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Pacific.scoop.co.nz » No money to refuel police vehicles delays response to deadly violence in Papua New Guinea province

Pacific.scoop.co.nz » No money to refuel police vehicles delays response to deadly violence in Papua New Guinea province

Article – RNZ

Hundreds of people have been displaced after a massacre in remote Papua New Guinea, with the province’s governor saying political problems are hampering aid efforts.Grace Tinetal-FiavaaiRNZ Pacific journalist

Hundreds of people have been displaced after a massacre in remote Papua New Guinea, with the province’s governor saying political issues are holding up aid.

East Sepik Governor Allan Bird said police deployments to the area where the attacks took place were delayed by a lack of fuel.

The attacks in three villages near the town of Angoram reportedly killed 26 people, including women and children, but other sources say the death toll could be twice as high.

The incident occurred on July 16 and left nearly 400 people displaced.

Bird told RNZ Pacific that Papua New Guinea’s police force should be funded by the national government, but the East Sepik provincial government has had to free up money to get more troops on the ground.

“The area where this incident happened is quite remote… one of the problems was that we didn’t have petrol in the province to move the police,” he said.

“But the police have now come into action (and) hopefully in the coming days we will have a clearer picture. We have decided to provide money to support the police. That means we pay for fuel, we pay for vehicles, we pay for allowances, whatever the police need in our province.”

“We have so many structural problems in PNG and this is one of them. If we have problems in Enga Province, we are facing the same situation.

East Sepik has about 800 villages and is “bigger than Israel,” Bird said, adding “but there are only about 160 police officers… for 800,000 people.”

He said political issues are preventing people in need from getting shelter and food.

He told ABC that the situation of tribal violence was worsening and that the “lack of justice is a problem”.

‘Government not really involved’

A group of about 30 people targeted the villages of Tamara, Tambari and Agrumara, near the town of Angoram.

The suspects remain at large and some survivors have sought shelter in Angoram.

Andrew Sangi, a villager from Angoram, has been actively helping his family members and others affected by the recent attacks.

Sangi told RNZ Pacific that more than 300 people were still stranded, hiding in the bush, and that more than 100 people had sought refuge in his village.

“There are no clothes, nothing to wear, nothing to hide. The government is not really actively involved in solving this problem,” he said.

He said they need more help with supplies and shelter for people who have been displaced.

Meanwhile, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on Papua New Guinea authorities to “conduct prompt, impartial and transparent investigations and… ensure that those responsible are held to account”.

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