State of Emergency Declared in Vanuatu after clashes betwen informal settlers

Vanuatu's council of ministers have declared a State of Emergency in the capital of Port Vila after violent clashes on the weekend resulted in several deaths, dozens of hospitalisations and the destruction of homes and property.

The State of Emergency was declared on March 4 and will last until March 14. The State of Emergency forbids public meetings in Vila, restricts movement between other islands and Efate, and also some movement between suburbs of the capital.

The primary protagonists of the conflict in Port Vila were two distinct groups of residents of ‘Blacksands’, an informal settlement on the outskirts of Port Vila. Pre-existing social tensions escalated into violence when several hundred residents originating from Tanna and Ambrym clashed in Port Vila after the death of a woman was blamed on witchcraft.

While these riots differ in significant respects from the violence that has plagued Solomon Islands in recent years, in both instances the root causes of conflict include ethnic and cultural differences, livelihood insecurity, and a failure of land law and administration to provide security of tenure.

As is the case in Solomon Islands, informal settlement is a growing issue in Vanuatu, and is associated with rising civil insecurity. Urban areas around Port Vila and Luganville are expanding as people from rural areas move to urban areas in search of employment and better access to infrastructure. Rapid urbanisation and competition for land has been heightened by the fact that land in Vanuatu is extremely attractive to overseas investors. The land available for settlement by migrants under the ‘Western’ legal system is therefore very limited, and large numbers of migrants are either ‘squatting’ on customary land, or settling on customary land in accordance with arrangements with the customary landholders.

Large numbers of ni-Vanuatu in Port Vila are now living in informal settlements with insecure tenure. These settlements frequently suffer from inadequate access to water and sanitation due to the refusal of the customary landowners to provide, or allow the provision of, such infrastructure because of their fear of permanent settlement on their land. Blacksands is one of the better-known of these informal settlements. Most children in Blacksands do not attend school, many of its young people are unemployed, and the settlement has a reputation for social disorganisation and crime. Stiff competition for access to land, paid employment and other resources contributes to social tension, which periodically escalates into violence. As was the case in Honiara, insecurity of tenure is therefore associated with both livelihood insecurity and civil insecurity.

In Vanuatu, watching events in Tonga

I've left this far too long, but internet access is intermittent, expensive, and sloooooooow...

Tongan news can be found at Tonga Now. I'll update this post with some commentary once I have permission to publish it. I'm definitely no expert on anything to do with Tonga - I've never even been there for starters. It does, however, strike me that the recent riots bear similarities to those occurring elsewhere. While some commentators understand the riots in Tonga as an expression of pro-democracy sentiments, others see a link between urbanisation, poverty, the youth bulge, and the anger of young men that have limited or no access to education and employment. Some months ago I posted about the links between demography, livelihood security and civil security, drawing a link between Honiara and some Australian indigenous communities...and Port Moresby could be added to the list, as could Suva. But I'm out of my depth here...for better informed voices than mine, see:

This article from Radio New Zealand International; this article in Pacific Eye by the Director of the Tonga National Youth Congress; and this article, also in Pacific Eye, in which five youths involved in the riots were interviewed.

Speaking of youth, disenfranchisement, and anger...Vanuatu was recently found to be the "happiest nation on earth", and there are posters in the airport and copies of newspaper articles pasted to plenty of windows, but one can't help but wonder how long that 'happiness' is going to last. Local people working in NGOs certainly raise their eyebrows in bemusement when one brings up the subject, and here - as is the case in so many other places - one finds the "youth bulge", limited access to employment (at least in the formal economy - there's also the 'custom economy') and limited access to education. Here too there are young people moving to the urban areas in search of education and employment, and many are moving into informal settlements - it's not appropriate to call them 'squatter' settlements, as in many cases people from other islands are invited in to act as caretakers for the land by the customary landowners.

Last night I had dinner in the market with a new friend, at her mother's food stall. We watched the evening's devotions and chatted about our lives, faith and partners over a spectacular meal of Vanuatu steak, cucumber salad and tomato. We shared stories until late into the night, and I was reminded that despite the sometimes massive cultural differences, some things are universal. Her mother hugged me goodbye and told me to come back soon, and I felt the warm rush of being cared for despite being so new - a feeling I haven't really felt since I was in the Solomon Islands, where an Aunty I was only just getting to know sat up all night massaging me and wiping the sweat from my face as I struggled through a feverish night. As in the Solomons, I'm suddenly, beautifully aware of my identity as a woman, sharing specifically female aspirations and views with other women. I know who I am here, despite not wearing makeup, having long hair or particularly pretty clothes - I don't discount the fact that gender norms can be stifling and discriminating, but in my own society, femininity is often marked by whether a woman wears a dress or lipstick. The experiences of other women are undoubtedly different, but as a white, Western woman (and therefore sometimes considered an 'honorary male'), I have found working in highly-gendered societies liberating in the sense that I find myself returning to Australia with a stronger sense of womanhood and identity.

