Somali Piracy - Solving an International Crisis
How the International Community Must Deal with the Piracy Crisis
Dec 9, 2008
Until very recently, the African nation of Somalia received very little international attention. It was hardly a secret that the country was under extreme duress and politically volatile, but there was little to distinguish it from other rogue states and suffering African regions, so it went largely ignored by the global community (with a few notable exceptions). As of late though, Somalia has become a subject of interest abroad, not due to the widespread violence within the country or the instability of the provisional government, but because of the recent successes of Somalian pirates.
Recent Pirate Attacks
The attacks made by pirates operating from Somalia have grown increasingly frequent and successful in recent years. Somalia's position on the Horn of Africa allows the pirates that are operating from its shores to reach important shipping lanes with ease and protection – though the seizing of the Sirius Star, an Arabic oil tanker on November 15 occurred nearly 400 miles from the coast, showing that traditional danger zones no longer apply to the increasing bold Somali pirate threat. The scale of their attacks have increased as well, with the taking of the Sirius Star as well as the MV Faina, a Ukranian vessel carrying 33 T-72 tanks. These successes have made it clear that this is a problem that can no long be ignored.
International Response
As previously mentioned, these attacks have been largely ignored until recently, but with the increase in scope and severity of these attacks, governments around the world have taken notice, releasing acerbic but largely toothless announcements about responding to the Somali pirate threat. Unfortunately, the nature of this threat means that the hands of even the most powerful navy are tied when it comes to responding to the pirate attacks.
Not only are modern militaries not equipped to deal with the small, armed speedboats and trawlers that are the favored vessels of the Somali pirates, but the corsairs also consistently take hostages, as their ransoms are the primary source of their financial success. This forces the military task forces into a holding pattern, largely unable to act.
Somali Sovereignty
The final problem here has to do with the pirates themselves – and the fact that they're not really pirates, in some nebulously criminal sense. Most of these men are ex-fishermen, forced into piracy by illegal overfishing or ex-military men looking for work in an increasing unstable country. Many of these men see themselves as defenders of the Somali coastline, fighting off the previously mentioned illegal fishing trawlers and ships looking to dump waste in the poorly monitored Somali waters. In practice, these men are very little like coast guards, but their success, fame and stated intentions have endeared them to some of the Somali people, even managing to bring stability to the Puntland area where they operate from.
Finding a Solution to Somali Piracy
If the international community wishes to see an end to the piracy epidemic in Somalia and end high insurance costs on African shipping, it cannot keep trying to treat these pirates like terrorists or revolutionaries. This problem is not a military one, and no matter how saturated Somali waters are with foreign battleships, the problem will still exist. The only way to bring lasting change to Somalia and end this problem is with a multilateral and long-term solution in the country itself. Enforce fishing laws, and allow Somali fishermen to work for a living again; stop illegal dumping in Somali waters. Encourage stability in the country as a whole by negotiating agreements between the warring factions and providing aid to the appropriate groups.
Increased naval patrols and arming merchant vessels will help discourage piracy, but it the world is to see an end to this problem, it must approach it from the bottom up, fixing the problems that drive once honest men to this dishonest end.
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