Calm returns to Solomons' capital after deadly riots

HONIARA • A tense calm returned to the Solomon Islands' capital Honiara yesterday, after days of rioting left at least three dead and reduced swathes of the city to smouldering ruins.

A handful of petrol stations, shops and other businesses gingerly began to reopen, with Honiara residents flocking to buy basic provisions as the unrest ebbed.

"The situation is very tense and anything could happen any time," said Ms Audrey Awao, a working mother who was worried there would soon be no food left in the shops.

What began as a small protest on Wednesday quickly descended into a violent free-for-all, with poor Honiara residents joining anti-government protesters to rampage through the shattered glass and burnt-out remains of businesses for things to eat or sell.

For three days, mobs cut through the usually sleepy seaside capital, demanding the removal of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare.

Two years of pandemic-induced closed borders have left the already ravaged economy in tatters, deepening widespread joblessness and poverty among the population of around 800,000.

"Now PM needs to step down," said a self-employed 32-year-old who gave his name as Selson. "That's the demand for all citizens of the Solomon Islands."

Local police said a forensic team was working to identify the charred remains of three bodies found in a shop in the city's burnt-out Chinatown district. A night-time curfew and the presence of roughly 150 foreign peacekeepers from Australia and Papua New Guinea appeared to cool tensions.

The scale of recovery is now coming into sharp focus, even as the city remains on edge.

"It is very frustrating as it took me more than three hours to reach the fuel pump to get my vehicle fuelled," Ms Awao said.

Many Solomon Islanders believe their government is corrupt and beholden to China and other foreign interests. "Most people are barely getting one meal a day, there are no tourists and very little economic stimulus," Mr Douglas Kelson, chief officer at St John Ambulance Service, said. "People do things they normally wouldn't when they are hungry."

Anger was channelled directly at Mr 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.

Over 100 people have been arrested for riot-related activity, Solomon Islands police said yesterday, as they tried to restore order.

"No one is above the law," said commissioner Mostyn Mangau, urging residents to "respect each other, as well as our visiting friends from abroad". Police have moved to stamp out the violence, declaring a night curfew in Honiara.

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 said. "At the moment it is very hard... children will be missing... schools, lots of mothers will be jobless."

As tensions escalated, Mr Sogavare had begged neighbours for urgent help. 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. But others pointed to inter-island tensions and widespread joblessness among the country's population - 40 per cent of whom are aged under 14.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE