Australian archaeologist Bryce Barker held hostage in Papua New Guinea released

Professor Bryce Barker and his two Papua New Guinean colleagues have been set free from captivity after they were kidnapped and held hostage by armed criminals.

Australian Professor Bryce Barker has been released after being taken hostage by an armed criminal gang in the Mount Bosavi region of Papua New Guinea. Picture: Facebook

A “much loved” Australian professor and his two research colleagues have been freed by their kidnappers in a “negotiated release”, exactly one week after they were seized from a remote village in the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea.

University of Southern Queensland archaeology professor Bryce Barker and three local research colleagues – Cathy Alex, Jemina Haro and University of PNG PhD student Teppsy Beni – were conducting field work in the Mount Bosavi region when they were seized on February 19 by an armed criminal gang who demanded a ransom for their release.

While one of the women was freed last Wednesday, civilian authorities continued intense negotiations with the kidnappers who PNG Prime Minister James Marape publicly warned late last week were known to authorities.

On Sunday Mr Marape and Foreign Minister Penny Wong used their social media accounts to announce the three remaining hostages – including New Zealand-born Australian resident Professor Barker – had been released without a ransom being paid.

“Thank you to PNG’s Government for its leadership in securing a safe & peaceful resolution,” Senator Wong tweeted on Sunday afternoon.

Bryce Barker was described as a ‘a highly regarded archaeologist and a valued colleague at the University of Southern Queensland’.

Mr Marape issued an apology to the families of the hostages in his Facebook post, which included a picture of Professor Barker in a black T-shirt with one of his Papua New Guinean research colleagues in a helicopter.

The three were expected to arrive in the PNG capital of Port Moresby by late afternoon.

“We apologise to the families of those taken as hostages for ransom, it took us a while but the last three has been successfully returned through covert operations without K3.5 million (A$1.4m) paid,” the Prime Minister said on his Facebook page on Sunday.

“To criminals, there is no profit in crime. We thank God that life was protected. I thank Deputy PM John Rosso and Internal Security Minister Hon P Tsiamalili Jr for being on top of this one.”

Mr Marape thanked the PNG police commissioner and police personnel, PNG defence forces and local civilian leaders from the Southern Highlands and the neighbouring Western and Hela provinces for their assistance.

Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso told The Australian on Sunday he was a happy and “very relieved man” following the release of the hostages who he said were weak but otherwise in good shape after a traumatic week.

“They have not been assaulted, they are in good condition. They’re just weak from lack of food and trekking long miles and hours,” he said.

I welcome news from PNG that all hostages have been released & will soon be reunited with their families.

Thank you to PNG’s Government for its leadership in securing a safe & peaceful resolution.

Also thanks to the Australian & NZ officials who helped support this outcome.

— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) February 26, 2023

“This is one of the most remote areas of PNG with very little phone signal and no roads. They were kept on the move. I think the kidnappers gave them local food to eat – whatever the kidnappers had they gave them also.

“They treated the hostages well.”

Mr Rosso told The Australian the kidnappers were still at large following the “negotiated release” of the hostages, but that their identities were known to authorities and that police and soldiers in the area had them surrounded and that they would be pursued with “the full force of the law”.

“They are not yet in custody but they are in a location that police and military have encircled and it is now the job of the police commissioner to apprehend the suspects.”

The Deputy Prime Minister said authorities owed much to the intelligence provided to them by local villagers and civil authorities in the area who were constantly providing assistance.

“That’s not an anomaly in PNG, especially where our foreign partners and friends are involved,” he added.

“The average villager would do absolutely his best to help in such situations. We (Australia and PNG) have that shared, intertwined history that will remain with us forever.”

The University of Southern Queensland also issued a statement on Sunday confirming “our much-loved colleague Professor Bryce Barker has been released today”.

“Bryce is a highly regarded archaeologist and a valued colleague at the University of Southern Queensland and in the wider archaeological community. He has many years’ experience in undertaking research in PNG.

“Our deepest thanks go to the governments of Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand, and the many people who worked tirelessly during this extremely difficult and sensitive time to secure their release.”

Their release is believed to have been secured in consultation with the Australian and New Zealand governments.

Bryce Barker, second from left, in Papua New Guinea with Lara Lamb in 2019. Picture: Facebook