Solomon Star News: SOLOMON ISLANDS could relapse into turmoil within weeks if RAMSI is withdrawn from the Solomon Islands, a secret US diplomatic assessment highlighted.
The secret assessment has made headlines in the Australian media recently and published in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that despite the massive aid effort, US officials have approvingly quoted the assessment of key diplomatic contacts in Honiara that if RAMSI departs ''it would only take about a week for trouble to break out again since RAMSI and the Government has failed to address the underlying issues [which caused widespread...
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The current situation in Solomon Islands has been extremely exaggerated, and the Australian led peace mission to Solomon Islands is long overdue - it needs an overhaul. This is the longest peace keeping force that may, if allowed to remain in SI for another 10 years, outlive the US peace keeping mission in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Why I think the Report is Bogus
This report is not based on a scientific research, just mere assessment. You can assess something and make inferences that may not be true. The report stated that a US secret assessment believes that a renewed ethnic crisis is eminent if RAMSI withdrew from Solomon Islands. What that report didn't provide is data to support this assessment. It drew conclusions based on the already held view that because some criminals were not brought to justice, an absence of RAMSI maybe catastrophic than otherwise. It is important, however, to note that the report didn't provide the names and how many people out there that might bring back the ethnic crisis. The report also assumes that many former militants have not been tried. That is not good enough data to support an extension of RAMSI's operation in Solomon Islands for the next five to ten years.
Secondly, the "assessment" points to the "unresolved" demands that were the heart of the ethnic crisis as evident of a looming second ethnic tension. But we all know that addressing the underlying causes of the Ethnic Crisis is not a RAMSI's responsibility rather a Solomon Islands' government's responsibility and the obligation of our courts. It is obvious that RAMSI and the US diplomats or officials, don't understand the scope of the Guadalcanal demands. They aren't demands that can be addressed by a regional organization, rather the offices responsible for land disputes in SI. These demands deal with the lands- most lands within Solomon Islands' town boundaries. Thus, any resolution to these demands must be reached on the floor of Parliament, and the High Courts. There should be committees appointed to tackle these demands. If these legislators failed to resolve this longstanding dispute between the Solomon Islands' government and landowners, the issues should be brought before a judge.
The failure of the Guadalcanal people to come clean with their demands, prior to the coup of 2000, was so obvious. They did not take the government, individuals, and other companies who have purchased lands prior to 2000 to court, instead they drew up their demands merely to intimidate the government and at a time when Guadalcanal thugs already armed to take on Malaitan settlers. All the avenues available at the time to address these issues were completely ignored because the leaders of Guadalcanal weren't interested in seeing these issues resolved. They were ready to tear down the government. Interesting to note that while Guadalcanal thugs ran around chasing Malaitan settlers from lands they settled for five generations, Guadalcanal leaders elevated their demands, making them completely hard to address.
It is also important to note that the thugs that led this Guadalcanal uprising and Maaitan retaliation are now behind bars.Though some were released and become leaders, most of them went through the courts.
It is also important to note that the thugs that led this Guadalcanal uprising and Maaitan retaliation are now behind bars.Though some were released and become leaders, most of them went through the courts.
RAMSI Should Leave our Shores
The regional peace keeping operation in Solomon Islands must end now. It is obvious that after 8 years, Solomon Islands has returned to its original state, and peace already restored. With that, RAMSI operations should switch from an armed enforcing force to an economic and logistic advising task force. We all know Solomon Islands has successfully returned to its pre-2000 coup conditions, and RAMSI is basically a force with no enemy to fight against.
The report suggests that RAMSI may remain in Solomon Islands for another decade while slowly withdrawing, what? It is simply unnecessary for RAMSI draw down its troops in a space of 10 years or more. This draw-down should be done quickly and allow Solomon Islands' to revive itself.
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