Posted on 07 December 2021
Fiji is the latest regional country to announce it is sending security forces to Solomon Islands where major unrest rocked the capital. It will send 50 soldiers.
Days of rioting in Honiara by mobs who torched buildings and looted shops prompted the government to call for outside help.
Australian is sending 100 defence force and police personnel; Papua New Guinea is sending 37 police and correctional service forces.
New Zealand took its time to commit. As of today, roughly 15 New Zealand Defence Force personnel were due to travel to the Solomon Islands last Thursday, with a further 50 military and police staff following at the weekend, reports Lucy Craymer in Stuff.
Anna Powles, senior lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security at Massey University said “New Zealand has a legacy in the Solomon Islands of supporting peace and security and has been successful at doing that.”