Fighting Somali piracy

We need collective global action

After refusing to release seven members of the all-Indian 15-man crew aboard MV Asphalt Venture hijacked in September 2010 even after receiving a hefty multi-million dollar ransom, the Somali pirates last Saturday declared that they were at “war with India”. And as part this ‘war’, the pirates demanded a ‘prisoner exchange’ of sorts wherein the Government of India would release more than 100 pirates captured earlier by our Navy and Coast Guard in lieu of the remaining Indian hostages. India has promptly responded to this ludicrousness by diverting its warship INS Talwar from the Gulf of Aden, where it was on an anti-piracy patrol mission, to the Somali coast even as authorities in New Delhi mull over demands from Haradhere, a small coastal town in central Somalia that serves as the pirates’ headquarters. There is no denying that the pirates have purposely targeted Indian sailors and vessels, but let us not forget that this is just as much an attack on the rest of the civilised world as it is on the Indian state and indeed, there is no reason why it should not be treated as a growing global menace. Already, the Somali pirates have pushed the number of attacks to an all-time high even before we reach the end of the first quarter of 2011. The International Maritime Bureau, which specialises in fighting crimes related to maritime trade and transportation, has attributed 97 out of a total of 142 attacks carried out this year to the Somali pirates — a clear indication of their mounting strength. But what is even more worrying is that this year’s number of attacks is thrice that which was recorded last year. It must also be noted that while in 2006, only two crew members were injured across the world, the pirates have already killed as many as seven seamen and seriously injured 34 others in the first three months of 2011. Currently, the Somali pirates are holding nearly 600 crew members captive and about 50 of them are Indians. Clearly, the Somali pirates are not just a band of roving seamen with eye patches. Make no mistake: The ‘enemy’ is growing stronger and more dangerous by the day.

It is heartening to note that since October 2008 the Indian Navy, along with the Coast Guard, has put up a strong defence patrolling the Gulf of Aden — they have thwarted at least 29 hijacking attempts and rendered ineffective three ‘mother-ships’ — but it must also be said that this has done little to reduce the incidence of piracy let alone obliterate the menace. Clearly, the Government is at a loss as to how to tackle this problem — it simply does not have a clear strategy. Sadly, neither does the rest of the world whose collective strategy to combat piracy by simply trying to contain it is no longer working, as the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Somalia’s transitional Government, Mohammed Abdulahi Omar Asharq, rightly pointed out at a recent conference in Dubai to fight piracy. To effectively combat Somali piracy, the international community must implement a two-pronged strategy that includes political reform and reconciliation on land along with military operations. The former will bring about a long-term solution by destroying the roots of piracy while the latter will complement it by weakening the movement militarily. Somali piracy has its roots in political turmoil and that must be addressed.

Source: www.dailypioneer.com