The Papua New Guinea government has been ordered to pay a total of one point 9 million US dollars to 1,281 people who were forcefully evicted by police from an illegal settlement on state land in Madang.
The plaintiffs were affected by an eviction exercise nearly ten years ago and began a legal suit seven years ago.
Police squads entered the settlement and forcefully removed the residents, in the process destroying their houses, other buildings, gardens and other property.
A court has ruled that the police action was unlawful and contravened a deal between the provincial government and the Madang Settlement Committee - which represented the plaintiffs and other settlers.
Each of the plaintiffs will be receiving different amounts ranging from just over 200 US dollars to more than 6 thousand dollars.
