All actions, whether good or bad have a cause and sometimes even a seemingly 'bad' act may have a cause which justifies it. It was not out of the blue that simple Somali fishermen suddenly had the bright idea of hijacking commercial ships and earning what they could have only dreamed of once. There were underlying causes which the New York Times article in the post below by Jeffrey Gettleman reveals quite matter of factly.
Somalia has been ravaged by war, in one way or the other for the past 18 years. The country is divided into small autonomous regions which are governed by regional authorities. These local governments are highly independent and have little to do with the central and internationally recognized Transitional Federal Government. The squandering of the country's resources by the colonials and the mismanagement of successive governments since independence has left the nations people impoverished. The country's 1880 mile coastline which can, and did provide the people with a source of income in the form of fishing, is used by international companies for illegal fishing and dumping.
In such a scenario, piracy is just one of the inevitable results. Somali fishermen with their basic fishing skills were robbed of their livelihood by foreign trawlers with much advanced technology. The cities and the towns that these people live in were in dire need of cash to stimulate the economy. Piracy therefore brought about a welcome solution.
Now though, the once welcome pirates are facing a backlash from the people as their quick cash has brought along with it all its evil in a devoutly Muslim society. There's alcohol, drugs, AIDS and hotels with obscene names! Once heroes of sorts the pirates are now trying to engage with shaikhs and community elders to find a way to put an end to the negative attitude the community has developed towards them.
I believe this article thoroughly analyzes the reasons which have forced people to resort to piracy and opens a window of solutions which the international community can undertake. The Somali people are in dire need of international help in a number of ways. Cash needs to be poured into the country, though very carefully, to stimulate the local economy. The Somalis should also be able to utilize their coastline without foreigners sabotaging it and the disillusioned youth should be able to get jobs. All this cannot happen without the help of the international community and I believe that developed countries should specially and in earnest move forward and try to improve the economic conditions of the Somali people. If such actions are not taken the youth will keep resorting to piracy as everybody has a stomach to feed and desperate circumstances lead to desperate measures.
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