When most people think about pirates, they think about Treasure Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, or maybe Veggie Tales depending on how they were raised. However, piracy, not just technological piracy, is a massive problem worldwide. Pirates affect economies, they interrupt humanitarian aid and are themselves victims- of unrest and anarchism in Somalia. The only way to fix piracy is to stabilize the Somalian political and economic issues, working from the sea may delay the pirates, but it will not solve the massive problem they pose.
One of the numerous issues that these varmints cause is with international marine trade. Maps of routes used by the pirates show large concentrations of activity on the coasts of Somalia, Kenya, Oman and Yemen as they intercept chinese and indian trade ships coming into the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea from the Indian Ocean. In addition, the amount of space that the pirates operate in has been steadily increasing in recent years, expanding from a small peanut bulging off the north shore and reaching not quite down to the southern extremes of Somalia (2005) to a massive kidney shape going all the way down to Tanzania and up north to Oman (2010). These areas cover large trading routes that enter the Red Sea and Gulf of Oman as well, directly affecting countries such as Egypt, Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar although they aren't in the zone in which the pirates operate. Furthermore the expansion is not caused by success, as a business would grow normally, but by a necessity as the pirates become more desperate to find ships to hijack without being taken themselves by military ships. Also governments are generally expected to pay ransoms, and as ransoms skyrocket in cost (from ~500 000 to 2 000 000 per ship/crew in recent years) this may cause end up supporting any preexisting financial issues any country already has.
Another are that pirates affect is the coast of western Africa. This causes problems concerning humanitarian aid in the desert and other regions around that area such as Congo, DR Congo, Cameroon, and Nigeria, which is another reason why NATO is starting to crack down on piracy all over the planet. To further the issue, piracy started becoming one of the only viable and supportive jobs in Somalia after their government collapsed in 1991. Since then it has become almost a self sufficient non-ruled (except for the fact that they pay protection to the ruler of Puntland, the region where they store their mother ships) military organization only with a flexible budget and an always relevant status in society.
To make matters worse, this is an issue that can only be resolved by intervening in mainland Somalia, as pirates can simply raise the ransoms as they need to when ships become harder to catch or more protected. In actuality, most pirates do not become pirates for self satisfaction or cruelty, but because it is the only way they can feed their families and ensure their well being. Furthermore, the pirates do not distinguish any difference between NATO and themselves, thinking of themselves as warriors and making no distinction between the NATO ships taking them and them taking a fishing or trade vessel. While the major difference between their efforts is that the interceptors are trying to save people, they have only counteracted their goal by forcing the pirates in to a position where greater aggression is necessary in order to get the ransom. It used to be that the pirates would treat their hostages very well after ransom was paid, but now the crack down has caused the pirates to kill some prisoners and brutalize others. A couple of years ago this would have been totally unheard of, but now scarcity has been an issue for them. All of these problems come back to the same origin: the total collapse of the Somalian government in 1991. While a transitional government was set up in 2006, transition governments do not have nearly the same authority or influence that a true one does, and therefore they did little to resolve the issues with piracy. On the bright side, an internationally recognized government was chosen on August 20.
In conclusion, piracy at sea is a massive international problem only terminally solvable on land in Somalia, however that will not totally eliminate it. They interrupt trade, they create problems with humanitarian situations and can always find solutions to any problems they face with marine intervention. This is an issue created in Somalia, and it can only be feasibly stopped in Somalia. Creating a permanent internationally recognized government was the first step towards this, and more progress is on the horizon.
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