On November 3rd, a group of teens petitioned the provincial government and expressed their concern for rising crime levels in Lae, New Guinea. They were not happy with the response and they terrorized the city for three days. They threw stones at the governmnent buildings and oncoming traffic. Recently, the Highlanders moved into town and their has been ethnic tension rising since. After the response, they went to the homes of the Highlanders and destroyed their property. They reportedly harassed buses and mugged people.Nine people were killed and they burned houses and destroyed property. Almost 1,000 people have been left homeless without drinking water or food. Prime Minister, Peter O'Neill threated to place Lae under state of emergency. A man threatened police with a gun and they had no choice but to shoot him.
This is a reoccuring issue because when the citizens are not satisfied with government decisions they either handle it peacefully or take control. In this situation, the teenagers took complete control over the city. They were very serious about their petition because they were attacking police and government officials.The citizens believed that the government was ignoring the problems that the Highlanders were causing. Police should have took control of the situation early on because they wouldn't have to handle this issue now. The Highlanders not being native is a major issue with ethnic division. People aren't accepting of outsiders especially when they cause problems within the city. This is a global social issue because we need to learn how to live with one another in this world. The article didn't really come from the Highlanders perspective. They probably weren't causing problems within the city at all. The people were upset that a large amount of new people were moving into their land. We always try to make social classes and look down upon people that don't have the same beliefs and characteristics that we do.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/ethnic-violence-in-papua-new-guinea-leaves-nine-dead-6258716.html
3 comments:
i think that it is great that teens are getting involved in government and actually caring about crime levels but they are being bit extreme with the stones and harming public property. They should voice there opinion peacefully and this can produce results as well. There is no need for teens to have to experienced police force used on them when that can peaceably assemble.
I think that it is great that they were getting involved in the government, but I don't think that them terrorizing the city was a good way to prove their point, if anything it just proved the politicians point of children not being involved in what is best for the city. I think they should have handled it differently and maybe they could have made a point in the right ways.
I thought it was interesting that the teenagers protested rising crime levels by committing a great number of crimes themselves.
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