Blog Berita Kapal sharing issue about Somalia Pirates, I am sure that many of you are far more knowledgeable of this situation than me however I find the case of the Somali pirates and how the notion of commons is played out in this area incredibly interesting .
What makes this case so interesting is that Somalia challenges the Western notion of state sovereignty as it has been a collapsed state since 1991. The fear and misunderstanding that surrounds the Somali pirates centres on the fact that they are non-state actors, thus there is a lack of control that can be exerted on them.
Due to them operating on the seas instead of on land they demonstrate the limits of state sovereignty. The waters in this area are a poignant example of the use of a global common that is used and governed in haphazard manner due to the fact it is a common.
Somali pirates began claiming that they were authorised coast guards of the Somali waters whose role was to protect the local fishing resources. Many of them were former fisherman dislodged from their traditional source of income often by transnational fishing conglomerates. This ‘coast guard’ levied a tax on unauthorised fishing boats that were fishing illegally in Somali waters.
They were not recognised or supported by the international community despite this trespass taking place. During the Somali Piracy Conference (comments by Shinn), hosted by National Maritime Intelligence Center and Office of Naval Intelligence, Somalia’s minister of fisheries stated that within one month alone an “estimated 220 foreign-owned vessels were engaged in unlicensed and illegal fishing in Somali waters”. The fisherman themselves appealed to the UN for assistance but no action was taken.
In addition to the problem of over-fishing there have been allegations of toxic waste dumping, oil spills and nuclear waste dumping. It has been said that it is due to these factors combined with a lack of international intervention that local fisherman attacked foreign fishing vessels to demand compensation. What began as a response to environmental exploitation by Somali fisherman slowly expanded after 2000 to any vessel that sailed within or close to Somali territorial waters. The lack of enforcement of the arms embargo permitted ready access to the arms and ammunition used by the pirates and driven in part to the growth of piracy in the area. Piracy in the region is flourishing as it is low risk high gain.
To define an international course of punishment for piracy on an international scale has several challenges as to some these are conceived as pirates but to others they are conceived as patriots. This is particularly the case where the local perspective renders the start of piracy as in reaction to international trespass and exploitation of Somali waters.
Pirates often have a strangely hybrid status in law as they are not criminals or even recognised state actors thus not covered by the legal system or even deserve the protection of the laws of war as they are categorised as people who commit international terrorism. There is a difficulty in agreeing the most appropriate way to apprehend, detain or destroy nationals of another country on the high seas as it is an area that no country has jurisdiction.
The global community did act to some level on the issue. US Naval Forces Central Command established a ‘combined task force’ that’s sole purpose was to conduct anti-piracy operations in the area.AFRICOM’s purpose was “not only to fight terrorism, or to secure oil resources… it is about helping Africans build greater capacity to assure their own security”.
NATO launched two anti-piracy missions. And the European Union launched EU NAVFOR operation ATALANTA which stated that they would take the necessary measures including the use of force to end piracy. This response however has largely ignored Somali plight and responded only when global trade and global security are deemed to be at risk. Somali’s statelessness and thus non-presence in the alliances central to the policing of the water, the Somali voice has become a minority one in international policy.
Pirates cannot be caught and reprimanded if authorities charged with apprehending them remain disinclined to do so.
This presents a difficulty with international bodies directing other countries to reprimand the pirates meaningfully. Passing responsibility over to a host country is also difficult in the Somali case as it is very difficult to deal with a law and order problem in a country in a state of lawlessness. Countries who then arrest the individuals do not then necessarily want the financial burden of putting them through their legal system and imprisoning them.
An agreement was reached between the U.K and the U.S with Kenya that permitted them to hand over to Kenyan authorities captured pirates for prosecution however Kenya emphasised that this should not constitute an open door for dumping pirates onto Kenyan soil which is a low cost and hands off solution for other countries to deal with pirates
The notion of commons is an important framework to look at this case. Somali pirates occupy a symbolic space in the minds of the international communities that justifies the military interventions but do not account for the wider structural reasons that contribute to why Somalis are carrying out acts of piracy.
Are the Somali waters a common resource for all to dump waste, illegally overfish and use as a global throughway for legal and illegal trade or do these waters have specific rights for individual groups? And should these specific rights be upheld by the people of Somalia, the pirates that occupy this area or the international community at large? A lot of oil is transported through this area, which makes it a significant area of concern for many but who is concerned for the pirates that it could be argued are affected the most?
Another reason is environmental issue, The Somalis claim they have a cause to justify their actions and among the causes are: they are looking for compensation on the hundreds of tones of toxic waste that which is dumped at the Somalia coast by the Western companies leaving the already impoverish country with millions if not billions of dollars of an environmental muddle.
The UN representative to Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah and the UN environmental programme representative Nick Nuttal confirmed these activities of the western industries in the Somali coast. In his words Nuttal said the country “has been used as dumping grounds for hazardous waste starting for early 1990s……. continue through the civil war…… European countries found it cheaper to dump waste at the Somali coastline as it cost as little as $2.50 a tonne compared to$1000 a tonne to dump it in Europe” http://www.aljazeera.com/Services/Search/?q=somali%20pirate&s=as_q&r=15&o=any&t=r
The Somalis have a reason to be angry due to the short term and the long term effect they envisaged to encounter. The Somalis accusers should reflect on the New York’s Love Canal disaster in the 60s and the 70 to understand the plight of the Somalis and the potential effect of the devastated human cost of toxic waste they have endured.
The New York tragedy exposed the community to diverse bizarre diseases like increase cancer rate and birth defects which generations suffered in the locality. No wonder the Somalis are annoyed and have taken the law into their hands for several diseases have been identified in the territory due to the toxic dumping activities- skin disease to mouth and abdominal bleeding.
I do not condone to piracy as an activity however, considering the plight of these impoverish people which was broadcasted by Al Jazeera in terms of their unimaginable experience that has become part of the Somali lifestyle, it is justified to claim that the dumping of the hazardous waste effect and the protracted civil war which the international community have kept blind eye on has pushed the Somalis to the boiling point and as such feels there is no one not even the UN to protect them from the oppressive clutches of the international companies from rich countries who have military power to suppress the Somalis in any way.
The Somalis have no means to express their anger and resentment than to opt for the wild-west style extortion to deter the dumping activities and even sailing in their seas, and also to demand ransom to compensate the trauma and the distress they have endured as a result of the toxic dumping.
0 Response to "All About Somalia Pirates"
Posting Komentar