Author Archives: biancac

An Epidemic of Gender-Based Violence in Papua New Guinea

Written by Bianca Curtin

There is an epidemic sweeping the nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) — and it’s not COVID-19. Gender-based violence (GBV) has rapidly been on the rise in PNG across the past few decades, now reaching proportions wherein the nation is among the world’s most dangerous places to exist as a woman or girl.

The statistics speak for themselves: in Papua New Guinea…

• A woman is beaten every thirty seconds
• Over 1.5 million experience GBV annually
• Forty-one percent of men admit to having committed rape
• More than two-thirds of women and girls between ages fifteen and forty-nine suffer physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime — nearly twice that of the global average

Whatsmore, data analysts suggest that GBV is likely under-reported in the region, given that the overwhelming majority of survivors who seek assistance do so through informal channels, predominantly in familial and village networks.

This past May, a three-day parliamentary inquiry was conducted to investigate the status of gender-based violence in PNG, which was said to have become more rampant following the COVID-19 pandemic. It found that the nation was severely lacking in terms of resources and policy coordination combative of GBV, especially once compared to the staggering quantity of such cases. In 2020 alone, about 15,500 domestic violence cases were reported — yet merely 250 individuals were prosecuted, less than half of whom were ever convicted.

The inquiry’s committee members thus compiled and issued a seventy-one item list of recommendations to the parliament of Papua New Guinea, including suggestions to increase funding for counseling services, implement widespread reproductive health services, and follow through with the federal action plan to counter alleged sorcery-related violence. They also convened with international development partners so as to establish partnerships against GBV.

(Source: United Nations)

In September, the prime minister of Papua New Guinea, James Marape, claimed that his administration was moving towards implementation of the reports recommendations — however, any federal records or plans pertaining to this has yet to be revealed.

“A Slow Genocide” of the West Papuan People

Written by Bianca Curtin

In 1969, the United Nations made the ultra controversial decision to sanction Indonesian annexation of New Guinea’s western half, West Guinea, following a mandated plebiscite conducted by Indonesian forces, which has been widely recognized for its intentionally undemocratic nature. Six years prior, Indonesia invaded West Papua — merely two years after the nation was officially declared independent. In the decades since, separatists of the Free Papua Movement (OPM) have maintained insurgent operations at a relatively subtle level, due to Indonesia’s criminalization of independence advocacy and legal classification of separatists as terrorists. For an individual to so much as fly the West Papuan Morning Star flag can incur them a prison sentence of up to fifteen years. The chief demand of OPM activists: a fair referendum, in which all West Papuans would be granted to freedom to vote for or against their independence as a nation.

Since the annexation in 1969, upwards of 100,000 indigenous peoples have been killed, by means of homicide, violence, starvation, and disease — though estimates place the true number much closer to half a million. The West Papuan population has thus experienced almost zero population growth since the early seventies, as compared to Papua New Guinea, that has grown over five-fold in the same duration. This violent oppression has coincided with Indonesia’s efforts to replicate the euro-colonial structures of previous occupations in the territory. Via copious financial incentives, authorities have drawn hundreds of thousands of Indonesian migrants to West Papua, diluting the already diminished Native population in such a way that places them as minorities in their own nation. Today, about 50% of the region’s population is composed of non-indigenous peoples, most of whom are Indonesian. This has been coupled with vehement efforts to replace Christianity with Islam as the dominant religion of the land, yet another means of advancing the erosion of West Papuan culture. Forced migration of tribal peoples from their highland settlements to coastal areas has also furthered Indonesia’s imperialist regime, wherein authorities are more able to control Native populations, through both rampant policing and malaria outbreaks. These aspects have collectively served as a “slow genocide” of West Papuan peoples.

Eurocentrist Colonialism in Papua New Guinea

Written by Bianca Curtin

The history of colonization in Papua New Guinea is one ripe with eurocentrism and western-based ethnocentrism, as has typically been true of colonial efforts in foreign nations. This history substantially took root in the nineteenth century, as Dutch colonists conducted trade throughout the Pacific archipelago. Slave trade was particularly prominent during this time, with over 20,000 indigenous peoples forcibly transported to locations such as Fiji and Australia’s Queensland through the year 1884. In 1889, Germany and Great Britain settled to annex the region between them, the former acquiring New Guinea as a colony and the latter declaring Papua a British Protectorate. Britain would go on to transfer rule of the territory to the newly federated nation of Australia in 1906, who would later invade German New Guinea amidst the events of World War I. It was not until 1945 that the nation assumed total control of both regions, and another four years before they united, thus becoming what we now know as Papua New Guinea. Australia’s administrative activity in the territories was, however, impaired by their systemic eurocentrism. Their ignorance in terms of the distinct cultural, natural, and socio-structural fortitude of both New Guinea and Papua produced little to no economic development.

