Within the months of October and November 2011, certain communities in Lae city witnessed spontaneous ethnic clashes. At one time, the same ethnic groups were involved in several fights with other groups. Confrontations were triggered off by a range of lawless behaviour. For example, one of the clashes in Lae initially started when a group of drunkard people stabbed two youth in an apparent unprovoked attack. This incident quickly developed into an all-out ethnic fight as members of the two youth sought vengeance for the death of their wantok. The tribal and ethnic dimension of such violence presents a serious challenge. Law-abiding citizens who wish to live productive lives are unnecessarily inconvenienced when the outbreak of violence happens. Wholesome development will not flourish in a lawless society.
When ethnic clashes happen, it is usually the weak and young who bear the brunt of these wanton acts of destruction. Ethnic violence is also unproductive in our efforts in nation-building. In most instances in PNG, urban settlements are seen as the breeding grounds for ethnic violence, raising even more questions about the role of urban settlements in urbanization processes. In certain cases ethnic groups in these urban settlements are singled-out as inherently troublesome. When sections of our community are treated as trouble-makers, the only outcome is further marginalization and institutionalized disempowerment.
From all indications, ethnic violence, particularly in urban areas of Papua New Guinea will not be eradicated soon. The absence of long-term urban planning in this country and the ineffective management of the growth of urban areas will continue to see ethnic violence happen. There has never been any sustained effort to address ethnic violence as a developmental issue. This is the most serious omission in urban planning and policy-making exercises to date.
From all the previous cases with ethnic confrontations in
PNG, law enforcers and policy-makers have failed to use past experiences as the
basis to develop measures towards preventing repetitions of ethnic violence.
Peoples in authority only react to situations. And usually, ad-hoc
measures are used. The norm as always is to use strong-armed tactics and
massive firepower when troubles happen. These measures have a tendency to
exacerbate existing tensions in the communities.
A case in point was in the aftermath of the 2011 “Lae
riots”. The increased levels of lawlessness and destruction in Lae saw a
division of the Royal PNG Constabulary called in to restore order. Some of
members of the police were reported to have taken sides with the different
groups in the Lae crisis, raising suspicions of partiality by members of the
disciplinary forces. While the police’s presence was able to restore short-term
normalcy, it did not bring an end to underlying concerns of basic public safety
in Lae after the departure of the mobile force.
In the absence of any concerted effort to deal with ethnic
conflicts, people are even calling for the reintroduction of the Vagrancy Act
to rid urban settlements. Some have even suggested the idea of declaring state
of emergency in troubled areas or even having the PNG Defense Force in policing
exercises in the main urban centers. In the next section I look
specifically at two preventative approaches in dealing with ethnic violence.
Firstly, the strengthening and integration of community leadership into the
formal governance structure of urban areas and secondly, integrating cultural
literacy in community policing initiatives.
Policy considerations
Community governance in urban areas – When I
read about the outbreak of ethnic fights in urban areas, I ask myself this
question: “where are the so-called leaders of the ethnic groups involved in the
conflict?” Invariably, one of the common features of communities involved in
ethnic violence is the absence of any semblance of community governance and
leadership structure in the communities concerned. Commenting on the recent
outbreak of violence in the settlement areas of Lae, one commentator noted
“that part of the problems is that there is no real leadership in the
settlements like in the villages which are still reasonably structured, with their
own leadership system”.
This is the sad reality of communities, especially in the
peripheries of urban areas. The absence of any coherent structure of organizing
the community and imposing order will allow for certain individuals to exploit
this vacuum in authority. Groups or individuals are accountable to no one in a
leaderless community. Individuals have no obligation to conform to authority.
There are practical benefits of instituting governance
structures in specific community jurisdictions. The physical presence of
leadership in specific jurisdictions allows for members of the different ethnic
groups and their representatives to be accountable and answerable for their
individual or group conduct as they interact with others.
Community governance also provides an avenue for networking
with the police and urban authorities in the prevention of conflict.
Leaders of communities are the first point of contact when crisis
situations happen. In a community where visible governance structures are in
place, it places certain responsibilities on leaders to know what is happening
within their communities. Where possible crisis situations arise, intervention
by leaders prevents further escalation of troubles.
Leaders in settlement communities or areas with
distinctively high levels of cultural complexities need to be empowered and
integrated into the formal structures of the legal structures governing the
administration of urban areas. A workable strategy can include the
establishment of tribal councils or a representative body, made up of
representatives of ethnic groups within specific jurisdictions. For
example, based on the ethnic composition of the various ethnic groups in the 9
Mile suburb in Port Moresby, a representative from the Finschafen or Morobe
province will be nominated (on a rotational basis) from amongst his ethnic
group to represent his ethnic group in the community tribal council. These
community leaders should have legitimacy in their communities, be able to
convene periodically to exchange information and ultimately be answerable to
urban authorities. Their powers should also be clearly articulated.
Examples of such community governance arrangements have been successful
in places such as Vanuatu where chiefs in urban settlements even exercise
powers to banish trouble-makers from the settlements. Certain lessons can be
learnt in community governance experience in other parts of Melanesia.
Understandably, some will argue that such strategies promote
regionalism or tribalism. However, one will note that the integration of
community leadership into the formal governance structures of urban settings
helps enhance cooperation amongst the different ethnic groups in a given
community. For all its complexities, the present legislations such as the Organic
Law on Provincial Governments and Local-level Government 1997 are
not integrative of marginal areas such as urban settlements. There is an
assumption in the present OLPG&LLG that all urban areas
are one big homogenous community. Presently, marginalized communities are
disempowered and will not part of the solutions in addressing the problems of
ethnic violence in urban areas.
Outreach activities of the police – The police
and other law-enforcing agencies presently treat the phenomenon of ethnic
conflicts as a law and order issue. The problem with ethnic conflict is that it
is a communal activity. Groups are involved and usually the initial
perpetrators of such acts hide behind the corporate veil of their tribe or
regional groups. Law enforcers in most cases find it hard to bring anyone to
account for mass destruction, loss of life and injuries sustained in conflicts.
From a law enforcement perspective, the problem of ethnic violence must also be
considered a “cultural issue”. The identity and allegiance of members of the
groups involved in the conflict is to their ethnic or tribal origins.
A possible area for consideration is the establishment of a
specific unit in the police specifically dealing with ethnic violence. Such a
division should be a forum for community leaders and members of the communities
to use as a neutral avenue for mediation purposes. This unit of the police
force can also be used for collecting intelligence on happenings in the
communities. Law enforcement personnel assigned to such units should be trained
on the various conflict resolution and prevention methods in PNG. In fact,
cultural literacy and the art of community networking are skills the entire
police force of this country seriously needs to acquire.
Conclusion
Ethnic conflict is a serious threat to national security and
development. While blame is attributed to urbanization and other social ills,
policy planners, urban authorities and law enforcers must bear the
responsibility for the lack of foresight. Over the years, the marginalization
of certain sections of our urban communities has resulted in a chaotic and
ungovernable scenario we are presently confronted with. The challenge is to
create sustainable and workable measures to address ethnic violence in our
increasingly urbanized communities.
November 24, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment