The Wire

Wherever you live, chances are you’ve had bad neighbours. But what makes a good neighbour – simply not offending people, or being proactively friendly? And how does that neighbourly obligation translate into international relations? Do nations have the duty to come to the assistance of their neighbours even if it has no direct, immediate benefit to them? Or is intervention a self-interested form of bullying? The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands, or RAMSI, has been running now for 15 months, and has generally been hailed as a success. The Solomons Islands Prime Minister, Bart Ulufa’alu, was deposed in 2000, but it wasn’t until after violence escalated on the main island of Guadalcanal in 2003, that Australia and a contingent of police and troops from New Zealand and other Pacific nations, agreed to intervene – a project called ‘Operation Helpem Fren’. They are still there today. Amnesty International is about to publish a report evaluating the conduct of the foreign forces in the Solomons, Paula Hanasz spoke with Commander Ben McDevitt, Commissioner of the Royal Solomon Islands Police for the first year of the operation, and Chief of the Australian Federal Police there. He believes the operation is a success, but Donella Bryce, program manager at APACE, thinks otherwise. She has been working with communities in the Solomons and believes RAMSI has not provided the promised solutions, and has in fact created more problems.

APACE
Amnesty International Australia