Police in Solomon Islands have beefed up security along the shared maritime border with Papua New Guinea, ahead of the Bougainville independence referendum this weekend. The non-binding referendum, which begins on Saturday, is the final expression of the Bougainville Peace…
As the clock ticks down to the annual meeting of Pacific Leaders next week in Tuvalu, West Papuan activists have ramped up their lobbying efforts to get Pacific countries to support a resolution on the proposed visit by the United…
By NITHIN COCA, Freelance Journalist, SSNews EARLIER this month, the Indonesian military raided and destroyed the offices of the West Papuan National Committee, a separatist group in the country’s easternmost region, which has long agitated for independence. The raid came…
Members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat met with a team of officials from the Solomon Islands Government Parliamentary Task Force this morning as the delegation made a courtesy call while passing through Vanuatu. The Parliamentary Task Force that was…
Nine New Zealand politicians are preparing for a six day trip to Solomon Islands and Vanuatu next week. Speaker Trevor Mallard, along with five women and three male MPs, will meet with parliamentarians, NGOs, businesses and women’s groups in both…
Indonesia’s President is encouraging Indonesian companies to develop palm oil in Solomon Islands. Joko Widodo met with the Solomons Prime Minister Rick Hou on Saturday on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in Papua New Guinea. Mr Widodo said they…
The incoming director of the Centre for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaii says declining support for West Papuan independence in Melanesia is a clear sign of Indonesia’s growing influence. In 2017 Solomon Islands stood up front among…
THE ousted Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare defended his strong stance on the plight of the people of West Papua during the motion of no-confidence on Monday which saw him removed from the top political leadership position. The Member of Parliament…
THE Pacific Island nations of Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Nauru, Palau and the Marshall Islands delivered a hard-hitting joint statement today condemning Indonesia’s human rights violations, including crimes against humanity, at the Council of Ministers of the 79-member…