The Issue of Piracy in Somali - Research Paper Example

 Somali piracy Piracy has for the past decades become one of the major threats facing waters of Africa, India and also West Africa. Pirates operate in areas that are neighboring countries with many commercial activities, weak governance and low political will (Alessi, 2013). Many of the investors have therefore, evaded areas with high piracy cases for the fears of being attacked. This has affected businesses in these regions an aspect that has forced neighboring countries with the help of global security groups to seek for help in order to end this vice. Activities of piracy on the other hand, do not affect the stability of one or two countries but the whole world an aspect that has attracted the attention of the international community. Several groups of pirates currently operate in Somali waters. Report findings show that, these groups of pirates have different abilities and tactics of attacking therefore making it so hard for security forces to carry out generalized operations and responses to the threat of these groups of pirates (Symmons, 2011). The northern semi-autonomous area of Punt region serves a home base for the most effective and efficient pirate’s networks in Somali. Report from UN shows that some regional and local Somali leaders encourage piracy activities from this region due to personal benefits they receive from these activities (Daniels, 2012). Though Punt land local government has a coastal key watch to countercheck the activities of these groups of pirates, the government has limited resources as it also faces other internal upheavals that weaken its ability to deal effectively with piracy. Motivation of pirates There are various reasons why young energetic youths in Somali engage themselves in piracy activities. Some of reasons like poverty, environmental hardship, low incomes, lack of job opportunities, prolonged drought, which leads to reduction in pastoralist and maritime activities, increased level of insecurity and political instability in the country influence these young people to choose to join the pirates groups as a way to earn their living (Ploch, 2010). Mainly, profits accrued from piracy are one of the major motivating factors. Nevertheless, majority of piracy activities that face the coast of Somalia results from inability of the country to safeguard its public from goods from outside an aspect that makes it a dumping site for foreign goods. In addition illegal fishing is also another major motivating factor (Press Office, 2012). Mass killing of pirates by international forces without offering alternative sources of income for these people has increased the possibility that malice may soon start to serve as a key motivating factors to these young pirates as they try to avenge for their killed or captured associates (Press Office, 2012). Tactics used by pirates groups in the coastal shores of Somalia To facilitate their illegal activities, some pirates groups in Somali have disguised themselves using fake names to show that they are acting in order safeguard the coastal areas of the country (The National Defense University Library, 2012). In coastal regions of Somalia, piracy appears to have attracted a large group of young followers, thus creating a massive legal problem for both local and international governments. Majority of these pirates groups which are full of young energetic youths have developed complicated performance capabilities. These groups have acquired deadly weaponry equipments from potential business people and government leaders who ultimately benefits from these piracy activities (Press Office, 2012). These groups receive funding from prominent leaders both in Somali and outside Somalia, thus making them to have access to more sophisticated equipments that the naval forces. One main reason that has kept pirates groups in Somali firm is the money they receive from outside sources. Somali businesspeople and worldwide support links regularly offer pirates money, supplies, and intellect reports on the movement of sea vessels in the region and from Diaspora (The National Defense University Library, 2012). In return, these businessmen and other international funding networks get high shares of ransom payments the pirates groups receive from the ship owners inform of compensation for the release of the captured ships. Many pirates groups in Somali own weapons like Pistols and rocket propelled grenade launchers (Symmons, 2011). Sometimes these pirates groups force local fishers to help them in carrying their illegal activities. They lure them with large lump sums of money so that they can let them use their fishing boats, equipment, and their navigational expertise in their illegal activities of ship high jacking. Initially, the pirates solely concentrated on attacking ships that were closer to Somali waters but after the ships shifted to deeper waters as a result of fear of being attacked, the pirates shifted their attention to Gulf of Aden due to high commercial activities in the region. With increased international naval troop’s focusing on maintaining security in the Gulf of Aden, pirates have been forced to shift back to their previous attacking front i.e. Indian Ocean. . These pirates groups are currently in a position to conduct their activities and operation in over hundreds of nautical miles along the Indian Ocean, from the Somali coast lines (Press Office, 2012). Another key practice of these pirates has been kidnapping hostages and asking for ransom (Ploch, 2010). Unlike pirates, attack in other countries like Nigeria, where the ships offload their cargo, pirates off in Somali have adopted a system of taking the crew and asking for ransom. These groups of pirates in Somali are capable of doing this because they have control over coastal region of Somali. These pirates groups use these sanctuaries in Somalia to start pirates attack and control payment negotiations. This has presented maritime security troops with an enormous challenge to its normal arrangement strategies towards these more successful pirates groups. Most pirates’ group use specific tactics in their attempt to attack vessels in the sea. Most vessels attacked by Somali pirates groups mainly have less than 15-30 minutes drive between them and the vessel to be attacked (Lehr, 2007). This is because these pirates have realized that naval combatant ships can usually drive at a speed of up to 30 knots. So they know that if a naval ship fails to get at the scene in those 15- 30 minutes, then pirates will have captured the vessel. So unless, a naval ship is too near to the targeted vessel, then it would arrive after thirty minutes. So with the vast area of the sea, to be patrolled in comparison to the naval ships available, then terrorist activities have increased across the shore of Somali. This is because of this timely tactic applied by these pirates in their job of capturing sea vessels like heavy tanks, large ships and other vessels transporting valuable items. While elsewhere pirates attack involves use of force and use of giant weapons, pirates in this region do not have intentions to hurt the captives they hold hostage in the course of their raids (Daniels, 2012). Most of piracy activities especially in Nigeria and Middle East, more likely end up killing or seriously injuring their captives’. This is because the majority of these terrorist groups in the rest part of the world are not keenly concerned with ransom payment. So most of the Somali pirates main objective being ransom payment, avoid hurting the captives (Alessi, 2013). After they have captured a large tank or a ship, they engage in negotiations for ransom with ship owners and cargo owners. They usually use satellite cell phones, third party links in their country and overseas in their attempt to negotiate for ransom with the ship or cargo owners. These tactics applied by these pirates has forced most navies to avoid rescue operations in awe of endangering the lives of captives. Instead, they have preferred to use negotiations as a means of safeguarding the lives of the hostages. In conclusion, entry of Kenyan defense forces which has been able to take up the city of Kismayu which was under Alshabab, cases of piracy has decreased tremendously. Previously Kismayu was the main base where piracy was planned. Therefore, since the day Kenya Government declared war on Alshababs, Somali waters has become more secure. Bibliography Alessi, Christopher. "Combating Maritime Piracy." Council on foreign relations (2012): Accessed January 1, 2013. http://www.cfr.org/france/combating-maritime-piracy/p18376. Daniels, Christopher L. Somali Piracy and Terrorism in the Horn of Africa. Scarecrow Press., 2012. Lehr, Peter. Violence at Sea: Piracy in the Age of Global Terrorism. Routledge., 2007. Ploch, Lauren. Piracy Off the Horn of Africa. DIANE Publishing., 2010. Press Office. "Piracy Incidences Dip Amid Reports of Corruption." Save our seafarers (2012): Accessed January 1, 2012. http://www.saveourseafarers.com/somalia-piracy-incidences-dip-amid-reports-of-corruption.html. Symmons, Clive R. Selected Contemporary Issues in the Law of the Sea. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers., 2011. The National Defense University Library. "Piracy off the Coast of Somalia." MERLN (2012): Accessed January 1, 2013. http://merln.ndu.edu/index.cfm?type=section&secid=263&pageid=35. Read More