassy in Jerusalem, one in four people identify as evangelicals – Christian Zionists.

To take advantage of this, Israel has deployed a special identity-based diplomatic “mythmaking” task force presenting Jews in Israel as being “indigenous” people returning to their “homeland”.

This notion clashes with the reality that Zionists settled in Palestine and expelled 750,000 Palestinians during the 1948 Nakba –  “the catastrophe” – at the founding of the state of Israel.

“It’s the latest example of the Global North using the Global South for its own gain,” concludes Takruri.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The New Zealand government says it hopes an electrification aid project that was halted in Papua New Guinea can still be completed if security improves.

Work on the Enga Electrification Project in PNG’s Enga province has stopped due to ongoing violence around the project area in Tsak Valley.

New Zealand spent NZ$6.7 million over the last six years on the project which aimed to connect at least 4000 households to electricity.

It was part of combined efforts with the US, Australia and Japan to help 70 percent of PNG homes get connected by 2030, as agreed to in 208 when PNG hosted the APEC Leaders Summit.

However, contractors had to be withdrawn from the area after a surge in tribal fighting in August last year, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“Ending New Zealand’s involvement is a disappointing outcome, particularly given New Zealand’s longstanding and extensive efforts to deliver energy infrastructure in Enga Province,” the spokesperson said.

“New Zealand is working on a transition plan with partners in Papua New Guinea. It is hoped this will allow for the successful completion of the project if security improves.”

Northern lines installed
The ministry said 13.5 KM of distribution lines in the North of the project area were largely installed but were yet to be commissioned or connected to houses.

It said 12km of distribution lines in the south of the project area remained at various stages of construction.

Meanwhile, PNG’s Foreign Minster Justin Tkatchenko told local media that New Zealand would hand over equipment from the project to PNG Power Limited, a state-owned entity.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s government has defended the use of force to evict residents of an informal settlement in the capital Port Moresby.

Police used tear gas to move people out of the Two-Mile settlement last week, while heavy machinery was used to tear down homes and two people were killed in clashes.

Acting Prime Minister John Rosso said the forced eviction was necessary to protect law-abiding citiizens from long-running criminal activity in the community.

The National reports him saying the settlement was on state land which had been unlawfully occupied for years.

“The settlement has, for far too long, been a major source of law and order problems, resulting in numerous attacks on city residents and police, as well as injuries to innocent people,” Rosso said.

“This eviction is not happening without reason. It is the direct result of repeated criminal activities and serious threats to public safety.

“The state has a responsibility to protect law-abiding citizens and restore order.”

Rosso, also the Minister for Lands, Physical Planning and Urbanisation expressed sympathy for the hardworking people who had been living at Two-Mile, saying that not everyone there had been involved in criminal activities.

The eviction operation prompted unrest and clashes between some settlers and police.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Political leaders in a Papua New Guinea province plagued by gun violence are making a collective stand to stop it.

There is a new sense of political will among Enga Province’s political leaders and police to come down hard on the use of illegal weapons. But they are confronted by a daunting task.

Recent research by Joe Barak of PNG’s National Research Institute has tracked the escalation of tribal and election-relate violence in PNG, particularly in the Highlands where the most frequent violent attacks are recorded.

The research shows that Enga Province had the highest number of incidents, 79 between the years 2018 and 2022, or 27.8 percent of the overall number of incidents in the Highlands region during that period.

Prime Minister James Marape this month laid out a ‘war on guns’-type plan to crack down on lawlessness in PNG by asserting the authority of the state. But all too often in Enga the authorities have been part of the problem.

Each of the past few general elections have sparked deadly fighting between supporters of rival candidates in at least two of Enga’s electorates, with fingers of blame pointed often at political leaders.

Furthermore, there’s now more high powered weapons in circulation than ever, and in many cases they are sold by the country’s security forces, police and military.

This set of issues is not confined to Enga, but this province has seen the worst of it. A massacre in an Engan village in 2024 which killed at least 49 people was shocking even for a part of the country familiar with tribal warfare.

