Solution For Somali Piracy Has To Be Found On Land, Not At Sea – Analysis [Eurasia Review]
Sri Lankan scholar
By
According to the
"The hijacking of a bulk carrier off the coast of
Thorpe warned that the tactics employed, including the use of a mother ship (a large ship which can go long distances), enable pirates to operate at sea for extended periods and at considerable distances, catching ship owners off guard.
The Somali pirates, once a significant concern between 2008 and 2016, saw a decline in activity due to concerted international efforts. But since the Israel-Hamas war in
The
Piracy incidents off the coast of
The international community has now mobilized to combat the surge of piracy off the
Land-based Crime
But a Sri Lankan researcher,
Therefore, the solution to piracy lies not so much in capturing and prosecuting the pirates at sea, but in setting right the horrendous conditions in
"Piracy has become a lucrative business in
Civil War
From 1969 to 1991,
The international community failed to rebuild and stabilize the country. Foreign aid was eaten up by the influential few. There was no strong central authority to ensure that such things did not happen. People began to indulge in crime, including piracy, to make ends meet first and then to become rich.
Grinding Poverty
Poverty in
"When taking into consideration that a single pirate hijack can lead to a ransom range between
The US, with the support of the
The failure of the international community to find a durable solution to the Somali politico-economic problem provided a fertile ground for the emergence of radical Islamist movements seeking to create an
Somali waters had also become the dumping ground of hazardous waste for industrialized countries since the early 1980s. This destroyed fish stocks. Shipping companies found dumping in these unpoliced seas much cheaper than disposing off their waste by scientific methods (
To combat such dumping, Somali fishermen began attacking foreign ships and seeking ransom to let them off. Fishermen joined hands with militias and unemployed youth to hijack ships.
Those who took to piracy on a big scale lived lavishly. But the traditional Somali practice of sharing wealth with the community, led to many common folk developing a stake in piracy, albeit indirectly.
The piracy-led economy was also built on corruption. People openly bribed their way through officialdom.
Corruption is intrinsically linked to money laundering. Organized pirates' syndicates operating in
Since 2008, the international anti-piracy operation "Atalanta" was highly successful. Several states like
Then there is the Djibouti Code of Conduct to share intelligence. But this is a non-binding agreement. Therefore, the level of political support is quite weak, Karawita says.
Much depends on whether States have sufficient national legislations and willingness to commit forces for anti-piracy work, and bring pirates to trial. Both are expensive.
This means that when piracy is committed within territorial waters of a country, it cannot be classified as piracy. This is a handicap. And if the State concerned is weak or is a Failed State like
(This story was published in Daily Mirror,
a-url="https://www.eurasiareview.com/06022024-solution-for-somali-piracy-has-to-be-found-on-land-not-at-sea-analysis/" data-a2a-title="Solution For Somali Piracy Has To Be Found On Land,
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