Papua New Guinea — Mount Ulawun Site Profile (December 2023)

On 20 November 2023, Mount Ulawun volcano on the border of the West New Britain (WNB) and East New Britain (ENB) provinces erupted, spewing ash plumes. The Rabaul Volcanological Observatory reported that seismicity was high, showing an upward trend but at a reduced rate and thus recommended that the Alert Level be upgraded to Stage 4. The volcano eruption caused mass displacement across the affected areas. IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) site assessment tool was rolled out in WNB and ENB within a week following the eruption and identified 8,565 persons (1,707 Households [HH]) displaced from the local villages in WNB and ENB.1 Another 8,544 displaced individuals (private sector companies’ evacuees) are hosted by their employers (Hargy Oil Palm and Navo Mill) in WNB and are not accounted for in the DTM assessment. Combined, the total number of displaced persons, company evacuees and local villagers, is 17,109. The situation remains fluid and information presented in this report may continue to evolve.