No respect for authority
Enga’s Governor, Sir Peter Ipatas, said people in his province had taken lawlessness to another level using modern guns, with no respect for authority.

“In the past, the tribe used to take ownership and they would discuss whether to fight or not,” he explained.

“These days, you have got young people who are on drugs or whatever, causing fights, and a lot of innocent people’s lives are at risk, so we need to come up with a tough strategy to identify all these culprits.”

Prosecutions have been lacking and this needed to change, Ipatas said, adding that it required police to “actually do their job to make sure that our people who do not respect authority, who break the laws, are investigated and prosecuted properly”.

A generally poorly resourced police force has long struggled to deal with social disorder in Enga.

Also Engans have had a lot to deal with themselves in the past couple of years, including landslide disasters, political instability and displacement of communities caused by the Porgera gold mine operations. Through it all, the violence persists.

Lethal force
Early last month in Enga’s Wapenamanda district, a raid on suspected illegal firearms holders by the elite police Kumul 23 unit resulted in five people being killed.

Despite criticism about alleged deaths of innocent people in the raid, Marape was unapologetic about the use of lethal force to target illegal gunmen

He said this approach would continue because those driving violent conflict through the build-up of illegal weapons had ruined countless lives in this area.

“Wapenamanda was a peaceful district — it’s now destroyed,” the prime minister said.

However, the former commander of PNG’s Defence Force, retired Major-General Jerry Singirok, commended Enga’s political leaders for finally saying “enough is enough”.

He said they were taking ownership of their past mistakes, and showing a willingness to get their clans and tribesmen to put down their guns.

Illegal guns
However, before Enga’s violence problem can be stemmed, the build-up of illegal firearms needs to be addressed.

General Singirok has been pushing for gun reform in the country for decades. He headed a UN-backed report into gun violence in the Highlands which was published last year, finding there could be as many as 100,000 illegal weapons in circulation in the region, many of which are sold by police, military and corrections officers.

“I had a particular encounter where a tribesman showed me a pump action shotgun bought from the police force, and the young people on the street said ‘well, if you don’t have bullets, we buy [them] from the military and the police’,” Singirok said.

“So as part of the crackdown, the government must hold security forces accountable and [serve] heavy penalties on those soldiers who are moonlighting their weapons or selling their weapons or selling ammunition.

“It’s very important to cut off the supply chain of weapons and ammunition,” he said, noting that security forces needed to enforce command and control, and regularly account for use of weapons and ammunition from their armories.

The government is looking at a range of options to reduce the massive build-up of illegal firearms across the country, with Marape mentioning a possible amnesty period and a buy-back scheme.

Singirok said the major 2005 gun reform report he authored made clear that incentives are the way to go. He said communities were more likely to give up arms if they know projects that help develop health, education or other services can be established in their area as a result.

Heat on police
Both Singirok and Ipatas said they expected that having an Engan Member of Parliament as PNG’s new police minister would help combat law and order problems in the province.

The prime minister appointed one of Enga’s veteran politicians, Sir John Pundari, the MP for Kompiam-Ambum, an electorate which has suffered repeated tribal violence since the 2022 national elections.

Firstly, rather than Enga, Pundari had his sights on PNG’s capital Port Moresby, where he singled out police senior commanders, saying they need to set an example for the rest of the country by lifting the standard of policing.

“Improve your duty statements, monitor those KPIs, do audit against those KPIs. The deliverables must be visible. The outcomes must be felt. The pride of policing in this country must start from the National Capital District.”

Pundari’s message may have been corporate in language, but it reflected hopes of many Papua New Guineans: for police to simply do their job.

To do their job they need to be properly resourced — that has not always been the case. It will have to be if police are to stop the fighting, the massacres and political vendettas in Enga.

Pundari is pushing for the death penalty to be brought back to deter violent crimes in the country.

PNG’s political class is sounding deadly serious about ending gun violence, but the ‘big men’ will have to lead by example.

As far as Enga is concerned, the true test of that commitment will come in next year’s general election.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

The parents of rare conjoined twins say doctors in Papua New Guinea told them to take the boys home as they were beyond hope.

“Thank God we [defied them] and we are where we are,” the boys’ dad Kevin Mitiam, who is also a twin, said in Tok Pisin.

Tom and Sawong — who were fused at the lower abdomen — had unplanned emergency surgery to divide them at Sydney Children’s Hospital on December 7.

The surgery was brought forward as Tom, the weaker twin, was deteriorating rapidly. A large multi-disciplinary team took seven hours to separate the boys but Tom died soon after he was detached from his brother.

The team spent a further five hours working on Sawong, who is doing well and could return home by the end of February.

“The Port Moresby General Hospital paediatrician team told us [twice] to go back home, that there was no hope for them,” their mum Fetima said in Tok Pisin.

“We were even told not to trust Jurgen Ruh [the family’s spokesperson] because they said he was giving us false hope.

“I am happy and I laugh when I see my baby Sawong and think about that advice,” she said.

“I am full of hope, I cuddle him and talk to him every day, as he grows.”

Hospital response
RNZ Pacific has asked Port Moresby General Hospital for a response.

The two-month-olds were medivacced from Port Moresby to Sydney on December 4, following medical advice that they undergo urgent surgery.

The move followed weeks of tense wrangling over the viability of separating them, which country would accept the case and perform the operation, and how it would be financed.

The boys shared a liver, bladder and parts of their gastrointestinal tract, but had their owns limbs and genitals.

They also had partial spina bifida — a neural tube defect that affects the development of a newborn’s spine and spinal cord. Tom also had a congenital heart defect, one kidney and malformed lungs.

Doctors at Port Moresby General Hospital initially explored the possibility of transferring the twins to Sydney, but the plans fell through when funding from a charity was pulled.

The hospital later made a u-turn and advised the couple to stay in PNG or face the death of either one or both of the boys.

Final decision
The Medical Director, Dr Kone Sobi, said previously that multiple discussions led to their final decision, and added: “The underlying thing is that both twins present with significant congenital anomalies and we feel that even with care and treatment in a highly specialised unit, the chances of survival are very very slim.

“In fact the prognosis is extremely bad and the twin’s future is unpredictable.”

Ruh told RNZ Pacific on Thursday that although Sawong remained in intensive care, monitored constantly by a specialist nurse, he was “strong and doing well”.

He was no longer on a ventilator, did not need supplementary oxygen and was gaining about 50 grams a day in weight, he said.

“The hose fitting on his nose is simply to monitor his breathing and to assist a little with extra pressure in his lungs.

“Doctors have now closed up a hole in his stomach with stretched skin and he is improving every day, but it will be another month or so before he is released, possibly by the end of February.

“Occasionally Sawong gives the biggest smile on earth; he is just happy with what he has.”

100 days old
The hospital recently celebrated Sawong reaching 100 days old with a simple but touching celebration.

“It threw a little party for Sawong, his parents and all the staff who have been part of his journey. Fetima cut a frozen cheesecake on his behalf,” Ruh said.

A massive funeral for Tom was held a month ago at the Mega Church in Hillsong, Sydney.

The family are expected to scatter his ashes after they return home to their remote village in PNG’s Morobe Province.

While the complex surgery was a success, the results were bittersweet for the parents.

“I thought it was amazing, after the surgery a nurse gave Tom to them and they spent hours just cuddling him,” Ruh previously told RNZ Pacific.

The parents had been through a “rollercoaster” of emotions since the twins were born on  October 9.

“They had accepted that they would lose Tom and there’s been many tears shed along the way,” he said previously.

Funding search
Ruh said last month that at one stage during negotiations the Sydney Children’s Hospital requested A$2 million to do the operation, but funds and guarantees could not be found.

RNZ Pacific understands that the parents had approached the PNG government for funding, but Ruh would not confirm this.

The ABC had reported that the hospital had asked for payment before the twins were transferred from PNG; however Ruh said as far as he knew no money had changed hands.

When asked how it was financed he said: “It’s a mixture of funding which took too long to organise.

“It should never have taken eight weeks to get the twins separated, it should have happened in eight days, but no referral pathway [to a foreign hospital] exists,” Ruh said.

