An initial assessment of the situation on the ground confirms that the violence has resulted in a humanitarian crisis with significant displacement, food insecurity and limited access to medical care and essential services. Safety concerns, as well as logistical challenges created by the May 2024 landslide in Mulitaka (situated 40 kms away from Porgera via the Highlands Highway) are obstacles to the delivery of aid to the affected populations in Porgera. The Provincial Emergency Response Team have prioritized restoration of law and order and are working with the PNG Defence Force and the Provincial Police Commander who are mobilizing additional forces to Porgera. The Provincial Emergency Response Team has also prioritized a needs assessment and the United Nations, in the next 48 - 72 hours, will be deploying a joint needs assessment mission to support the Provincial team to assess needs of the affected population as well as to assess access to the affected locations. As of today, the number of fatal casualties reported by local sources is estimated to be in the range between 20 and 50, but this figure is subject to change and verification.END// For queries, send an email to the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator: rcs-uninpng-office@un.org 

 ANGORAM, EAST SEPIK PROVINCE, 9 AUGUST 2024 - The laughter and shouts of a group of youngsters echo through the air as they chase a football across a makeshift playing field, the faded lines of a basketball court serving as their boundary.Their excitement is a fleeting moment of joy. Beneath the surface of their excitement, a hint of unspoken anguish, grief, and struggle lingers, hinting at the stories they carry within – stories they wish were just bad dreams.Each one has faced a harrowing journey, having lost one or more family members, and narrowly escaped a life-or-death situation.  “We need a lot of things now. When the enemies chased us, we ran away with nothing. We have no money to buy anything we want, we left our fishing grounds so we can’t earn an income,” says Damien (not his real name), a father of five whose wife and two young children were murdered in cold blood almost two months ago in Tambari village, Angoram District, East Sepik Province.“My wife and my two children were beheaded. I brought one child here for the police to see and then buried him not far from here. I went back to the village with the police a few days later and buried my wife and my second child in shallow graves where I found them. Three of my children are here with me, one of them is there playing football now,” Damien quietly explains. Damien is among the over 300 survivors, including more than 200 children, who fled a spate of brutal killings and sexual assaults committed by a gang of over 30 armed young men in the river villages of Tambari and Agrumara, located in the Kanda area of Angoram District on 17th July. At least 26 people, including 11 children were killed in this atrocious massacre.While the immediate needs of the survivors are critical – food, shelter, clean water, and enhanced sanitation and hygiene facilities – this tragedy has also revealed deeper, systemic issues that affect the lives of people in remote areas where violence prevails. Addressing these underlying challenges is essential for fostering long-term resilience and stability in these communities.For the past six years, the river communities in Angoram’s Kanda area have faced a significant absence of health and education services. Ongoing conflicts and violence between neighbouring villages, coupled with challenging access to these remote areas, have severely impacted families and children. “There’s no school in our community, it was burned during a conflict six years ago. The nearest school is too far so none of our children have ever been to school in the past six years. Now I’m happy to see three of my children attending class.” DamienShortly after the massacre, UNICEF delivered 100 hygiene kits and deployed a specialised team to provide psychosocial support to traumatised survivors.UNICEF continues to be on the ground supporting health, nutrition, education, and protection services for these survivors currently living in care centres in Angoram. Volunteers like Samantha from the host community, use educational and recreational resources donated by UNICEF to provide learning sessions for children in the care centres.“Nobody here has ever been to formal school. I’m conducting learning sessions for children aged 6 – 18 years, focusing on early childhood and elementary education. Ongoing conflicts in their communities have forced parents to keep their children at home. Teachers, fearful for their safety, are reluctant to go and teach there,” says Samantha.The last routine vaccination in these villages occurred in November 2017. Anita, a community health worker currently on leave but volunteering health services for survivors, confirms her last visit to these communities was also in November 2017.“No one has brought them health services since. All these children up to the age of five years have never been immunised and can easily get sick – they can get polio, measles, whooping cough, or any communicable disease,” Anita explains.“I’m a female and I can’t lead a team without the support of men to provide health services to these communities where there is a lot of conflict and violence. It’s very hard,” she adds.UNICEF’s Chief for Child Protection, Paula Vargas, who is facilitating psychosocial support for deeply traumatised children and adults condemns the violence.“It’s not only about this emergency. It’s not only about what these families are experiencing. It’s the violence that is happening in the country. We need to commit for a change, we need to say enough is enough. We need to build together a country with peace, without violence where children can grow, can play, can learn and can be happy”, Paula reiterates.   

