Introduction
Papua New Guinea is a developing country which puts national security issues like sea or maritime piracy a huge concern for its citizens living along the coasts. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers areas of interest such as Bismark Sea, Solomon Sea, Gulf of Papua, Torres Straight and the maritime boarder with Solomon Islands were acts of piracy happen a lot. (Global Security.org 2020) Piracy is the term given to a crime that is committed at sea. Crime is defined as an illegal act where the offender can be punished by the government for violation of instituted laws (Merriam Webster Dictionary, 2020) On the other hand, according to Article 101 of the United Nations Convention of the Law of Seas (UNCLOS) sea piracy is defined as an illegal act committed at sea. The most common crimes committed at sea in PNG today include, armed robbery, killings, betel-nut smuggling, etc. There are many reported cases regarding vulnerable citizens along the coasts of Milne, Bay, Madang and Morobe Provinces vastly being affected by ongoing robberies at sea. Pirates intersect boats carrying passengers and cargo and rob them on gun point at sea. Cargos include money, betel-nut bags, accessories and foods just to name a few. However, robberies at sea using dinghies is one of the many illegal acts committed at sea. Others include, transnational crimes like, drug smuggling, human trafficking, money laundering and vandalism. All incidents of sea piracy will be discussed using Milne Bay, Morobe and Madang Province as case studies in the next chapter.
Case Studies: Milne Bay, Madang and Morobe Province
The people living in small villages along the coasts of these three provinces are heavily falling victims to sea pirates according to many news reports. According to the National (15th March, 2016), Chief Inspector Gerari Lincoln mentioned about the rise of sea piracy along the border of Morobe and Northern Province. Additionally, Gerari stated that the Northerners taking betel-nut to Lae were the victims of piracy from criminals who travel from Lae to rob them at sea. In a Post Courier report MP Charles Abel addressed a robbery incident that took place on the Misima Island in Milne Bay Province where a same group of sea pirates where involved. (Isaac Nicholas, January 10th 2019) This means that sea piracy in the province is consistently caused by a same gang frequently. A Fijian missionary who was a victim reported that a gang of 10 masked man armed with guns and knives held up a small boat containing 13 passengers and stripped out the boat’s engine. The passengers were not killed because they had a child with them and luckily contacted for help with a phone that was kept hidden. They travelled for 2 to 3 hours before rescue came and the locals told the Fijian that they were lucky to be alive because incidents occur regularly. (RNZ News, 4th April 2017) According to another National article report Madang PPC Supt Ben Neneo stated that, criminals used boats to escape after committing robberies and also elaborated on a case where youths between Karkar and Rambi where held up at sea by sea pirates. Furthermore, according to EMTV online (2017) criminals used escape using the sea after robing business houses in Mandag Town and being a maritime province had experiences of sea piracy frequently. In a Post Courier article Peter Guiness the Nothern command police chief assistance commissioner reported that during a sea piracy incident there was a hijacking of a boat between Karkar and Kubugum where three people went missing at sea and four of the responsible pirates were arrested by the police. (DWU journalism student, December 19th 2019) Additionally in another Post Courier article Guiness elaborated that the attack left one person dead and four missing which were feared to be dead and other four swam to safety when they were rescued. Jerry Sefe & Georgina Korei, December 18th 2019) Thus, this are only some of the cases of sea piracy attacks from a vast number which is believed to be unreported to the police. There are various factors that contribute to the incidents of sea piracy in PNG today which will be elaborated in the next chapter.
Factors contributing to Sea Piracy in PNG
Outside Influence
On the other hand, PNG has no history of such illegal acts committed at sea because in the past our people used the seas as trade routes. Sea Piracy is an issue that arose in 2008 according to Cameroon Mamadeni (2020) who is from Milne Bay Province. The main cause of sea piracy is because of the Western influence and globalization. The integration of the influence from the outside world with our developing economy contribute to sea piracy attacks in the coastal areas. In the past, our ancestors had no access to mobile phones, TV, weapons or basically the influence of media. Pirates are likely to develop their mindsets by watching a movie about sea piracy, for example Pirates of the Caribbean. It is more like they can attract their skills and techniques of attack from what they watch and the availability of good network coverage nationwide enables pirates to communicate and plan an attack from anywhere. For example, in light to one of the cases in Milne Bay province the Fijian who was part of an incident reported that the pirates had a good network. This means that a pirate from Alotau contacted his gang about the boat that was travelling and it was easier for the pirates to intercept the boat with 13 passengers quickly at sea.
Developing Economy
In PNG there are many people who are unemployed which leads them to take part in criminal activities where sea piracy happens to be one of them. According to the National, the high unemployment rate in PNG causes many crimes. Obviously, when people have no job, they are looking for means and ways to survive in a way to satisfy their needs and wants. In relation with the case studies, the pirates are usually aimed at stealing the cargos that passengers carry. Similarly, the people travelling along the Highlands and Okuk highways face many road blocks where criminals steal cargos such as money and other valuables on gun point. According to the National, Pirates from Lae travelled to Northern province because of the increased betel-nut trade. Thus, the pirates are committing sea piracy as an opportunity to make money. During an interview with a pirate from Madang he when asked about why they commit sea piracy, he generously answered, “sea piracy is our only way to make money since there are no police to intercept and arrest us. Sometimes we kill the people who try to retaliate because we make a living out of committing the act of piracy.”
Poor Security Operations and Management
The sea has no house, no people living in it and no crops growing on it but it is just a huge area of open water. The fact that there is less monitoring by police patrol boats and other authorities makes it simpler for pirates to attack. The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of PNG is 5,153km of coastline and 2.7 million square kilometers which puts the area vulnerable to international arms and drug smuggling and piracy. In order to minimize such activities regular maritime surveillance to enforce regulations and intercept and arrest offenders are needed but are not effectively carried out by responsible governing bodies. (Global Security.org 2020) According to Charles Yapuni (August 24, 2016) the water police unit lacked resources in combating sea piracy. There was no funding to the police department from the NEC due to several constraints. As a result, act of piracy was reported to be mostly occurring in the seas of Alotau, Morobe, Mandag and other maritime provinces. (Charles Yapumi, August 24, 2016) In an interview with one of the police officers at Jomba police station, when asked about his views on sea piracy in Madang and the what the police are doing to combat this issue in the province? He replied, “We have the man power but we need logistics, our heads are not funding sea piracy operations and we do not have full conditioned police boats to chase offenders. The two police boats need maintenance and have broken down which makes it difficult for the police to combat sea piracy.” Thus, from many other news articles, the concern of boats needed by the police to carry out operations and patrols were stated. According to police officer interviewed he mentioned raise an important question, “Why should we risk our lives to chase offenders when we do not have proper logistics?” In regards, this can be the mindset that other police officers of other maritime provinces have which now puts acts of piracy to increase regularly in the coastal provinces of PNG. Pirates use the weak spots of the police as an advantage to commit sea piracy in Miline Bay, Madang, Morobe and other coastal provinces of PNG. There are laws, strategies and policies in place to combat sea piracy but proves to be ineffective. These will be discussed in the next chapter.
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