I fly up from Sydney to Port Moresby (via Cairns). My objective is to meet and engage with people displaced by climate change-related problems. In my view they are the real climate change migration management experts because they have "lived" the experience. In fact, I've been getting rather weary lately of the self-appointed academic "experts" who seem to know so much "about" environmental change-related migration from behind the safety of their desks. So I've come to learn from the real experts about how to "manage" climate change-related migration. With significant sea level rise reported in the area, Bougainville (Papua New Guinea) is a good place to start my investigation.
Flying Cairns - Port Moresby aboard a QantasLink Dash 8 - 400
The security briefing at the Port Moresby World Vision head office is "crushing" in that I realise how "fear" is gripping my soul. The current overall "Security Status" of this country (as of December 2009) is "Yellow/Red". For Port Moresby this means a "high incidence of car-jackings, burglary and rape. Night movements are very risky." For Bougainville Island (where I'm going on Saturday) the security status is also "Yellow/Red", indicating "frequent abuse of alcohol and marijuana. Police are ineffectual, and the ‘Melanesian Way’ is used to resolve incidents or disputes." Some of the details of the 13-page "Security Briefing" document don't make for light bedtime reading, eg "never walk anywhere at night, always use a vehicle," or "under no circumstances are you to enter an out of bounds areas without approval from the National Director (except in the most extreme of situations)." It doesn't get more rosy in the "ANNEX F – Vehicle Operations" guide which deals at length with avoidance of car-jackings (Port Moresby's daily average is more than 10!) The check list goes like this:
Car-Jacking Avoidance Advice
In an effort to assist WV staff to avoid becoming a victim of this crime, the following information and suggestions are recommended;
1. Ensure car doors and windows are locked
2. Vary your routes to and from work
3. Maintain sufficient distance between you and the vehicle in front to allow action to be taken
4. Stay on busy roads and avoid less travelled roads
5. Always consider alternative routes should primary routes be obstructed for any reason
6. If vehicles are slow moving or braking constantly, this may be a sign that someone is trying to block your path in front or with the assistance of an accomplice in a vehicle behind you
7. Keep your house keys separate from your car keys, in the event that you have to give up your vehicle in a car-jacking
8. When approaching a gated driveway, scan the area before stopping at the gate. Avoid stopping directly in front of the gate, as carjackers can use this situation to their advantage by using their vehicle to trap you.
9. Always park in secure areas monitored by Security Guards.
10. Car-jacking can happen anytime and anywhere, however criminal activity in the evening increases. Minimize travel after dark. If you must travel at night, utilize the monitoring system we have in place with Protect Security
11. Remember, LOCK, START, GO!
In the midst of learning all about car-jackings ("Remember, the goal is to survive the incident without being injured. Nothing is worth more than your life and well-being and that of your family") I'm told by a friendly New Zealander how an Australian had the back of his car window blown out by shotgun fire a couple of weeks ago when he refused to stop for the would-be car-jacker and instead sped off...
After signing the World Vision Statements of Understandings (SOUs) at night I can't sleep, wondering why on Earth I even decided to come here to learn about climate change migration management. Would I live to tell the tales...?
A comment thoughtlessly made by one of my colleagues prior to leaving Sydney ("man, you're going to get killed there in PNG") does little to assuage my now lowly state as sleep eludes me until late at night...
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