More than 50 people were reportedly slaughtered in an outburst of violence following an alleged land dispute in the Sepik River villages of Tamara, Tambari, and Agrumara on 17 July. As of now, 88 households have been displaced and are living in six temporary care centers. The total number of individuals, disaggregated by sex and age, is still being finalized. The displaced families are currently sheltered in six temporary care centers. The immediate needs of these families continue to be food, hygiene kits for women and children, non-food items such as bedding and clothing, water, shelter (including camps and child-friendly spaces), child protection, gender-based violence and mental health and psychosocial services, and education. According to local government officials, five perpetrators of the massacre have been apprehended, while at least another 20 remain at large, causing continued fear in the community. Condemning the deadly violence, United Nations Resident Coordinator Mr. Richard Howard reiterated his call on the authorities to hold the perpetrators to account no matter what. “Peace is the first prerequisite for progress,” Mr. Howard said. “Violence is never the answer and will only exacerbate the problems that are already there,” he added. Mr. Howard added that it is now up to the authorities to deliver justice for the victims, bring rival parties back to the negotiation table, and avoid further bloodshed. Meanwhile, UNICEF has received reports of five unaccompanied children in Angoram whose parents have been killed or gone missing.UNICEF PNG Representative Ms. Angela Kearney said, a specialised team was on the ground to identify the children and provide adequate care, including much-needed psychosocial support. “Words can’t describe the horrors these poor children have witnessed,” Ms Kearney said. “Advanced psychosocial support is absolutely essential to prevent lifelong scars,” she added. According to Ms. Kearney, more help is on the way, including tents to provide shelter for families who have nothing to go back to since huts were burned down, and livelihoods destroyed.While assessment is ongoing, the United Nations continues to provide critical support. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is leading the registration of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and providing camp coordination, shelter, non-food items, and emergency water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) supplies.“As law enforcement is working towards containing the situation, IOM is moving quickly to bring aid to the affected communities as swiftly as access permits,” said Mr. Serhan Aktoprak, Chief of Mission, IOM. “We are collaborating closely with other UN agencies, as well as national and international partners.”Furthermore, UNICEF is supplying hygiene kits, high-performance tents, recreational kits, and registration services for unaccompanied and separated children, as well as establishing child friendly spaces and providing mental health and psychosocial services and gender-based violence services and referrals. The UN Humanitarian Advisory Team (UN HAT) is coordinating with local authorities and partners to conduct joint rapid needs assessments. Additionally, the Australian NGO Living Child, with support from UNICEF, is helping to establish child-friendly spaces in the Catholic Community Center and provide psychosocial services. END Mr. Richard Howard, UN Resident Coordinator (richard.howard@un.org; +675 7969 8118)Ms. Angela Kearney, UNICEF Representative (akearney@unicef.org; +675 7100 0370)Mr. Serhan Aktoprak, IOM Chief of Mission (saktoprak@IOM.INT)

At least 26 people were reportedly slaughtered in an outburst of violence following an alleged land dispute in the Sepik River villages of Tamara, Tambari, and Agrumara.Expressing deep shock and grief, United Nations Resident Coordinator Mr. Richard Howard said the latest atrocities were “a profound violation of human rights and dignity.” “This heinous crime is an affront to our shared humanity,” Mr. Richard Howard said. “The brutalisation of innocent villagers, especially the sexual violence against women and girls, is utterly unacceptable,” he said. The highest UN representative in the country said it was imperative that the perpetrators were held accountable, and justice was served for the victims and their families.The UNICEF Papua New Guinea Representative Angela Kearney said the drama was indicative of a disturbing trend of tribal violence aimed at the most vulnerable, particularly women and children.“What happened in East Sepik strikes at the heart of what we stand against—blatant disregard for life and dignity, particularly of the most defenceless among us,” Kearney said. The United Nations’ first priority is to ensure that survivors are protected from further harm and to provide comprehensive psychosocial support to mitigate the risk of lasting mental trauma.Resident Coordinator Mr. Richard Howard said the United Nations stands in solidarity with the affected communities and reinforced his call for swift action from law enforcement agencies to investigate, identify and charge the perpetrators.“We look forward to working with the Government of Papua New Guinea and other partners to ensure that the survivors receive the necessary support, such atrocities do not go unpunished, and underlying conditions in the affected communities are addressed so that these atrocities are prevented in the future,” said Mr. Richard Howard.ENDMr Richard Howard, UN Resident Coordinator (richard.howard@un.org; +675 7969 8118)
Ms Angela Kearney, UNICEF Representative (akearney@unicef.org; +675 7100 0370)