There's an older, white Australian guy staying in the hotel I'm staying at in Vila. I over-heard him talking to the staff they other day - they asked him whether he'd see his "girlfriend" today, and he laughed and said, "no, I'll have a new girlfriend today". I've been avoiding him ever since. Last night, I shared the cool night breeze, fresh peanuts and stories with a couple of the girls working in the hotel, and they filled me in further. Apparently this guy takes to the streets several times a day, starts chatting to some local woman, invites her back to the hotel saying he's lonely and he wants someone to share a sandwich with him, and once inside the room he propositions them. The girls - who are ni-Vanuatu themselves - explained that the ni-Vanuatu women are so friendly, that when this older, white Australian guy starts talking to them and saying how lonely he is, they believe him "because he's so old", and they feel sorry for him, "because he's so old", and so, they follow him back to share a sandwich. Apparently several of the women have run out of the room screaming, and then through reception where they have given a garbled account of these events to the girls at reception. I was furious, but began to see the (only slightly) funnier side of things once I confirmed with the girls that nobody has been "hurt". Yet.

I told the girls I'd heard the earlier conversation between this man and themselves, and they suddenly smiled weakly as they realised why I'd been behaving so differently when he was around, and when he was not. They were quite concerned that I felt safe staying in the hotel - I assured them that I did, and explained that I thought that he was nothing but a disgusting, sad old man. It's hard to know what to do - in fact it's hard to even know whether this man is picking up 'working women', or whether he is indeed picking up women who are just strolling down the street minding their own business.

Squatter conference, U2 concert, and conversations in immigration queues

Last week I attended quite an inspirational conference sponsored by the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat on squatter settlements in Fiji. It was attended by squatters, and key people from government and non-government agencies working with squatters and on squatter settlement issues - it was extremely interesting to say the least, but I won't say any more as I imagine a report will be coming out some time soon. There's a paper from the last workshop that I'll try and link when I have time. There's also an interesting paper here:

Urban Squatters, Informal Sector and Livelihood Strategies of Poor in Fiji Islands - Manoranjan Mohanty

Flying back home for the U2 concert did my head in a bit - it was quite difficult going from discussing living conditions with squatters to a huge, over-the-top concert, even if it is lead by a band that's done at least a little for raising awareness of how "the other 80% live". Seeing a map of the African continent flashed across the screen while Bono talked about how we in the UK, the US and Australia need to be aware of the plight of Africa was a little difficult - Africa will be drowning under the weight of poorly-thought out aid soon, and there are millions of people in South and Central America, Asia and the South Pacific that are struggling for survival also.

I made the mistake of buying Marie Claire for my flight to Port Vila this morning - it featured a piece on St Tropez and the outrageous amounts people - including Bono - fork out for the luxury of hanging out there. I can't help but feel frustrated and disillusioned by the fact that there are celebrities like Bono who rant and rave about the plight of the poor, yet holiday at places where there's a requirement that you buy a $1000+ bottle of champagne every hour that you're lounging on the beach.

Touch down in Vila, and I find myself conversing with a middle-aged guy who's come over to go diving. He asks me what I'm doing here, and I explain that I'm working for an NGO. He looks surprised, and asks "what, are there poor people here?" I explain that yes, there's very limited health care, and people die of easily preventable diseases, and that malnutrition is a growing problem. I then say that there's many people in Vila living in appalling conditions in squatter settlements. He's visibly saddened by our short, shallow conversation, shaking his head and muttering "we just have no idea, do we? we have no idea..."

No, we do not.

Edit 23/11/06...I loved this final paragraph from an article on U2 in today's The Age: "Befitting the biggest band in the world, U2 spent the first week of their Australian tour at the exclusive five-star Palazzo Versace Resort on the Gold Coast and commuted between Brisbane via private jet, helicopter and limousine for rehearsals."

Hmmmm....U2, doin' their bit for global warming and the poor!