Disturbing theory after Australian professor kidnapped in PNG
With a lack of state governance in parts of Papua New Guinea, the shock kidnapping has been described as an 'opportunistic crime'.
As authorities race against the clock to rescue an Australian professor and his three colleagues taken hostage by an armed gang in Papua New Guinea, an Australian expert has spoken to Yahoo about the country’s violent and often dangerous environment.
While the head of the Pacific island’s police force has promised to use “whatever means necessary” including lethal force to free the group, Dr Sinclair Dinnen from the Australian National University’s Department of Pacific Affairs says local criminals are used to taking matters into their own hands.
“The Southern Highlands region is an area where there have been a lot of issues around fairly limited development opportunities for people,” he told Yahoo News Australia. “There also isn’t often a great deal of government presence so people have to address a lot of their daily issues that they face using their own resources.”
“There have been issues around violence and with quite a lot of guns in the wider community in PNG there have been fairly long standing conflicts going on in parts of the highlands on a very local level between different groups.”
‘Wrong place, wrong time’
It’s been three days since the Queensland archaeologist and three local researchers from the University of PNG were seized at gunpoint by 20 armed men in a remote village in the Southern Highlands, as reported by The Australian.
The country’s Police Commissioner says the criminals sighted the men “by chance” before taking them into the bush. Dr Dinnen described it as an “opportunistic crime” saying the hostages were possibly “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.
“It doesn't sound as if it was planned with great precision or anything like that,” he said. “It might be that a group of criminals stumbled across a foreigner.. who's more likely to have access to resources or someone who will pay a ransom.”
Kidnappings in PNG ‘very unusual’
While the kidnapping comes a week after a New Zealand pilot was taken hostage by rebel fighters from the West Papua National Liberation Army, Dr Dinnen says incidents in PNG are “very, very unusual”.
“There have been a few incidents of that on the West Papuan side but very, very few indeed on the Papua Guinea side,” he said. “It’s not something that has happened very much at all.”
While PNG’s Acting Prime Minister John Rosso said the “local things” had “extended their initial deadline” for a ransom to be paid, as reported by The Australian, authorities are continuing to negotiate the release of the men, using local missionaries as intermediaries with the kidnappers.
An Australian humanitarian aid worker says she has also spoken to the professor by a satellite phone, adding that he is “ok” but “keen to have the matter resolved”.
Friends post emotional plea, decry 'jungle pirates'
Posting a message of support on social media, a friend of one of the hostages said their "heart bleeds not know how my beautiful and gentle (friend) and her colleagues are doing in the middle of the jungles".
"In the midst of this dark and ugly situation, we are very appreciative of the support of our local and national leaders and authorities working through this situation," they wrote.
Friends and colleagues also expressed sorrow and anger at the situation in social media comments, and feared "jungle pirates" were getting bolder and more confident.
Air support has been approved and the military was on standby in surrounding regions as of Monday, AAP reported.
Australia has a no-ransom policy and opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said it's not in the nation's interest to be handing over ransoms unnecessarily.
"We need to be working hand in glove with the government of Papua New Guinea, with their law enforcement authorities to try to ensure the swift and safe release of these individuals," he told Sky News on Tuesday.
"Sometimes that means they will have to work quietly behind the scenes to try to secure the best outcome."
with AAP
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