The Rise of Somali Piracy

I am not even going to pretend that this was something I knew a lot about several months ago. I basically just thought that Somali Piracy was yet another example of the lawlessness that existed within the debacle of perhaps the world's most failed state. However, someone made a comment on an earlier post on this blog which caught my eye and forced me to do some research. The results are startling and really demonstrate the depths to which the world has abandoned Somalia.

On 19 January 2002, the weekend before I left for Peace Corps, several of my fraternity brothers and I went to a movie at Pentagon City in Arlington, Virginia. The movie that we watched was Blackhawk Down, which narrates the day that an American Blackhawk helicopter was shot down over the streets of Mogadishu, Somalia. Several American Marines were killed and had their bodies drug through the streets of Mogadishu. This is the enduring image most Westerners have of Somalia. The US, which had placed it's military in Somalia to provide food aid to starving Somalis and to try to force various warring factions to negotiate a peace deal, summarily withdrew its troops. The rest of the world figured that if the American military could not successfully intervene, there was no way for anyone else to, and thus have been reluctant to commit forces to Somalia. The country descended into chaos. To this day, there has been no fully functioning national government since the fall of Siad Barre's government in 1991.

The resultant 17-year interregnum since the fall of Siad Barre's government Somalia has fallen into an abyss of lawlessness, disorder, and chaos. The sea around Somalia's coasts has experienced the same, but not necessairly in the way the current news media reports. The original lawlessness came not from Somalis themselves but from countries within Europe and Asia that have large sailing fleets. These countries, sensing an opportunity, began engaging in commercial fishing operations in the waters off of Somalia's coast. Because Somalia has an extensive coastline yet no coast guard nor Navy, these fishing vessels could work with impunity.

To be fair, not all foreign fishing vessels were engaged in completely clandestine operations. Some were invited by Somali warlords who "governed" the majority of the country. These warlords "allowed" fishing ships into coastal areas in exchange for cash payments, which were then used to fund their own clans war effort. Even in the relatively stable enclave of Puntland, in Northern Somalia, the government has allowed the pillaging of its fisheries in exchange for payments, which have seemingly disappeared and not trickled down to people. Who was the loser in all of this? As usual, the hoi polloi, the common man. The Somali fishermen who engaged in small-scale fishing off of Somalia's coast lost their livelihood. These fishermen were not yeggs. There were documented cases of European fishing vessels chasing off local Somali fishermen with weapons. Somali fishermen were outgunned, outmaneuvered, and out of work. In an act of desperation, many turned to piracy.

In 2004, four ships were hijacked. In 2008, over 42 have been hijacked bringing the total number of hijacked ships in the region to approximately 90. According to Professor Derrick Reveron at the United States Navel War College in Newport, Rhode Island, Pirates have collected over $30million in ransom money to release ships. There have been a few highly documented cases, such as the hijacking involving an illegal Ukrainian arms shipment to the government of South Sudan, which was being shipped through Kenya and the hijacking of the Saudi Abrabian oil tanker Sirius Star, which have generated a lot of media attention and have resulted or will result in significantly higher ransoms. However, most hijackings are of small ships, yachts, and fishing vessels. What I find fascinating about Reveron's comments is the value of the fishery that has been depleted by this illegal fishing. According to Reveron, US$300million of fish have been illegally caught in Somali waters by Asian and European fishing vessels. ( http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/3363365.php? )

Presumably, not included in Reveron's figures is the cost of the dumping of millions of cubic tons of toxic waste off of Somalia's coast. So too does illegal fishing and dumping of toxic waste. This waste poses a health problem for Somalia, but also other African and Middle Eastern countries ringing the Gulf of Aden and African coast of the Indian Ocean. Despite the passage of UN Resolution 1838 (2008) which states that “that the incidents of piracy and armed robbery against vessels in the territorial waters of Somalia and the high seas off the coast of Somalia exacerbate the situation in Somalia which continues to constitute a threat against international peace and security,” piracy continues unabated. This will not change until illegal fishing and dumping ceases. This is not mentioned in Resolution 1838 (2008) and needs to be according to Professor Abdi Ismail Samatar of the University of Minnesota's Geography and Global Studies Department.

I want to make one final point. Piracy ebbed significantly during the rule of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). This was the first group since Siad Barre's government that had begun to get a real grasp on power. Though the government was Islamic, it was not inherently radical. There were radical elements in the government, such as those estimated 3000 individuals who went underground and formed Al-Shabaab. However the ICU also contained more secular Islamic groups which were largely in control of the government. The ICU deemed piracy to be against the Qu'ran and worked hard to curb it.

Though it is unclear whether the efforts of the ICU would have borne fruit over the long-term, the current spike in piracy coincided with the arrival of Ethiopian troops, the installation of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), and the current eruption of chaos, after what had been a stable time (by Somali standards) under the ICU. The obstensible reason for the intervention of Ethiopian forces, with the support of the west, was to ensure that the ICU was removed from power because it was deemed a "terrorist" organization. The ICU's removal has created more instability, a power vacuum, and allowed pirates to operate with virtual impunity along the Somali coast. Until the world can commit itself to helping Somalia emerge from the ashes of failed a failed state, piracy will continue. Furthermore, western governments need to stop viewing all Islamic governments as threats and terrorist organizations. There needs to be an objective understanding of local issues that are foremost amongst the popluation of that area and the west needs to realize that it is possible for Islamic governments have the support of the masses, work hard to improve the lives of the population they serve, and that these governments are more than willing to be part of the community of nations.

Richard the Nomad

Sources:
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=84b309cb375a71013072e8158b583353

http://www.socialamissionen.se/pub/administrationkit/filebrowse/resources/somalia_piracy_and_politics.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Resistance_Movement_in_the_Land_of_the_Two_Migrations

http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/article_5415.shtml

http://somalia.suite101.com/article.cfm/somali_piracy_solving_an_international_crisis