Somalia is one of the poorest nations in the world whose economy depends largely on their fishing industry. However, powerful nations have ruined the country’s fishing industry by using huge offshore fishing vessels and by illegally dumping waste material into the Somali coastline. The UN Security Council, the European Union, and NATO largely supported these acts through resolutions. Being confronted by these powerful institutions, a powerless nation, such as Somalia, does not have an array of resources to battle this exploitation. To make their voice be heard, a Somali Pirate culture developed in the past twenty years. It consists of hijacking vessels and demanding a ransom. While their actions did not attract much attention in the beginning, publicity and awareness of this issue has steadily increased. The purpose of this paper is to show that the Somali pirate culture has reached a point, where they successfully influence the global economy, which has consequences in countries around the world.
By controlling international trade routes, Somali pirates uphold this power. These efforts by the Somali pirates exhibit their disparity and signify that they will not allow the piracy of their own resources without retaliation. To draw attention to their dire situation, the Somali pirate culture developed over two decades ago, raiding fishing and commercial boats and ships in order to demand ransom from other countries. Though their methods may not be of the most legit methods, their efforts have been effective. Somalia’s coastline extends to just under two thousand miles, allowing control to most of where the Gulf of Aden empties out into the Indian Ocean, and creates a choke point. “Equipped with small skiffs, firearms, grapnels and ...
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... very reason this culture has been initiated, they continue to fight the war against the Somali pirates.
Works Cited
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Cordingly’s book Under the Black Flag: The Romance and Reality of Life Among the Pirates tells the story of many different pirates of different time periods by the facts. The book uses evidence from first hand sources to combat the image of pirates produced by fictional books, plays, and films. Cordingly explains where the fictional ideas may have come from using the evidence from the past. The stories are retold while still keeping the interest of the audience without having to stray from the factual
Piracy in the early 19th century was popular with over an estimated 10,000 participants. Historians believe it was so successful predominately in this region due to the lucrative trade routes between New Orleans, South America and Puerto Rico. Pirates found it easy to travel in secret while covered by the geography of the surrounding coastline. Political turmoil in the first half of the 19th century facilitated these acts. Spanish pirates, in particular, found success due to their longtime protection from Cuba and Puerto Rico which made the Caribbean an agreeable place to repair, recruit, relax, and sell their winnings. Neutral countries, such as the United States, were drawn into this arena when privateers moved from targeting their prizes to attacking any readily available vessels in the area.
Piracy today cannot be related to that of international law consent, because pirates do not act on behalf of their governments, this has long ended and the act of privateering was replaced with the navy.
During the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries, piracy was rampant in the Atlantic, specifically in the West Indies. Piracy has existed since the earliest days of ocean travel, for a range of personal and economic reasons. However, one of the major reasons why piracy was wide spread and rampant in the 16th, 17th and early 18th centuries was Great Britain’s endorsement and usage of piracy as an asset; in wars fought in the New World. Great Britain with its expanding power and conflicts with other nations would make piracy a lifestyle and lay down the foundation for the Golden Age of Piracy and eventually bring what it created to a screeching halt.
Somalia, located on the East coast of Africa, is in much turmoil. It’s filled with civil unrest and piracy. Although the other countries surrounding Somalia are feeling the impact of the civil unrest, almost the whole world is impacted by the piracy in Somali waters. Piracy Is a major issue in Somalia. Although improving, it still remains a threat to the crews of the ships in the waters off the coast and the prosperity of the surrounding countries and the addition of armed guards to the boats is a necessary solution.
The Horn of Africa is also a hotspot for piracy, primarily Somali pirates (Kraska 2011). In 2010, Somali pirates successfully attacked 219 ships on the waters around the Horn of Africa (up two from the previous year) and have expanded their operations to roughly 2,500 miles from Somalia’s coast (Kraska 2011). Successful captures of vessels usually include many hostages that can be held for ransom. The number of hostages held by pirates in Somalia increased from 263 in 2009 to 1,181 in 2010 (Kraska 2011).
