July 11, 1996
Red Cross stops aid amid PNG 'misinformation'
By GREG ROBERTSThe International Red Cross has suspended operations on Bougainville following suggestions the Papua New Guinea Defence Force (PNGDF) put the lives of aid workers at risk by disseminating false information.
The decision means no non-government aid agencies now have a presence on the island as the PNGDF steps up its offensive against the separatist Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA).
This will further hamper efforts to get food and medical supplies to an estimated 70,000 people taking refuge from the conflict in Government-controlled care centres.
The Red Cross was trying yesterday to evacuate its Bougainville co-ordinator, Mrs Pauline Onsa, who is thought to be ill and who was the subject of an extraordinary statement by the PNGDF in Port Moresby.
According to the statement, Mrs Onsa "missed bullets by inches" when the BRA "rained indiscriminate fire" during an attack last week on the Red Cross office in the town of Arawa.
The statement said Mrs Onsa was very concerned at the BRA attack on humanitarian facilities and that the Red Cross office would be closed for two months.
The statement claimed Mrs Onsa had "urged the international community to condemn these criminal acts by rebels".
Aid sources said Mrs Onsa had been careful to maintain good relations with both sides, and would never have jeopardised the Red Cross's work by publicly supporting one side.
The PNGDF statement's claim that Mrs Onsa was being evacuated to Sydney for medical treatment was "hogwash", the aid sources said.