Solomon Islands riots: PM vows to stay in power amid 100 arrests

Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare has lashed out at protesters as Australian peacekeepers helped restore some calm after days of violence.

A burnt-out car sits in a street in Honiara. Picture: AFP

The prime minister of the riot-hit Solomon Islands has defied pressure to resign, saying a wave of torching and looting that swept the capital had been orchestrated by a few people with “evil intention” to topple him.

Shattered glass and rubble still lined the streets of Honiara as Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare addressed the nation on Sunday, a reminder of the three-day eruption in violence blamed partly on poverty, hunger and frustration with his policies.

“It is very clear that the recent events were well planned and orchestrated to remove me as the prime minister for unsubstantiated reasons,” Sogavare said, after a night-time curfew and roughly 150 foreign peacekeepers from Australia and Papua New Guinea helped to restore some calm over the weekend.

A contingent of Australian soldiers have arrived in Honiara, Solomon Islands, to provide assistance to Solomon Islands authorities. Photo: Gary Ramage

“I want to show the nation that the government is fully intent and nothing will move us. We must and will never bow down to the evil intention of a few people,” Sogavare said.

Many residents of the Pacific island nation of 800,000 people believe his government is corrupt and beholden to Beijing and other foreign interests.

During the riots, mobs attempted to torch the prime minister’s private residence and parliament before being dispersed by police firing tear gas and warning shots.

Sogavare has already blamed the violence, which incinerated swathes of the capital, on an unscrupulous few leading the people astray with false information.

He has claimed that foreign powers opposed to his 2019 decision to switch the Solomons’ diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China are behind the disturbances.

A burnt-out car sits in a street in Honiara. Picture: AFP

The prime minister said the violence had caused 200 million Solomon Islander dollars ($AU35 million) in damage and destroyed 1000 jobs in an economy already squeezed by the impact of the Covid pandemic.

The government was working on a recovery package to help damaged businesses recover, Sogavare said.

And he repeated a promise that the unidentified “instigators” would face the “full brunt” of the law.

Over 100 people have been arrested for riot-related activity, the Solomon Islands police said this weekend.

Despite the relative calm of the weekend, people were fearful for the outlook, Red Cross official Kennedy Waitara told AFP.

Waitara said many of the food shops in Chinatown had been burned down in the riots.

“It will not be surprising if we have to experience food shortages and a hike in prices,” he said.

THREE CHARRED BODIES FOUND IN CHINATOWN

Three bodies have been found after Chinese properties were burned and destroyed in the Solomon Islands.

The bodies were discovered in a store in the Pacific nation’s Chinatown district, after a security guard told AFP he found them in two rooms.

“Three of them were in the same room with a cash box and money on the floor,” security guard, Eddie Soa said.

Forensic teams were still trying to determine their cause of the deaths, which was unclear.

It comes as a tense calm returned to the Solomon Islands’ capital Honiara Saturday, after days of rioting left parts of the city to smouldering ruins.

Police guard a building where three bodies were discovered in Honiara. Picture: AFP

Australian police and ADF personnel providing security have reportedly been well received.

Senior federal Minister Simon Birmingham said they are likely to be deployed for weeks rather than months.

“At this very early stage our officials and forces on the ground are working hard to help to provide that restoration of peace,” he said on Saturday.

“They are, I believe, a respected and welcome force on the ground by the people in the Solomon Islands.

“The work at present is to get that stability there.”

A contingent of Australian Federal Police and ADF have arrived in Honiara. Photo: Gary Ramage

Mobs had ignored an earlier 36-hour lockdown, with thousands of people — some brandishing axes and knives — went on a rampage through the city.

A night-time curfew and the presence of roughly 150 foreign peacekeepers from Australia and Papua New Guinea appeared to cool tensions.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced 73 Australian Federal Police and 43 Australian Defence Force personnel were being deployed to the country late on Thursday after a desperate plea from the country’s leader Manasseh Sogovare.

A handful of petrol stations, shops and other businesses gingerly began to reopen, with Honiara residents panic buying basic provisions as the violent unrest continued.

Smoke rises from the capital city as the aircraft approaches. Photo: Gary Ramage

Food, fuel and cash are in short supply now, after a small protest on Wednesday quickly descended into a violent free-for-all.

Poor Honiara residents joined anti-government protesters to rampage through the shattered glass and burnt-out remains of businesses for things to eat or sell.

“The situation is very tense and anything could happen anytime,” said Audrey Awao, a working mother who worried about supply shortages.

For three days, angry mobs demanded Sogavare’s removal over his government’s links to China.

Burnt-out vehicles litter the street in Honiara. Picture: AFP

Many Solomon Islanders believe their government is corrupt and beholden to Beijing and other foreign interests.

“Most people are barely getting one meal a day, there are no tourists and very little economic stimulus,” Douglas Kelson, chief officer at St John Ambulance Service, told AFP.

“People do things they normally wouldn’t when they are hungry,” Kelson said.

“Now PM need to step down”, a self-employed 32-year-old who gave his name as Selson told AFP.

“That’s the demand for all citizens of the Solomon Islands.”

Police direct traffic in Honiara. Picture: AFP

China’s state media has expressed grave concerns about the unrest.

Tan Jingquan, secretary of the Solomon Islands Chinese Association, told the Global Times that more than 100 shops owned by Chinese nationals have been ruined, and they are feeling “anxious and afraid right now”.

Anger was channelled directly at Sogavare and his government, with mobs attempting to torch parliament and the prime minister’s private residence as police fired tear gas and warning shots.

More than 100 people have now been arrested for riot-related activity, Solomon Islands police said Saturday.

Anti-government message adorn a burnt-out building in Honiara. Picture: AFP

“No one is above the law,” said commissioner Mostyn Mangau, urging residents to “respect each other, as well as our visiting friends from abroad.”

After days of mayhem, large areas of the capital have been left with the scorched-black shells of buildings, while streets are still littered with debris.

“We are living in fear,” resident Josephine Teakeni told AFP.

“At the moment it is very hard … children will be missing out from schools, lots of mothers will be jobless.”

Sogavare told citizens the Solomons had been “brought to its knees” by the rioting, but vowed to resist calls for his resignation.

The pro-Beijing leader claimed foreign powers opposed to his 2019 decision to switch the Solomons’ diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to China were behind the disturbances.