Piracy in the Somali seas

In the waterways of the Gulf of Aden along the Somali coast, sea travel has grown enormously dangerous. It is infested with ill equipped and rather ill-l trained militia who use speedboats mounted with few guns and rocket propelled grenades.

In the two hundred mile waters off the somali coast, over 50 ships have been attacked or hijacked this year alone including fishing vessels, timber trawlers, tourist yachts, oil tankers etc.

The latest attack was carried out against a Ukraine ship on Thursday 25 September 2008. (but before I finish writing this article one more could be seized). From this vessel they found 33 Russian Made T-55 tanks bound to the East African coast of Mombasa. The Kenyan government has called it ” A big loss and a blow to the Kenyan Army which has been operating effectively alongside its Western partners in their war against terrorism”.

The Americans who have huge presence in the Red sea waters said that they are chasing the pirates while the Russians who dispatched a warship to the piracy spot told that they are closing in" But the question is: Would the pirates find a seaport to unload the tanks? The answer is far from yes.

In this "Quick Gain Project", pirates have made huge amounts of money, earmarking some of it for the purchase of more powerful weaponry. But behind the shadow of their immoral activities, there lies a sea of tragedy. Somali children whom they denied to get access to food and medical supplies are dying in the tune of hundreds due to starvation.

Like the former warlords of Mogadishu, these pirates are cashing out the misery of their own people. They are holding ransom for the life of a somali child who will die unless they are paid to release a vessel laden with a cargo of humanitarian supplies.

I heard one of them speaking one day while surfing the net. He said "we are controlling the somali waters from illegal fishing or from being dumped with nuclear wastes by industrialized nations". When they say we are the vanguards of the Somali waters, do they think Somalis will buy it? I think both the fish and the child deserve saving but not to save a fish at the expense of a child´s life! And after all a pirate is not a savor. He is a destroyer. He claims to be a human being but I doubt if he has any trace of human gene. Simply he is a beast in a human shape.

Apart from attacking commercial ships these pirates have put the humanitarian intervention in Somalia in a total jeopardy. Food donation which is the sole lifeline of millions of Somalis have not found its way to the intended destinations unless escorted by warships. Thanks to the Government of Canada for its renewal to extend its escort jobs when no other nation volunteered to put its navy in such a dangerous situation. Such escorts will surely make a big difference in the life of the Somali child and the entire population.

Nearly 3.2 million somalis who have been caught up in a cross fire between the Ethiopian supported weak transitional government and the ruthless Islamic extremists are at the brink of extinction.

With this compelling moral duty of escorting ships, food will be made available to the starving masses and children will not go to bed hungry. (a typical bed is normally a small Somali mat spread on the dusty floor of a dilapidated shack or pieces of empty cartons patched up together). The whole family will squeeze on these cartons to allow their breath mix up, rise and build a blanket of heat to let them feel warm in their sleep.

We do not know how long our people will suffer from such man made disaster created by pirates and ragtag militia who make money out of people´s tragedy. The solution of the Somalia problem is to get a government, but not one formed by power hungry warlords which survives with a life-supporting machine and fueled with the blood of its own people. Our dream government is the opposite of TFG: A government free of warlords, free of Ethiopian invaders, free of religious wars and extremism.