Colonization has resulted in ethnicstrife in the former British colony of the Solomon Islands.Explain how the actions of 1942 led to ethnic violence in 1999, and how the violence was settled in 2003

Answer 1

The Solomon Islands' troubles date to 1942, when US Marines fought to push Japanese troops off the island of Guadalcanal. The American forces enlisted the support of thousands of people from the neighboring island of Malaita. After the successful offensive, many of these Malaitans elected to stay on Guadalcanal, where under British colonial rule they came to dominate economic and political life. The indigenous people of Guadalcanal resented their dominance and in particular what they saw as the loss of their lands to the Malaitans (who purchased the lands). Conflict between the groups erupted in 1999, with the majority Guadalcanalans murdering scores of Malaitans and driving tens of thousands off the island (most eventually returned to Malaita). An Australian-led peacekeeping mission arrived in 2003 to quell the unrest and put civil servants to work rebuilding the country's shattered economy. Thankfully, reconstruction has set the discord aside, but here again we see how the seeds of conflict were sown by colonial and other outside powers.