AUSTRALIA: Australia is preparing to send more than 200 police officers to Papua New Guinea to help restore law and order after a similar recent intervention in the Solomon Islands.
Australia's Foreign Minister, Mr Alexander Downer, said yesterday that the police could be deployed as early as January. The two countries signed an agreement allowing Australia to increase its role in Papua New Guinea, including sending officials as well as police.
"When you start to think that if we were to provide people to help in everything from technical assistance to training to forensics, perhaps out on the provincial centres assisting with policing there, 200 could be quite a low number," Mr Downer said. The deployment cost would be in addition to Australia's $300-€350 million (€170-€195 million) annual aid to Papua New Guinea, he said.
Mr Downer said if the proposals were agreed to at the ministerial forum they would be implemented as soon as possible. The agreement said the two countries must respect each other's sovereignty.
Earlier this year, a wave of violence in Papua New Guinea led to calls from several politicians for implementation of the death penalty. Ethnic violence is common in a nation of more than 850 different languages and tribal groups.Yesterday's agreement said there was a "firm commitment" to work together to address core challenges.