Papuans began to demand independence in the wake of World War II, though the might of this movement was weakened by the PNGs century-long political and economic stagnation under euro-colonial rule. With a population wherein the majority was illiterate and most citizens engaged in low income occupations, nominally subsistence farming, Papuans from all over experienced little to no interaction with public officials, or government in general. Thus, feelings of nationhood and ethnocentrism were scarcely prominent, thereby mitigating the strength of pro-independence advocacy. Nonetheless, such efforts gained significant traction in the early 1970s following a sharp rise in unemployment and subsequent mass riots, self governance finally being accomplished in 1973. Papua New Guinea’s first prime minister, Sir Michael Somare, would establish the nation’s first independent government shortly thereafter in 1975 — this enormous shift fostering the beginnings of ethnocentrism among Papuans for years to come.

Biodiversity and Ethnolinguistic Attrition in Papua New Guinea

Written by Bianca Curtin

Papua New Guinea is at present the most linguistically diverse nation worldwide, boasting about 840 living languages that belong to at least 33 family classifications. However, this astounding diversity is currently under threat, with over 32% of the lands’ indigenous dialects declared to be endangered. Whereas previously multilingualism thrived in the region’s lack of an official dialect, now the nation has instituted a dominant lingua franca, the English-based creole Tok Pisin, and established English as its formal education language, thereby contributing to the rapid deterioration of such diversity. A research project published in 2021 by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science in the United States (PNAS) found that only 57.7% of surveyed secondary-school students were fluent in an indigenous dialect, compared to 90.8% of students’ parents. Conductors of the study suggest that this language attrition is the “result of economic and social development of a country undergoing globalization,” most notably affected by rising rates of urbanization as well as population growth.

(Pictured: PNAS survey data on PNG language and ethno-biological knowledge decline)

Papua New Guinea is also highly diverse in terms of biodiversity, estimated to have upwards of 200,000 species of fauna and flora, about half of which still are yet to be named. Forest estate occupies about 71% of the nation’s total land area, including the world’s third largest tropical rainforest, preceded only by the Amazon and the Congo Basin. Yet, studies show that, at present, approximately 15% of PNGs rainforest estate is degraded, being lost at an annual rate of 1.4%. The Wildlife Conservation Society Newsroom reports that in the past three decades, a quarter of the nation’s rainforests have been destroyed. This inevitably has led to an alarming decline in terms of regional biodiversity, further threatened by lack of regulation, industrialization and infrastructural projects, as well as pollution. The industry sector is especially prominent in this respect, developing with increasing acceleration to accommodate mining, oil, forestry, and fishery activity, as well as production of prominent resources, namely timber and palm oil. Construction of an enormous new road system, the Trans-Papua Highway, is predicted to contribute to this acceleration.

(Pictured: construction of the PNGs new Trans-Papua Highway)

Papua New Guinea’s diverse geographic landscapes, especially its mountainous terrain, have provided the region with the ideal conditions for its linguistic breadth and species-richness. The region’s native populations have developed immense bio-cultural knowledge systems, having learned to use resources from local ecosystems overtime. However, this too is under threat. A mere one-in-five Papuan ethnolinguistic groups have any documentation of their bio-cultural knowledge, only 2.5% of whom maintain detailed records on such practices. It seems that in order to preserve the immense diversity of Papua New Guinea, environmental and ethnolinguistic conservation efforts must act in tandem to combat the negative impacts of urbanization and heightened industrial activity.

The Evolution of Nationalism in Papua New Guinea

By Bianca Curtin

In the years 1945 and 1946 –following Japan’s surrender to the Allies at World War II’s conclusion– the formerly British and Australian protectorate territories of Papua and New Guinea were joined as an administrative union, thus becoming what we now know as Papua New Guinea. However, Netherlands (Western) New Guinea remained under Dutch colonial control until 1962, when the United States and UN administrative powers had them sign the New York Agreement, relinquishing the territory until a plebiscite would be held in 1969. The nationalist Indonesian government, who had argued for decades that they were the regions’ rightful successor state, ultimately conducted this vote, ironically dubbing it the Act of Free Choice. The plebiscite –demonstrated by a show of hands under military gun point, involving less than one percent of the populations eligible voter base– resulted in Papua New Guinea’s integration into Indonesia.

(Pictured: Free Papua Movement activists protesting)

The Free Papua Movement (OPM) has resisted nationalist Indonesian occupation since their establishment in 1965, both diplomatically and militarily. OPM separatists and sympathizers have been consistently attacked, imprisoned, and even charged with treason by the PNG government. Tens of thousands of migrants, driven by the nationally-enforced transmigration program of ’69, have been compelled to pledge to not engage in any and all anti-Indonesian activity.

Per the elections held in 1972, Chief Minister Michael Somare led the formation of a state ministry, simultaneously pledging to carry the nation to self-governance and independence– the former of these achieved in the December of 1973. Nearly two years later, on September 16, 1975, Papua New Guinea finally became an independent country, joining the United Nations the following month. Despite this, tensions with Indonesia prevailed. In 1986, both nations signed the bilateral Treaty of Mutual Respect, Cooperation, and Friendship– an attempt to establish the foundations of a cooperative and peaceful relationship between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Nevertheless, the former failed to agree to adjoined border security operations, nor did the latter commit to keeping their military from crossing said border. To this day, inter-state relations remain turbulent, at their core lying the roots of the PNGs nationalist tendencies.

(Pictured: The Morning Star Flag– the official flag of the Free Papua Movement)

Indonesia’s repeated human rights abuses, frequent subversion of Papuan political and economic activity, and overall history of subjugating the diverse peoples of Papua New Guinea, has ultimately come to foster an immense sense of common identity that fuels pan-Papuan nationalism to this day. Such is exemplified by the Special Autonomy Law of 2001– policies incorporative of various ideologically OPM-aligned notions. The Indonesian government has demonstrated great reluctance in enacting the law.

The Influence of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict on the Pacific

By Bianca Curtin

As civilians across the globe have learned since Russia invaded Ukraine this past February in an enormous escalation in the nations’ eight-year conflict, there is no region, no corner of society, immune to the wars effects. Such is the case for the economic stability of the island states and nations of Micronesia and Polynesia– even the physical safety of the Pacific archipelagos’ inhabitants is under threat.

Estimates say that up to three-quarters of these regions’ economies are service industries, subsistence agriculture and fishing being the predominant among them. Countryreports.org reports that the sum of the FSM’s imported goods is around 950% that of its earnings from exported materials. This immense dependency on global supply chains is unreliable, even during times of overall economic stability. Now, with the Russia-Ukraine Conflict waging on, the composite states face product shortages across the shelves, the most alarming among those being medical supplies and, of course, food.

The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) severed diplomatic ties with Russia immediately following the invasion of Ukraine, condemning the aggressor state for it’s “unambiguously villainous” and “unjustifiable” actions. As well as this, ten Pacific island nations voted to suspend Russia from the United Nations Human Rights Council– Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands not among them.

(Pictured: Federal States of Micronesia severs ties with Russia).

In March of this year, nerves were heightened when Russia tested missiles on the Japanese Kuril Islands, located in the Pacific. Two weeks proceeding this, they pulled out of peace treaty discussions with Japan to legally end World War II. In the same month, Russian president Vladimir Putin placed his nation’s nuclear arsenal on alert– not even twenty-four hours prior to the Marshall Islands’ federally-recognized Nuclear Victims Remembrance Day. Further, Putin was quoted describing the potential testing of an intercontinental ballistic missile as, “food for thought for those who try to threaten our country.”

All of these questionable actions on Russia’s part raise concerns across the Pacific, as the region has repeatedly throughout history been subject to the disastrous and deathly consequences of nuclear testing and warfare at the hands of global superpowers. The potential of suffering another attack of this nature looms, especially as outliers like the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu develop tighter relations with China, the former of whom recently signed a security pact that would enable Chinese warships and security personnel to enter their borders with the intention of “protecting Chinese interests.” Given the tumultuous dynamics of the relationship between Russia and China, it is understandable why many officials and civilians alike have voiced distress regarding the Pacific nations’ contradictory interactions with both bodies.

(Pictured: China-Solomon Islands security pact).

Papua New Guinea: Current Affairs in the World’s Third Largest Island Nation

By Bianca Curtin

Garove 001

The island nation of Papua New Guinea, otherwise referred to as PNG, can be found north of Australia and east of Indonesia in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. The country’s location, while allowing for it’s magnificently diverse terrain, consisting of everything from rainforests to mountain ranges to tropical beaches, also situates Papua New Guinea in the tumultuous Pacific Ring of Fire– a significant factor in the ongoing affairs of this highly populous and rural nation.

Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions frequently affect the land, as demonstrated a mere three weeks ago when a 7.6 magnitude tremor induced a series of landslides that ultimately led to the deaths of at least five civilians and insurmountable infrastructural damage, especially in the more agricultural village communities. Schools, power grids, houses, roads, and even supermarkets were destroyed in the earthquake’s aftermath, captured by Papua New Guineans everywhere as they’ve taken to social media to raise global awareness and call for external supports.

With over a third of the nation’s nine million peoples living below the poverty line, and a GINI Index of approximately 75% (World Bank, 2017), the region’s recurrent seismic activity creates an enormous obstacle to overall economic stability. PNG’s Prime Minister James Marape –who was just re-elected this August– claims to be handling the situation. Only the future will tell.