FAIR AND BALANCED: Pirates not welcome outside of Hollywood

America has developed a “thing” for pirates in the last few years. Pirates are a cultural emblem in the United States, garnering multi-million dollar movies, theme park rides and Halloween costumes. So, it comes as no surprise other countries would also embrace the idea. In Somalia, pirates have become very popular too.

But between the translation from English to Somali, our humorous singing pirates have been somewhat modified. Instead of rum and treasure, the real-life pirates in Somalia now carry machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

Currently, the Indian Ocean is infested with Somali pirates who are hijacking ships, ransoming prisoners and threatening a vital regional shipping lane, one that hosts roughly 12 percent of worldwide oil shipments, according to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. This is real piracy, not the Disney version. The international community must take decisive action and send piracy back to the 18th century in order to ensure worldwide freedom of the seas, decrease the costs of transportation and eventually reduce violence.

Piracy has cost the international economy an estimated $60 to $70 million this year, according to the BBC. Increased violence requires companies to spend more on protection or take longer, alternate routes, the costs of which are passed onto the consumer. The recent hijacking of the Saudi oil tanker, the Sirius Star, which had more than two million barrels of oil on board, is the largest ship in history to be captured, according to the Guardian. Besides signaling the magnitude of this problem, any disruption in the oil market would increase the price per barrel at a time when the world economy is ill-equipped to spend more on energy costs.

At this point, the Somali pirates have assaulted more than 90 vessels, captured 39 and currently possess 17, including a total of about 250 crewmembers who are being held for ransom. The Gulf of Aden’s high level of violence is rivaled only by the Straits of Malacca, another vital shipping route in Southeast Asia. Concentrated and sizeable efforts by the governments of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have reduced the scope and scale of criminal actions in their region since 2005, when Lloyd’s of London, an insurer of maritime vessels, designated the Straits of Malacca as the world’s top piracy hotspot. The same action needs to be taken on the African coast.

Unlike most conflicts in the African continent, such as the current civil war in Congo, securing an effective military commitment is not an issue. Warships from at least nine countries including the U.S., much of the U.K., Russia and India are in the theater and have occasionally engaged the bandits. But the limits of the current U.N. Security Council resolution, which does little more than require the non-existent Somali government to act within its territorial waters, prevents the world from taking decisive action. That weak resolution expires soon, too. Furthermore, there is no favorable consensus on what to do with those who are captured. There is no legal body to try suspected pirates, and foreign countries are leery of bringing these criminals back home or trying them in local African countries where the use of torture is probable.
     
The best solution is a two-front engagement with the criminals. First, the U.N. Security Council must authorize an expanded declaration that allows for unfettered permission to foreign navies to pursue and sink pirate boats, regardless of the proximity to Somali shorelines. The sovereignty of Somalia is not a concern — the complete breakdown of its government ensures no figure has the authority to object and I suspect that anyone with the interests of Somalia in mind would encourage outside intervention. Any pirates captured should be returned to their country of origin, provided the country possesses a secure detention facility.  

Second, the pirates take all captured ships to their prospering capital port city of Eyl, where hostages are held and the pirates’ operations are organized. The U.N. must authorize the elimination and pacification of this hub of piracy. Neighboring Ethiopia already has a sizeable military presence in Somalia for battling Islamic terrorists and prevent problems from spilling across the region. By calling upon the African Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or the European Union to assist and finance an Ethiopian assault on Eyl, the heart of African piracy will be ripped out. With this plan, Western soldiers are not put into harm’s way on land — which is often the deal breaker for African assistance requests — and perhaps the violence throughout the country will decrease, as the “treasure” procured by the pirates will no longer fund the Islamic insurgency.

The costs of not acting include increased shipping costs, disruptions to the oil supply and a hamstrung regional economy. By taking decisive action that has already proven successful elsewhere, the world can send a powerful message: Unequivocal opposition to piracy and multilateral action and cooperation can solve those problems that cross country boundaries.

—Tucker Wincele is a political science and economics junior.

—This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Daily Aztec. Send e-mail to letters@thedailyaztec.com. Anonymous letters will not be printed — include your full name, major and year in school.