Photo: RNZ Pacific / Koroi Hawkins

Thousands turned up at Lawson Tama stadium in Honiara yesterday to farewell the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands which officially ends 14 years of peace and nation building work in the country today.

Leaders from Australia, New Zealand and participating Pacific nations had also travelled to the Solomon Islands capital to witness the historic event.

Solomon Islands' prime minister Manasseh Sogavare had called it a week to say thank you and that was certainly the atmosphere at the stadium yesterday afternoon where thousands of Solomon Islanders gathered to witness the end of an era.

Photo: RNZ Pacific/Koroi Hawkins

The colourful ceremony was broadcast live across the nation and began with speeches from various dignitaries and visiting leaders with the final word coming from Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare.

Pacific leaders were given plaques commemorating their country's participation in the regional mission.

And all of the RAMSI special coordinators past and present were bestowed with awards and medals for distinguished service to Solomon Islands each one greeted with loud cheers from the crowd.

A colourful closing ceremony took up the rest of the evening ending with an impressive fireworks display to usher in the new Post-RAMSI era.</s>The Australian-led assistance mission to Solomon Islands will officially end tomorrow, as the country eyes a lasting peace after ethnic violence that left it on the brink of collapse.

The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) saw Australia, New Zealand and 13 other Pacific countries send help to stabilise the island nation, at the request of its government.

Australia spent an estimated $2.8 billion on the 14-year mission, contributing 7,200 soldiers and 1,700 Australian Federal Police officers to the effort.

But as the mission draws to a close, there are concerns over whether the current peace will endure — and in the words of the country's Prime Minister, Solomon Islands has arrived at a crossroads in its history.

The ethnic violence in Solomon Islands between 1998 and 2003 — which locals refer to as "the tensions" — saw fighting between militants from Guadalcanal island and the nearby island of Malaita.

Militants in Guadalcanal began targeting migrants from Malaita, who had travelled to Guadalcanal to seek employment in the capital Honiara, and had over the years created multiple settlements on the island.

The militants resented the growing influence settlers commanded over the island, as well as the settlers' presence on their lands.

The resulting violence saw thousands of Malaitan settlers flee back to their home island or to the relative safety of the capital.

A Malaitan militant force was set up in response, further entrenching unrest across the country, and the police force began to take sides in the violence.

After years of worsening conflict and fruitless peace efforts, Solomon Islands found itself on the verge of becoming a failed state.

In 2003 the Solomon Islands government made a formal request for assistance to its regional neighbours, and RAMSI was born.

Australian soldiers and federal police quickly restored law and order and confiscated thousands of guns.

But it was not an easy mission — two Australians died, one was shot in the back.

"On the side of law and order [RAMSI] was clearly very successful," said James Batley, a former special coordinator of RAMSI and Australian High Commissioner to Solomon Islands.

"And dramatically so early on, when the militant groups disarmed and their weapons were destroyed."

Mr Batley spoke to the ABC from Honiara, where he is participating in the end-of-mission celebrations.

Australia's Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and representatives from other participating Pacific countries were also given a warm, traditional welcome to the capital.

Justice Minister Michael Keenan attended the ceremonies and said Australia was duty-bound to lead a regional intervention.

"Australia could not afford to have a failed state on our doorstep," he said.

Beyond just ending the conflict, RAMSI had a broad mandate.

The mission also involved repairing national institutions, restoring government finances and the aiding the operation of the public service.

The police force also needed renewal after its participation in the conflict, and was rearmed on a limited basis earlier this year for the first time since the violence ended.

44 unarmed Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers will also remain in the country after the withdrawal to serve as trainers.

But the mission was not without its critics — one of the most strident among them being the current Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Manasseh Sogavare.

While Mr Sogavare had previously accused the mission of undermining his country's sovereignty, and had even threatened to terminate the effort, he has changed his views in recent times.

Speaking in Parliament earlier this week, he praised RAMSI for fully achieving its mandate.

"It faced a lot of challenges, but of course none of which deterred the mission from pursuing and achieving the objectives it set out to achieve," he said.

"Law and order has been restored, [the] machinery of government is functioning again."

Opposition leader Jeremiah Manele said there was anxiety in some parts of the country over what would happen after the withdrawal.

Acknowledging these concerns, Mr Sogavare described Solomon Islands as being at a crossroads, but said the country's second chance at peace was an exciting challenge.

"We must learn, Mr Speaker, to see our differences as a point of strength."

Claims root causes were ignored

Not everyone is convinced that lessons have been properly learnt following the unrest.

"The Solomon Islands Government did not make use of the opportunity when RAMSI [was] here to solve the underlying causes," Guadalcanal Premier Anthony Veke said.

