THE United States (US) has joined a multinational team of experts from Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, New Zealand and the United Kingdom as part of “Operation Render Safe 2024.”
The operation organized and led by the Australian Defense Force and Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) was requested by Solomon Islands Government (SIG).
US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Anthony Calegari highlighted the value of this exercise by saying “Operation Render Safe exemplifies the enduring, multilateral commitment to removing the danger posed by World War II-era unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Pacific Island countries.
“We express gratitude to our Australian friends in leading so many of our democratic partners in this vital mission to remediate UXO which will provide tangible improvements to the security and prosperity of Solomon Islanders.”
This year, 2024, marks the 20th year that Operation Render Safe has been conducted, and this will be the largest land-based Render Safe Operation ever. The combined team will focus on the removal of explosive remnants of war from key areas in Western Province, including Kohinggo, Kolombangara, Munda and Vona Vona.
The mission will take place across three land and two maritime areas of operation and supported by air assets operating between Honiara and Western Province, including MV-22 Osprey aircraft that the US Department of Defense is sending to support the exercise from the end of August until mid-September.
The US stands ready to further partner with SIG on this shared effort as it has been for at least 15 years. Following SIG’s official acceptance of the US Department of Defense cooperation on Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) assistance in August 2023, the US Embassy presented a draft memorandum of understanding for signature to SIG in January 2024.
Once the MOU is signed, the almost $2 million USD in funding would support technical assistance, equipment, physical infrastructure, training, and mentorship with the RSIPF. This project would expand UXO assistance by facilitating cooperation between the RSIPF and the U.S. Department of Defense HMA Program to meet Solomon Islands’ complex HMA challenges, in order to reduce the hazards posed by explosive remnants of war.
Since 2011, the US has invested more than $11 million for Solomon Islands conventional weapons destruction activities to locate and mark UXO, support updates to the national UXO database and provide national capacity support.
This included training and equipping the RSIPF explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) unit which was created through a joint assistance initiative between the United States and Australia; training 13 engineers who have conducted more than 1,200 explosive ordnance callouts and destroyed more than 29,746 items of UXO.