He laid the blame on the PNG health system, and said babies born prematurely or with birth defects were lost in the system.

“It was a very disappointing ride we had, in terms of overall support from Port Moresby General Hospital. Then there were delays in getting them to Australia.

“We were exploring faster options, but we did not have any support.”

Private hospital
The boys were eventually moved from the public hospital to Paradise Private Hospital in Port Moresby, which provided them with free care.

The family felt the twins would be “safer” and have less chance of cross-infection from other babies, particularly of malaria.

A multi-disciplinary team from Sydney Children’s Hospital flew to Port Moresby on November 21 to assess the twins, amid growing public pressure in Australia and PNG.

At that point the boys only had a combined weight of 2.9kg, and Tom was relying on Sawong to keep him alive.

In a letter to doctors in PNG, the Sydney team said surgery was in fact feasible although Tom was not expected to survive it.

“The reason for the early separation is that Sawong is working hard to support Tom,” the letter said.

Urgent transfer
The team had recommended the twins be urgently transferred in a specialised aircraft with intensive care facilities plus medical and nursing personnel.

The boys underwent multiple investigations at Sydney Children’s Hospital, including an MRI and CT scan to define their anatomy and vascular supply.

“Before the surgery, the medical team [in Sydney] said it was a miracle that Tom had survived for two months,” Ruh said previously.

A huge team including liver surgeons, colorectal surgeons and urologists, specialised cardiac anaesthetists, cardiologists, neonatologists and interventional radiologists were involved in the surgery, supported by a large team of nursing and allied staff.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

It is well known that the people of Bougainville want independence. In the 2019 referendum, 98.3 percent of them voted for it.

And in 2025, Ishmael Touroma, a strong advocate of independence, was re-elected to the position of President of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, further confirmation of the widespread support for independence among the people of Bougainville.

But what do the people of PNG think about Bougainville independence? Much less is known about this. As a start, we included a question about Bougainville independence in the 2025 annual survey of University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) students.

When asking the question, we reminded the students we surveyed of the strong support in Bougainville for independence, and told them that, as mentioned above, “in a recent referendum, an overwhelming majority (98.31 percent) of voters in Bougainville chose to have full independence from PNG over greater autonomy.”

We then asked the students to consider this outcome when selecting from one of four options that we presented to them.

They could say that Bougainville should be granted full independence, that it should remain in PNG with greater autonomy, that they oppose any changes in Bougainville’s current status, or that they were unsure.

Only 27 percent of the 389 School of Business and Public Policy students who took the survey supported full independence. The majority, 59 percent said that Bougainville should remain part of PNG but with greater autonomy. Of the balance, 11 percent said they were unsure and 3 percent said that they supported no change in the current status.

Opposition to independence was widespread across all four regions of PNG, but was slightly stronger among students from the Momase and Highlands regions, and lower among students from the Islands and Southern regions.

However, these differences are not statistically significant. Even in the Islands region, which might be expected to be more sympathetic to Bougainville independence, a majority of students were in fact opposed.

The most supportive was the Southern region, but even there 51 percent of students were opposed to independence.

Female students were slightly more supportive of independence (25 percent male vs 30 percent female). Male students were more likely to support greater autonomy (62 percent vs 52 percent) and women were more likely to be unsure (15 percent vs 9 percent). Again these differences were not statistically significant.

In summary, this survey of some almost 400 UPNG students found widespread opposition to Bougainville independence. We want to stress that we are not endorsing these views, nor criticising them. We are just reporting them.

The opposition we find among students is probably reflective of views more generally in PNG, at least among the elite, and might help explain why PNG’s political leaders are dragging their feet on the issue if not “fundamentally opposed” to independence.

Few, such as the former prime minister Peter O’Neill, have come out openly to express their opposition to independence. But few, such as the late Morobe Premier Luther Wenge, have been openly supportive either.

There seems to be a general reluctance among PNG’s political leadership to respond to the 2019 referendum result, much to the frustration of Bougainville’s political leadership.