The history of piracy dates back more than 3000 years. “It appears that the word pirate (peirato) was first used in about 140 BC by the Roman historian Polybius. The Greek historian Plutarch, writing in about 100 A.D., gave the oldest clear definition of piracy. He described pirates as those who attack without legal authority not only ships, but also maritime cities (http://www.piratesinfo.com/history/history.php).” The most common meaning of the word pirate recognizes them as an outlaw and a thief. Anyone who was caught and tried with the act of piracy would be sentenced to death.
In this paper, I will attempt to describe the piracy problem in China, discuss how the Chinese government is dealing with it, present the global effect, and finally arrive at what would be an ethical solution to piracy fitting for China's situation.
The Golden Age of Piracy began around 1650, and ended around 1730. Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea, but can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the criminal. The term has been used throughout history to refer to raids across land borders by non-state agents. A pirate is one who commits robberies at sea, usually without being allotted to do so by any particular nation. The usual crime for piracy can include being hung, or publically executed. Some of the most famous pirates who were killed either because of piracy, or because of natural causes, are Barbarossa, Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonney, Sir Francis Drake, Captain Greaves, William Kidd, Jean Laffite, Sir Henry Morgan, Mary Read, and Giovanni da Verrazano.
Tharoor, Ishaan. "How Somalia's Fishermen Became Pirates." Time. Time Inc., 18 Apr. 2009. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
Although Britain cannot be blamed though for lack of trying, piracy still exists today. Yet, because the act continues at sea often far from land, it gains little media attention, and therefore less action from governments. China, despite being a number one producer of pirates, continues to deny that there is a problem while at the same time often pardoning those who are caught. Countries such as Indonesia and Philippines, which have been hardest hit in the past few years by pirates, are looking for international assistance. The West is, of course, looked to for solutions yet choose seemingly chooses to turn a blind eye, perhaps in the name of diplomacy. When the world is ready to combat the perpetual problem of piracy, it may discover that by intertwining tougher policies aimed at dealing with piracy with current or future trade negotiations, productive steps can be taken to initiate plans to curtail modern day sea wolves who prey on the helpless. The suggestion of ‘Piracy Charters’ will be discussed further as the means of which to add the topic of to multilateral agreements.
Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, or pirate fishing, is a huge threat to the marine environment, it's bio diversity in food development is dependent on it. Losses due to pirate fishing are estimated to be between 10-23.5 billion U.S. dollars per year. Representing 11-26 million tons of fish. West African waters are estimated to have the highest levels of pirate fishing in the world. Fish is a crucial source of protein for millions of people. Fishing is the major coastal employment along the coast's. During a dramatic two year investigation, the Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) has documented mass amounts of pirate fishing on the West Coast of Africa. Pirate fishermen are literally out of control. They are fishing in protected areas, destroying local fishermens nets and sabotaging them, hiding their names, and shipping their catch illegally at sea. They evade arrest, attack local fishermen, and abusing their own crews. The catches of these pirates have been entering the EU. the worlds largest import market for seafood. This is despite a new EU regulation. The regulation requires all fish imported into Europe to be accompanied by a catch certificate that asks for name, address, validating authority, fishing vessel name, license, and homeport. This is all declares that the catches have been declared legal.y 90% of the vessels documented by EJF fishing illegally are bottom trawlers. Bottom trawlers are are vessels that drag heavy nets across the sea bed catching all marine life in their path. Up to 75% of call the catches made on these vessels are dumped back into the sea, dead or dying. Fish is the principal source of protein for 2.9 billion people. But the United Nations recognizes 80% of the world's fisheries are e...
Somali people have encountered many challenges in the past into the present. These challenges have made them grow as a culture and become stronger as individuals and as a whole. It is important to analyze the culture, the gender roles, and the family roles when working with the Somali community.
“Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships,” The International Maritime Organization, Accessed March 26th, 2014. http://www.imo.org/OurWork/Security/PiracyArmedRobbery/Pages/Default.aspx
The report classify the threats into: (1) Piracy and armed robbery, (2) terrorist acts, (3) the illicit trafficking in arms and weapons of mass destruction, (4) the illicit trafficking in narcotics, (5) smuggling and