Photo: UPNG4PNG

The Solomon Islands government says it is repatriating students studying in Papua New Guinea due to ongoing concerns about their safety.

Students in PNG have been boycotting classes for weeks in protest of Prime Minister Peter O'Neill's refusal to stand down to face corruption charges.

These protest have turned violent in the past two weeks, with clashes at campuses in Goroka, Lae and an incident where police opened fire on students from the University of PNG in Port Moresby.

The Solomon Islands government said it had been monitoring the situation closely, and on Saturday would start repatriating 127 students from the University of PNG, the University of Goroka, and Unitech in Lae.

It said it was concerned about its students' safety, the lack of education they were receiving, and uncertainty about the future of the semester.