CONCEPT – BOUGAINVILLE AND OCEANIA

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 CONCEPT – BOUGAINVILLE AND OCEANIA

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• What it was: The Bougainville Civil War (Bougainville conflict) was an layered armed conflict fought from 1988 to 1998 in the North Solomons Province of Papua New Guinea (PNG) between PNG and the secessionist forces of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA). There were other conflicts too, between the BRA and other armed groups on Bougainville.
• About Bougainville: It is officially called the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, part of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The largest island is Bougainville Island, and Buka Island and a number of outlying islands and atolls are included too. The interim capital is Buka, though Arawa will become the permanent capital. Population is less than 3 lakh, and language is Tok Pisin. The islands of Bougainville and Buka are geographically part of the Solomon Islands archipelago, but are politically separate from the independent country of Solomon Islands. Historically the region was known as North Solomons.
• About Solomon Islands: Solomon Islands is a sovereign state consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea, with a land area of 28,400 square kilometres. Capital is Honiara, located on the island of Guadalcanal. The country takes its name from the Solomon Islands archipelago, which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the North Solomon Islands (part of Papua New Guinea). At independence in 1978 from the British, Solomon Islands became a constitutional monarchy. The Queen of Solomon Islands is Elizabeth II, represented by the Governor-General. Population is less than 7 lakh.
• About Papua New Guinea: PNG is a country in Oceania that occupies the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and its offshore islands in Melanesia, with Port Moresby as the capital. The western half of New Guinea is the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. It is the world's 3rd largest island country with 462,840 km2, and population of 80 lakh. Papua New Guinea established its sovereignty in 1975. This followed nearly 60 years of Australian administration, which started during World War I. It became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1975 with Elizabeth II as its queen. PNG is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. Only 18% live in urban centres, and there are 851 known languages. The country is one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically. It is known to have numerous groups of uncontacted peoples. Strong growth in Papua New Guinea's mining and resource sector led to the country becoming the sixth-fastest-growing economy by 2011. Mining remains a major economic factor, and Bougainville Province's biggest mine was closed since the civil war in the 1980s–1990s.
• About Oceania: It is a geographic region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia, and spans both the eastern and western hemispheres, with a land area of 85,25,989 square kilometres and a population of 4.2 crore. The geographic extremes of Oceania are generally considered to be the Bonin Islands, part of Japan; Hawaii, a state of the United States; Clipperton Island, a possession of France; the Juan Fernández Islands, belonging to Chile; and Macquarie Island, belonging to Australia. The largest and most populous country in Oceania is Australia, with Sydney being the largest city of both Oceania and Australia.
• Oceania's worst: The conflict was described by Bougainvillean President John Momis as the largest conflict in Oceania since the end of World War II in 1945, with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 Bougainvilleans dead.
• End of conflict: The hostilities ended under the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 1998. The national government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) agreed to the founding of the "Autonomous Bougainville Government" and to certain rights and authorities which the autonomous government would have in the "Bougainville Province". The region includes outlying small islands in addition to Bougainville Island itself.
• Historical background of conflict: The discovery of vast copper ore deposits in the Crown Prince Range on Bougainville Island during the 1960s led to the establishment of the huge Bougainville Copper Mine by the Australian company Conzinc Rio Tinto.

1. The Panguna mine began production in 1972 under Bougainville Copper Ltd, with the government of Papua New Guinea as a 20% shareholder.
2. The Panguna mine was the largest open cut mine in the world. It produced more than 45% of Papua New Guinea's national export revenue!
3. The mine recruited thousands of workers (mostly Papua New Guineans) whom the Bougainvilleans referred to as "red-skins" because of their skin colour.
4. Most native people of the island identify as black. Many "white-skins", mostly Australian nationals, also came to work at the mine.
5. The Bougainvilleans wanted neither the migrants nor immigrants on their land; they especially resented the "red-skins".
6. Conflict began to emerge and there also were concerns about adverse environmental effects.

• Secession: Prior to Papua New Guinea's independence in 1975, Bougainville Island had attempted to secede. Its representatives reached an agreement with the national government for further decentralization, which satisfied concerns at the time.

1. But by late 1988 tensions over the mine led to local violence. The government deployed armed police.
2. The conflict developed into a general separatist insurgency between government forces and the rebels of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA).
3. The mine company closed the mine, and many non-Bouganvilleans left the island.
4. In early 1990s Papua New Guinea withdrew, leaving Bougainville in the control of the BRA. Francis Ona, the leader of the BRA, unilaterally declared independence in May 1990, leading to a blockade from PNG, using weapons supplied by Australia.
5. A number of raskol (criminal) gangs that were affiliated with the BRA, equipped largely with weapons salvaged from the fighting in World War II, terrorized villages, engaging in murder, rape and pillage. Bougainville split into several factions.
6. Papua New Guinea's policy towards Bougainville hardened after the defeat of the incumbent government at the 1992 elections. New Prime Minister Paias Wingti took a considerably more hardline stance. In 1992–93, the PNGDF launched a number of unauthorised cross-border raids into the Solomon Islands in pursuit of supporters of the BRA. Relations with the Solomon Islands deteriorated.
7. A peace agreement was reached in 2001, leading to a roadmap to the creation of an Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG).

• Referendum: In January 2016, the Bougainville Referendum Commission was set up. In late November and early December 2019, a non-binding referendum on independence was held with an overwhelming majority voting for independence.
• Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia: The differences are –

1. Melanesians are typically very dark skinned (hence the name) and are a very culturally diverse group with large variations in customs and histories between themselves. There is a lack of consensus surrounding their exact origins and migration patterns but they are distinct from Aboriginal Australians despite the frequent contact. PNG is the most populous Melanesian nation though it is made up of many different groups and languages.
2. Polynesians were typified as being lighter skinned than Melanesians but are primarily distinguished by the shared common culture and origin (believed to have migrated from Taiwan about 3000 years ago). Despite the large geographic area Polynesian cultures are all rooted in the same beliefs and the Polynesian languages form a cohesive family. The Māori are the largest individual group but the U.S. has the largest Polynesian population.
3. Micronesia is more of a geographic delineation than a cohesive group, but the inhabitants share cultural and ancestral links with both Asia and Melanesia to form a distinct identity. This is the most sparsely populated of the Pacific regions with about 500k people, and was historically very isolated from the rest of the world. The U.S. has the largest population in Micronesia with Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (as well as Palau, Federated States of Micronesia and Marshall Islands being in free association with the U.S.), though the I-Kiribati (Pronounced Ee Kiribass) are the largest ethnic group.

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