(Honiara) A nighttime curfew went into effect Friday evening in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, after a third day of riots.
Police were forced to fire warning shots during the day to disperse demonstrators trying to reach the private residence of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, located east of Honiara, a usually peaceful seaside town.
The crowd set at least one nearby building on fire before being pushed back to the city center, AFP journalists said.
Australian police and soldiers, who had just arrived, quickly intervened to restore order, protect certain buildings and patrol, heavily armed, the streets of the capital.
A night curfew was decreed Friday evening for an indefinite period by the authorities.
During the day, thousands of people, some of them armed with axes and knives, attacked Chinatown and the city’s business center, according to AFP correspondents.
Buildings were set on fire and shops looted.
The riots started on Wednesday when hundreds of people demonstrated to demand the resignation of the prime minister before going to the Chinatown of Honiara, which has a population of 80,000.
The causes of these riots are multiple, among them the anger towards the government, the economic difficulties aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the historic rivalry between the inhabitants of the most populous island of the country, Malaita, and that of Guadalcanal where the government is based.
“One meal a day”
“Most people barely have a meal a day, there are no tourists and very little economic aid,” said Douglas Kelson, chief of the St John ambulance service.
“People do things they normally wouldn’t do when they’re hungry,” said Kelson, who said he saw very few injuries.
The first members of the Australian peacekeeping force were deployed overnight from Thursday to Friday, hours after Mr. Sogavare’s call for help.
Neighboring Papua New Guinea announced on Friday the deployment of 34 peacekeepers.
After three days of riots, large areas of the capital bore witness to the fires that ravaged some buildings on Friday. Fewer fires were lit on Friday, however, compared to the previous two days.
“We live in fear,” said Josephine Teakeni, a resident.
“Right now, it’s very hard… the children will miss school, many mothers will find themselves without a job”.
Solomon Islands Red Cross Secretary General Clement Manuri said Australian police helped disperse stone-armed rioters outside his office.
Feeling of abandonment
Many of those who took to the streets lived in slums near Chinatown and had been drinking alcohol, according to Manuri.
In Chinatown, a large warehouse was set on fire on Friday, causing an explosion that sent dozens of people fleeing in panic.
Overwhelmed Solomon Islands police said they made only two arrests, although two police stations were among the many buildings that were set on fire.
Around 100 members of the Australian peacekeeping force were deployed overnight from Thursday to Friday, at the request of the prime minister.
Neighboring Papua New Guinea announced on Friday the deployment of 34 peacekeepers.
The prime minister said that foreign powers, opposed to the decision taken in 2019 by his government to no longer diplomatically recognize Taiwan but China, were at the origin of the disturbances.
According to experts, this violence is fueled by decades of ethnic rivalry between the inhabitants of the most populous island of Malaita and that of Guadalcanal, where the administrative capital of this archipelago of 700,000 inhabitants is located.
Residents of Malaita Island feel abandoned by the central government and disputes escalated when, in 2019, Sogavarea’s government decided to no longer diplomatically recognize Taiwan but China.
Beijing condemned the riots on Friday and pledged to “ensure the security and the rights and interests of Chinese citizens and institutions”.