Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea continues to grapple with the legacy of Second World War explosives contamination, a persistent and dangerous issue affecting communities, development and public safety.
During WWII, Papua New Guinea was a major battleground in the Pacific, hosting extensive military operations by Allied and Japanese forces. Massive quantities of munitions were stockpiled, used and often abandoned.
Australian soldiers in Papua New Guinea in 1943 (Photograph by George Silk)
Following Japan's conquest of the mainland and islands of Papua in 1942, the Allies conducted a series of amphibious beach landings on the islands and the northern coast of New Guinea, intended to isolate the main Japanese base at Rabaul. The combination of fierce land battles, naval and artillery bombardment, aerial bombing and ammunition dumping left Papua New Guinea with a deadly and widespread legacy of contamination with unexploded and abandoned ordnance.
Notably catastrophic was the explosion of the ammunition ship USS Mount Hood in Manus in 1944, which left behind thousands of tons of unexploded ordnance and explosive remnants of war.
"Explosives clearance will improves livelihoods and development in isolated rural communities across Papua New Guinea, where urban unemployment is very high and nearly 40 per cent of the population are subsistence farmers."
HALO conducted three assessment missions to Papua New Guinea, gathering evidence and establishing relationships with key stakeholders. With support from the US State Department, HALO began work in Oro Province and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville in July 2025.
Papua New Guinea lacks a both a formal explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) reporting mechanism and comprehensive data on the scope of explosive contamination. HALO will conduct a national survey of mainland Papua New Guinea, outlying islands and the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. We will then identify priority areas and work to clear unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other explosives.
HALO can provide technical advice and training to the EOD unit of the Papua New Guinea Defence Force and the Bomb Search Unit of the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary.
HALO also plans to establish a stand-alone HALO EOD response in areas where the Defence Force lacks the capacity or ability to respond, and work with the Provincial Disaster Committees, Defence Force, and Constabulary to establish an effective UXO reporting and response mechanism.