On the one hand, it seems that no-one wants a confrontation. On the other, PNG’s political leadership, like UPNG’s student body, doesn’t seem to find the 2019 referendum result a convincing reason to support the cause of Bougainville independence.

If our survey is anything to go by, the PNG elite is willing to compromise (to allow Bougainville greater autonomy) but not to support its break away from the nation.

If Bougainville wants independence, it will have to do more to win hearts and minds in the rest of PNG. Our survey shows that it is not enough to simply reiterate the overwhelming support that independence has within Bougainville.

The students were explicitly reminded of this and still only one-quarter supported independence. If Bougainville is to succeed in its independence aspirations, it will need to do more to convince PNG’s elite, or at least its future elite, why it should be allowed to break away.

Anna Kapil is a Lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea. She completed a Master of International and Development Economics at the Australian National University. Anna was a Greg Taylor Scholar at the Development Policy Centre.

Dr Stephen Howes is director of the Development Policy Centre and professor of economics at the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University.

For other findings from the 2025 survey, see this article series and the 2025 PNG Update presentation. The results of the first survey, conducted in 2024, are reported here. Statistical significance was judged using the Chi-square test. Republished from the DevPolicy blog under Creative Commons.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Sāmoa is set to become the third Pacific nation to have an embassy in Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Polataivao Schmidt told a gathering of the Sāmoa branch of the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem on Tuesday he had instructed the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin work on the opening of an office in Jerusalem.

He said he wanted the embassy up-and-running this year.

The move follows the establishment of Fiji’s embassy in Jerusalem last year, and the opening of Papua New Guinea’s embassy in the city in 2023.

Only a handful of countries recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel — in 2017, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly (128-9) during a rare emergency meeting to ask nations not to establish diplomatic missions in the historic city as Occupied East Jerusalem is envisaged as the capital of the State of Israel.

In discussing his decision, Laaulialemalietoa talked about Sāmoa’s connections to Israel.

He touched on the meeting he had with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel while receiving medical treatment in New Zealand last year.

“I am very grateful when the [deputy] Minister of Foreign Affairs came all the way from Jerusalem to visit me when I was sick in New Zealand,” he said.

‘Blessing’ for Sāmoa PM
“It was a blessing for me to know that Israel has also had an eye [on] Sāmoa, because we had a lot of connection in many ways.”

Haskel was in New Zealand briefly in November following a trip to Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

Fiji’s embassy, in September, was met with mixed reactions, with the coordinator of the Fiji Women’s Crisis Centre saying Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka was “not on the right side of history”.

Fiji’s government called it “a strategic step” to enhance cooperation between the two nations, and reaffirmed its support for a peaceful two-state solution “where both Israelis and Palestinians can live in dignity and security”.

“Fiji has maintained longstanding diplomatic relations with Israel while also supporting the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people,” it said.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

SPECIAL REPORT: By Scott Waide, RNZ Pacific PNG correspondent

A Papua New Guinea police operation in Tsak Valley, Enga Province, in the early hours of Friday, 2 January 2026 — which resulted in five deaths — has prompted calls for an independent investigation following sharply differing accounts of events from police and community sources, as well as a growing rift in public opinion.

The operation, conducted by members of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary under an anti-terror policing framework, has been described as a success by police leadership, but has drawn strong criticism from some local leaders and clansmen.

Acting Police Commissioner Samson Kua said in a statement that security forces commenced operations shortly after 3am, “executing coordinated raids on two locations” in Tsak Valley.

The objective, he said, was to locate and apprehend suspects believed to be in possession of factory-made firearms linked to tribal fighting and criminal activity.

Various sources have indicated that Winis Kaki, one of the primary suspects and a prominent member of the Yambaran Warenge tribe, was armed during the raid when police shot him.

His wife, Margaret, a primary school teacher, was also killed.

The other victims have been identified as Nancy Kipongi, 60, a former ward councillor; Glendale Taso, 30; and Isaac Ipu, 27, who was reportedly shot near his food garden.

In its statement, police said officers attempting entry at the first location, identified as Winis Kaki’s residence, were met with gunfire from inside the dwelling.

One officer was wounded. “Police returned fire, killing the armed suspect,” the statement said. An M16 rifle and a loaded magazine were recovered.

