Estimates

SPOTLIGHTPAPUA NEW GUINEAManam islanders still displaced tenyears after volcanic eruptionPapua New Guinea (PNG) is prone toa range of natural hazards, includingdrought, floods, tropical cyclones, landslides,volcanic eruptions, earthquakesand tsunamis. It is also highly vulnerableto the impacts of climate change and risingsea-levels. An estimated 21,186 peoplewere displaced by natural hazards andthe disasters they triggered in 2014, withflooding being the main driver. 33One of the largest displacementscaused by a volcanic eruption in PNG tookplace in late 2004 when around 11,000people were forced to flee their homeson Manam island in Madang province. 34All were evacuated 15 kilometres to mainlandareas near the town of Bogia, wheremany were accommodated in temporarygovernment settlement sites or “care centres”,as they are officially known. Otherssought refuge with host communities. 35Given the risk of further volcanicactivity, Manam was declared unsafefor return and the authorities began toconsider alternative settlement optionsfor the island’s IDPs. Local integrationin the care centres was quickly deemedunsustainable because of a shortage ofland and resources, and rising tensionsbetween the displaced and local communities.The land on which the centreswere set up was said to be owned by thegovernment, which gave IDPs permissionto stay temporarily. Locals, however,claimed that they, not the state, were therightful owners. 36In 2006, the government identifiedland for the IDPs’ relocation in Andarum,around 50 kilometres from Bogia. Themajority agreed to move providing infrastructureincluding roads, schools andhealth centres was built and they wouldhave enough land to cultivate. Legislationwas passed and the government establishedthe Manam Resettlement Authority(MRA), tasked with taking the projectforward.A displaced woman from Manam island carries onwith everyday chores at the Mangem care centre,Bogia town, Madang province, Papua New Guinea.Photo: IDMC/Frederik Kok, October 201454 Global Estimates 2015