What few have stopped to consider in the continuing ‘battle’ against Somali pirates is what industrialised nations have been doing to the country’s fishing grounds for years.
One man’s terrorist, so the saying goes, is another man’s freedom fighter, and the same can be said for pirates.
If the international media were more on the ball, and governments of rogue fishing nations cared more about the resource problems of the world’s poor, then this matter might have been addressed before Somali fishermen turned en masse to piracy
In 1999, the Somali Maritime and Fisheries Institute published a paper describing in detail how factory ships from developed and developing nations were pillaging Somalia’s fishery:
The illegal fishing vessels stay in deeper waters during the day but come closer to the shore at night. They apply their destructive fishing techniques, which reduce the local population’s harvest and damage nets and traps set by local fishermen.
The report gave a list of the countries of origin of the offending boats: China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Honduras, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Pakistan, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Soviet Federation, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Yemen. The authors warned: ‘This is a critical time for the world at large, in particular international organisations, to integrate Somali people with their environment and safeguard their natural resources.
Toxic waste
But fishing isn’t the only form of aggression into Somali waters. Since the early 1990s ships from industrialised countries have been dumping nuclear and chemical waste into Somali waters. A Swiss firm called Achair Parterns, and an Italian waste company called Progresso — allegedly contracted to respectable European companies — made a deal with Ali Mahdi, one of the warlords who took over power after the overthrow of Siyad Barre, that they could dump containers of waste material in Somali waters. Al Madhi was said to be charging about $3 a ton, whereas to properly dispose of waste in Europe costs about $1000 a ton.
As is so often the case with pirates, one is tempted to admire them for their spirit more than one condemns them for their avarice. But it is hard to feel any sympathy for the governments of the world and shipping fleets who have been so embarrassed by this marine resistance movement — they had it coming.?