Mr Veke said land rights on Guadalcanal, a major grievance of the militants there, have not seen any progress.

He said the Government could have used the stability provided by RAMSI to make inroads.

Mr Batley is aware of these arguments.

"There's no doubt that there's a bit of nervousness around," he said.

"Some thoughtful Solomon Islanders are asking the question: 'Did we sufficiently make use of the opportunity that RAMSI provided to really address the really deep issues?'

"There is a bit of national debate around, but I think overwhelmingly the feeling is that the time is right."

Mr Veke was also positive about the prospect of an enduring peace in Solomon Islands.

"I'm confident that the country's future is bright and in good hands," he said.

"Especially with the new Commissioner of Police … and also with the more than 40 AFP who will be remaining.

"I think they can still continue to provide an environment in which the common can actually address those issues."</s>The Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) will officially come to a completion on Friday, June 30. For the past 14 years the Australian-led mission has been assisting the Pacific Island country to reestablish stability and functionality after a period of ethnic violence from 1998 to 2003. During this period hundreds of people were killed, ten of thousands displaced, and the state was brought almost to collapse.

As a modern nation-state constructed out of a British colonial endeavor, the Solomon Islands brought together six large culturally distinct islands (and another 900 smaller islands) alongside 70 languages. Despite the creole of Pijin (closely related to Papua New Guinea’s Tok Pisin) developing throughout the colonial period as a lingua franca, an accompanying strong civic nationalism that could have transcended tribal divisions had failed to develop alongside it.

The second half of the 20th Century saw significant movement of people from the island Malaita, who were seeking opportunities in the capital of Honiara on the island Guadalcanal. Malaitans soon became the largest ethnic group in the capital and the dominant actors in many of the government’s structures and business community. This led to significant resentment within the native Guale population. The increasing tensions led to the formation of two militia groups, the Isatabu Freedom Movement and the Malaita Eagle Force. Law and order began to collapse along with the state’s ability to deliver services, and economic activity was diminished.

Prior to 2003, Australia had been reluctant to intervene in the conflict. Australia’s role in the recent independence of Timor-Leste had aroused Indonesian suspicions of potential Australian sympathy towards the independence movement in West Papua. The thinking was that any use of military force in the region could have been perceived by Indonesia as an Australian fondness for regional interventions, compounding suspicions of Australia’s disregard for Indonesian sovereignty.

Yet with the invitation of the Solomon Islands’ government, and with increased concern about a failing state in Australia’s “arc of instability,” the RAMSI intervention was launched with the support of the Pacific Islands Forum.

Violence came to an almost immediate halt with the RAMSI intervention, and within a few weeks most of the militias’ weaponry had been confiscated and destroyed. Although Australia provided the bulk of the 2,200 military personnel and police, the other 15 member states of the Pacific Islands Forum all contributed some police and military personnel, as well advisors and diplomats to assist in the reconstruction of the state.

The mission was devised not simply as a peacekeeping operation, but as a program to rebuild the state. This involved significant investment in not only the Solomon Islands’ security apparatuses, but also within the country’s financial infrastructure, the justice system, and vital public services like health and education. Alongside reviving the country’s economy and building more inclusive civic institutions.

In a statement to the Solomon Islands Parliament on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare recognized the success of this state-building project when he declared that “[l]aw and order has been restored, the machinery of Government is functioning again, the economy has recovered and the judicial system has been strengthened; our Police Force has regained the confidence of our people.”

RAMSI has remained popular with with general population throughout its mission, and some sections of the Solomon Islands community are concerned that unrest will return when it departs. While government corruption in the Solomon Islands remains an endemic problem, and former warlord Jimmy Lusibaea is now the Infrastructure Minister, the chief of the RAMSI mission, Quinton Devlin, has stressed that the creation of a perfect state was never RAMSI’s purpose. The mission was to restore stability to the country and assist in establishing institutions that the Solomon Islands can continue to develop themselves.

However, the success of RAMSI, once it fully departs the Solomon Islands on Friday, will be judged by whether this stability and security can be maintained, and whether the country’s revived institutions have the resilience to withstand the transition back to full sovereignty, and to accommodate the evolving needs of the Solomon Islands’ people.

For Australia, the end of RAMSI will signal a potential shift in Australia’s regional foreign policy. Will Australia continue to pursue a more active and interventionist foreign policy, or moves back towards the more reluctant position held prior to RAMSI, weary of Indonesia’s concerns. Of course the hope is that further interventions of this kind will not be necessary – particularly in the Solomon Islands – however the forthcoming referendum on Bougainville’s independence from Papua New Guinea (currently scheduled for mid-2019) will undoubtedly be carefully observed by the Australian government.</s>Police Minister Paula Bennett will travel to Honiara tomorrow to mark the draw-down of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands . "In 2003 political instability and conflict posed a significant threat to the Solomon Islands and the government requested assistance through the Pacific Islands Forum," Mrs Bennett says.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Scoop.</s>On Thursday June 29 the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands – RAMSI – comes to an end after 14 years.

“What are we looking for? And where do we go from here? As we celebrate this service, do we have a goal? Do we have an aim? A saying goes ‘if we aim at nothing, we will hit nothing”.

These were the challenges the Anglican Archbishop of the Church of Melanesia, George Takeli, put to the people attending a thanksgiving service held on Sunday marking the start of a week of celebrations.

Hundreds of people gathered at the Maranatha Hall east of Honiara for the service which was also attended by the governor general Sir Frank Kabui, the prime minister Manasseh Sogavare and the chief justice Sir Albert Palmer.

The Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) has been purged of militants and reconstituted with candidates from across the nation’s ethnic and cultural spectrum.

Today’s officers have the same level of training as police in Australia.

But Radio New Zealand International reports that some locals are uncertain what will happen after the departure of RAMSI.

The outgoing RAMSI head, Quentin Devlin, told Fairfax Media he has full confidence in the police force, but understand people’s misgivings.

The Solomon Islands government has been pointed out that there will still be Australian and New Zealand police officers in the Solomon Islands – as long term advisors.

And much of the work to improve the government will continue under longer term bilateral programs.

As one of the locally based diplomats put it ‘RAMSI is leaving but we are not.’

Australian-led RAMSI involved 15 countries. It began in July 2003, at the request of the Solomon Islands government which was near collapse after bloody ethnic fighting killed hundreds, displaced tens of thousands broke out and brought the nation’s economy to its knees.</s>The Solomon Islands once faced difficult and testing times but 14 years after an Australian-led rescue mission, the flickering flame of order and nationhood again burns bright. With those words, Governor-General Peter Cosgrove reflected on the significance of the 15-country Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands wrapping up this week.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Yahoo!.</s>A former rebel commander in the Solomon Islands is hiring ex-criminals in a bid to keep them from causing trouble.

Jimmy Lusibaea once known as Jimmy Rasta in the Malaitan Eagle force, is now a member of parliament and leading businessman.

He was arrested by the Regional Assistance Mission (RAMSI) in 2003 and acquitted over the deaths of two constables but served prison time for robbery.

He told 1 NEWS that when he was imprisoned he was told he would stay there and rot, but says that was not according to God's plan.

He says he now hires 100 workers in construction and security – most of them former rebels and criminals.

"We have been in to prison together, when I came out I created this company and they work for me knowing full well that none of the companies here in Solomons would employ us," he said.

He said most of his workers now have families who they want to support and if he didn’t employ them they would potentially cause trouble.

One of the biggest challenges the Solomon Islands faces is the largely unemployed youth population, 67 per cent of the population are between the ages of 15-25.

Locals fear this week's withdrawal of RAMSI, which has been in the Solomon Islands for 14 years keeping the peace, will lead to more trouble.</s>New Zealand is putting $6 million into a multipurpose hall and sports facility in the Solomon Islands in a bid to keep youth off the street.

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett has been in Honiara marking the departure of the Regional Assistance Mission.

Sixty seven per cent of the population is aged between 15-25 and more than half are unemployed.

Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett had been in the capital Honiara marking the departure of the Regional Assistance Mission (RAMSI) which has been based in the country for 14 years helping to keeping law and order.

Mrs Bennett says development of youth is important for the country moving ahead.

She said she is "genuinely optimistic" about future of the Solomons as RAMSI officially withdraws today.

Eight New Zealand police officers will continue to support their Solomons counterparts as advisors with as focus on community policing.</s>The island of Naghotano in the Solomon Islands, about 80km away from Honiara the capital, is around a kilometre square and home to about 600 people. As the population grows, rising sea levels are chewing away at Naghotano and the other islands of the Pacific archipelago year after year causing increasingly unstable shorelines. ‘The island used to have a large shoreline with many trees,’ one of the locals explained. With the trees that once stood on solid ground being washed away by the sea, the village becomes more vulnerable to storms and high tides.</s>Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer View text version of this page Help using this website - Accessibility statement Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox. Join today and you can easily save your favourite articles, join in the conversation and comment, plus select which news your want direct to your inbox.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Age.
A farewell ceremony in Honiara ends the 14 year RAMSI mission in the Solomon Islands.