Dozens of men killed in Papua New Guinea tribal violence, Australian media report
NPR Online NewsFeb 05
The Facts
Papua New Guinea (PNG) police reported on Thursday that a gang killed at least 26 people, including 16 children, across the Sepik River villages of Tamara, Tambari, and Angrumara in East Sepik’s Angoram district last week.
According to UN human rights chief Volker Türk, the attack, which left some people beheaded and others fleeing as their homes were burned, was "seemingly...the result of a dispute over land and lake ownership and user rights."
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
PNG has a rich history of cultural, linguistic, and ethnic diversity, but recent population growth and an influx of modern weapons have threatened to destabilize the nation. Both domestic and international investigations should be conducted in pursuit of establishing peaceful cohabitation and resource sharing among regions and tribes.
Establishment-critical narrative
The reason PNG has security issues is because former colonial powers left the island with weak political institutions. The irony of the West, after having taken over the island before leaving it to fend for itself, has not gone unnoticed. China, on the other hand, is seeking meaningful security pacts with PNG, so it has a true ally.