Ciaran’s Peculier [sic] Blog

The release of the film Pirates of the Caribbean has once more raised romantic notions of pirates and piracy, as dashing buccaneers living a dangerous though stimulating life alongside figures like John Silver and his stupid parrot, muttering banal inanities about pieces of eight.

Piracy still exists in our world. It never has been romantic, and it certainly isn’t now. Pirates are still active in parts of the world where governmental control are weak or non-existant. They prey on anything which has resale value – machinery, food – anything. They are heavily armed with the full panoply of weaponry, from light hand-weapons to RPGs and even poisoned gas. Those manning ships which are attacked are usually killed summarily or are kept as hostages in unbearable conditions.

One of the areas where piracy is rampant is off the eastern coast of Somalia. The International Maritime Agency has advised shipping to avoid Somali waters and to maintain a cordon sanitaire of upto 250 kilometres from the coast.

Yet ships which have to go to Somalia cannot afford this luxury. Recently there have been reports that trawlers from Korea and Japan have been attacked, while there are reports that a ship carrying food for starving refugees has also been commandeered.

During the rule last year of the less than savoury United Islamic Courts, instances of piracy off the Somali coast diminished dramatically. The UIC also aimed to lessen the divisions in Somali society between “high” caste and “low” caste clans. But one other success they were able to chalk up was ridding the streets of Mogadishu of militia and factional road-blocks, each one taking its pound of flesh.

These have returned. The transitional government in Somalia is now in conflict with UN aid agencies about how many people are in a desperate state. The UN estimates that upto 300,000 people fled the fighting in Mogadishu last month; the government says only 30,000 left. The people of Somalia are crying out for an effective government after years of anarchy. It doesn’t seem as if they’re going to get one soon.