Somali Pirates: Behind the Scenes of Piracy

The most recent form of organized government in Somalia collapsed in the early 90's. The country of 9-million people in the horn of Africa fell apart, many families close to starvation. Since then, Somalia has been classified as lawless and has been engulfed in piracy clans who have setup shop along the country's vast coastline. To grasp the true reason behind the sudden surge of piracy we must go back in time and history and understand the underlying reasons for the outbreak.

First, we must understand that in Somalia it's often considered honorable to be a pirate. The population believes these men are protecting the waters along their coast, which belong to them. Why do they feel this way? After the collapse of government, there was no formal way of protecting the waters off the coast of Somalia. Their livelihood was in jeopardy as the food supply was now unprotected and vulnerable to outsiders. European and Asian countries looked at this development as an opportunity to gain millions in profits by stealing the countries food supply through extensive illegal trawling of fish, lobster, and many other types of seafood.

The Somali population didn't receive compensation for this illegal trawling and took to the waters in high speed boats trying to protect their precious resources. The pirates are often referred to as the "unofficial coast guard of Somalia". This has been a losing battle as each year over $300-million dollars of illegally obtained seafood is stolen from the poverty stricken country without recourse. The fish and seafood stocks have dwindled and the fishermen have lost the resources needed to survive and provide for their families.

The pirates began hijacking ships out of desperation, the need to survive, the need to protect their country. Although many believe it's just an easy way to extort millions, the pirates do this out of shear desperation.

If this wasn't enough, many foreign countries have begun using the waters off the coast of Somalia to dump hazardous waste, which has now tainted the landscape with radiation, hard metals, and medical waste. The effects of this have already begun to show as people in the coastal communities started developing strange rashes, malformed babies, and other types of illnesses. Nuclear waste has washed up on shore from tons of hazardous barrels thrown into Somali waters from ships and boats from other countries. Not only have outsiders stole the food supply, they've tainted the remaining food supply, produced new illnesses to the country, destroyed miles of coastline with radiation and hazardous materials, and all this without a penny in compensation to the people affected.

The pirates used to be the local fishermen but with the illegal trawling of the Somali waters they lost their livelihood and began developing ways to bring home enough money to provide for their family. To do this they had to take matters into their own hands, intercept ships in their waters, and somehow extract enough money to survive. This created an energized group of Somali's who began hijacking ships off the coast of Somalia. Hostages were and still are taken as leverage in the extortion attempts, though they are usually treated well. The Somali pirates provide ample food and the hostages are treated in a humane manner. These pirates aren't looking to kill anyone; they are trying to obtain what was stolen from them in the first place.

During the revolutionary war the American government paid pirates to protect the territorial waters along our coast. This came about from the lack of a formal coast guard or any official way to protect our coast. The majority of our population supported this decision. Is this new piracy different? These men are protecting their only resource to survive.

In conclusion, we can't truly condemn without knowing the facts behind the crime. The recent surge of news stories focusing on the Somali piracy have left out pertinent information, motive. The recent influx of piracy stories flooding the news wire because an American ship was hijacked paints these men as the scum of the earth. Is this true? I implore you to ask yourself one question, what would you do in their situation? What would you do if justice could not be served because there was no due process; there was never a conviction for stealing your family's food and paycheck. What would you do if your family was now going to starve because of illegal acts that will never be prosecuted? I don't know about you, but I would do whatever it took to keep my family alive.

Resources:

Paul Salospek, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-somalia-pirates_salopek1oct10,0,6155016.story - Chicago Tribune
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gVV_gQDsp1m8v7nPcumVc5McYV-Q - United Nations (AFP)
Johann Hari,http://www.sfbayview.com/2009/you-are-being-lied-to-about-pirates/ - San Francisco Bay View