11 October 2007

Source URL = http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/oct2007/solo-o11.shtml

The protracted conflict between the Solomon Islands and Australian
governments escalated earlier this month when the Pacific country’s
foreign minister Patteson Oti denounced Australia’s “occupation”
before the UN General Assembly. Oti’s strident speech marked
a significant ramping up of the increasingly hostile exchanges
between the two countries.

Tensions have been building for more than a year, as the Australian
government of Prime Minister John Howard has attempted to destabilise
and overthrow the Solomons’ administration led by Prime Minister
Manasseh Sogavare.

Oti’s characterisation of Australia’s presence in
the Solomons as an occupation force is entirely accurate. In 2003,
more than 2,000 soldiers and police were deployed under the banner
of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI).
Scores of Australian bureaucrats, legal officials, and other personnel
effectively took control of the country’s state apparatus,
including its police, prisons, judicial system, public service,
and finance department.

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