Police also confirmed the arrest of Joseph Tati, a pastor and community leader. Police further said another armed individual was shot dead during the operation.

Officers recovered a second M16 rifle, a modified .38-calibre revolver, and ammunition for 5.56mm and 7.62mm weapons. Three additional suspects were arrested.

“This engagement, which lasted over an hour, demonstrates our resolve to disarm these groups despite the high risks involved,” Kua said, adding that intelligence indicated the seized rifles were being used as “hired guns” in tribal conflicts.

A Tsak Valley clansman, who did not want to be identified, said his cousin was among those killed and claimed that at least one of the young men who died was not armed at the time.

He acknowledged that firearms are widespread in the valley, often kept for what residents describe as protection.

“It’s no secret that there are a lot of guns in the hands of individuals in the valley,” he said.

“Many arm themselves for protection against their tribal enemies. It is also no secret that prominent members of the community are often expected to contribute resources, including weapons, to support their tribesmen.”

Police have not confirmed these claims.

Government reaction
Over the last five years, the Papua New Guinea government has moved to strengthen its legal framework and policing response to escalating violence involving illegal firearms and large-scale tribal fighting.

Amendments to firearms legislation have significantly increased penalties for the unlawful possession, use and trafficking of guns, with some offences now carrying life imprisonment.

At the same time, new laws addressing what the government has described as domestic terrorism have expanded police powers to act against organised armed groups that pose a broader threat to public safety.

These changes have been accompanied by structural shifts within law enforcement, including the establishment of an anti-terror policing capability.

Prime Minister James Marape has publicly backed the Tsak Valley operation, warning against the continued use and possession of illegal firearms.

“The operation at Tsak Valley, Wapenamenda, was a targeted operation,” Marape said. “Police were acting on intelligence relating to known hired gunmen operating within the province”.

He reaffirmed the government’s zero-tolerance policy on illegal firearms and warned communities against harbouring gunmen.

Marape also said that where innocent people are affected during operations, the state — not individual police officers — would take responsibility, subject to proper investigation.

Local people collect bullet casings after the police raid. Video: RNZ correspondent

Public reaction
The operation has triggered mixed and sharply divided reactions across Enga Province.

Family members of those killed are preparing petitions to the national government, calling for an independent investigation into the conduct of the raid and accountability for what they describe as the deaths of innocent people.

At the same time, a considerable number of residents have expressed support for the police action, arguing it was necessary to curb the spread of illegal firearms and restore a sense of security.

The contrasting responses reflect a broader tension in Enga — deep grief and anger among affected families alongside growing public frustration with prolonged tribal violence and the increasing lethality of conflicts exacerbated by high-powered weapons.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s largest resource development has reached a milestone more than a decade in the making.

The PNG Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project has fully retired its bank-financed project debt, closing one of the most complex financing arrangements in the country’s economic history.

The debt, raised in the late 2000s to fund construction of onshore and offshore infrastructure, totalled about US$16 billion, including interest.

Although liquefied natural gas exports began in 2014, repayments continued for more than a decade, limiting how much revenue flowed to equity holders, including the state through Kumul Petroleum Holdings, which holds a 19.4 percent stake.

In December 2025, joint venture partners accelerated the final repayment, clearing the facility around six months ahead of schedule. Sustained production, disciplined cost control and favourable global LNG prices helped bring forward the close, removing a long-standing financial constraint from the project.

Prime Minister James Marape described the milestone as a national achievement during a site visit to the LNG facilities.

“PNG LNG is now debt-free. It is a free-standing, world-class asset for the country,” he said, linking the early repayment to Papua New Guinea’s credibility as a destination for large-scale global investment.

The Prime Minister has pointed to the project’s long delivery arc — from financing during the global financial crisis to more than a decade of continuous operations — as evidence that PNG can sustain projects of international scale.

What changes now
With the project finance facility closed, PNG LNG’s future revenues will no longer be directed first to servicing debt. After operating costs, cash will flow directly to shareholders, including Kumul Petroleum and, by extension, the state.

That reshapes the project’s financial profile. It does not create an immediate budget windfall, but it improves long-term income prospects and balance-sheet flexibility for PNG’s national oil company.

Kumul Petroleum chairman Gerea Aopi said the timing was strategically important as PNG prepares for its next major gas development.

“Our increased income will strategically flow into and assist us to put together the necessary finance for PNG to take up its mandated 22.5 percent equity in the forthcoming Papua LNG Project, especially during its four-to-five-year construction period,” he said.

Aopi cautioned the announcement should not be read as a sudden cash surplus, noting future income remains exposed to global petroleum prices and largely committed to upcoming obligations.

Malaysia centralised its hydrocarbons industry under Petronas, a commercially run national oil company with broad autonomy. Profits were reinvested domestically over decades, helping fund infrastructure, education and industrial diversification while reducing reliance on raw commodity exports.

Indonesia followed a hybrid approach through Pertamina, operating alongside international partners under production-sharing contracts. While governance challenges persisted, the model allowed the state to retain resource ownership while building domestic capability over time.

Papua New Guinea entered the LNG era later and adopted a project-finance joint-venture model, anchored by foreign operators and lenders. The state participates primarily as an equity partner through Kumul Petroleum rather than as an operator or sector-wide manager.

Large upfront borrowing was repaid from future LNG revenues, meaning debt servicing took priority over dividends for much of PNG LNG’s life.

The retirement of PNG LNG’s debt narrows the gap with regional peers, but it does not change the underlying model PNG follows — one reliant on project-by-project financing rather than a fully integrated national oil company structure.

That distinction now shapes decisions around Papua LNG and P’nyang, where the question is not only how much equity PNG holds, but how revenues are managed once construction and financing pressures return.

From one mega-project to the next
With PNG LNG’s debt chapter closed, attention turns to the next phase of the gas industry. Projects such as Papua LNG and P’nyang are intended to extend exports well into the 2030s, but they bring fresh financing needs, risks and negotiations.

Supporters argue that retiring PNG LNG’s debt early strengthens investor confidence and shows PNG can honour long-term agreements. Each new project, however, will reopen familiar debates over equity, landowner benefits and the balance between fiscal returns and long-term development.

The early retirement of PNG LNG’s project debt closes a significant chapter in Papua New Guinea’s resource history.

Whether it marks a decisive shift in how resource wealth supports long-term development — or simply resets the cycle ahead of the next mega-project — will depend on the choices that follow.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Papua New Guinea’s 2026 National Budget has drawn immediate opposition criticism from East Sepik Governor Allan Bird, who says the government continues to overspend, overestimate revenue, and deliver few tangible results for ordinary citizens.

The K$30.9 billion (about NZ$12.8 billion) spending plan, unveiled earlier this week, has been characterised by analysts as highly political and aligned with next year’s election cycle.

Critics argue the Marape government has again prioritised high-visibility projects over long-term structural programs that would strengthen essential services.

Bird said this year’s budget followed a familiar pattern — record allocations on paper, but limited real-world improvements.

He pointed to ongoing shortages in medicines, persistent law and order challenges, and what he viewed as a widening gap between spending announcements and service delivery outcomes.

He has also raised concerns about revenue assumptions, noting that last year’s budget was short by K$2.5 billion and required significant mid-year corrections.

Bird believes similar risks exist in the 2026 plan, warning that overly optimistic revenue forecasts could again lead to financial strain.

Flawed fiscal discipline
Another key criticism centres on fiscal discipline. According to Bird, spending outside the formal budget framework remains common, with additional expenditures later reconciled in the Final Budget Outcome.

He said this practice undermines transparency and highlights deeper issues in the government’s financial management.

While the government insists the budget focuses on infrastructure, job creation, and community development, public reaction online has been overwhelmingly sceptical.

Many Papua New Guineans are questioning why record-high spending has not translated into better healthcare, education, or security.

For Bird and many critics, the central measure of any budget is whether it improves the everyday lives of citizens. Based on recent years, they believe the benefits have been limited — and they see little in the 2026 budget to suggest that trend will change.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz