19 November 2008
editorial
Kampala — THE seizure this week of a Saudi oil tanker by Somali pirates should serve as a wake-up call to the Somali crisis that has been neglected by the world for close to two decades.
The hijacking of the Sirius Star with its cargo of two million barrels of oil and other two ships will increase the cost of global trade as shipping companies resort to longer routes to avoid the pirate-infested Gulf of Eden.
Although the big powers including the US and Russia have since September stationed battle ships off the Somali coast to stem the practice, the crime has escalated and become even more sophisticated.
The use of patrol ships is a costly solution unsustainable in the long run. The solution to this crime lies in restoring an effective government in Somalia. Somalia has not had a functioning national government since 1991.
Piracy off the Somali coast started following total collapse of the government in early 1990s grew as the world watched. It started with armed fishermen extorting some kind of informal tax from commercial fleets that wanted to exploit the otherwise defenceless region.
With time this turned into a lucrative trade as the fishermen took hostages and demanded ransoms. In 2004, there were less than 10 attacks reported. The incidents rose to 25 last year and a staggering 95 by this week.
With 16,000 ships plying the Gulf of Aden annually, the world can no longer afford to sit back and watch as pirates add to the problem of worsening global economic crisis.
A lasting solution lies in the restoration of a functional government in Somalia. The multinational force, AMISOM, which is already in place, should be strengthened and equipped to restore order. Its current strength of 3,020 soldiers from Uganda and Burundi is far too short of the required 8,000 troops to police the region.
Unless the crisis is seen from a global rather than an African perspective, the world will continue paying for the neglect.
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