Piracy in Somali - Is it Politically or Economically Motivated Essay

Piracy in Somali - Is it Politically or Economically Motivated - Essay Example However the persistent attacks by pirate ships off the horn of Africa represent a realistic picture of the status of piracy in contemporary times, which is far removed from the romantic portrayal of the issue in the Hollywood blockbuster. Contrary to the depiction of piracy by the popular media, piracy in Somalia is real and an ever-increasing danger faced by the sea-farers. Somalia has gained global attention for repeatedly featuring as one of the top three global hotspots for maritime piracy. According to the ICC International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) report on trends in global piracy, about 439 pirate attacks were reported in the year 2011 of which 275 attacks were reported to have taken place off the coast of Somalia (ICC, 2012). The Gulf of Aden and and the northern, southern, and eastern coasts of Somalia are one of the heavily trafficked coasts in the world. It is on account of this reason that the waters in and around Somalia are vulnerable to such attacks, and categorized as piracy prone. The constant acts of piracy in Somalia have resulted in a rapid economic and political decline of the nation and have attracted severe criticism worldwide. The country was labeled as the World’s most dangerous country by the Forbes Magazine (O'Malley, 2009). Figure 1: Source: Onuoha, 2009: 35 Despite the implementation of stringent measures to counter maritime piracy in Somalia, the number of incidences reporting attacks and hijacking by the Somalian pirates refuse to die down. Piracy has been one of the most dreaded acts of hostility faced by sea-farers and it cannot be hoped to be countered by mere naval means. Measures such as disbanding the criminal structure of the booming "industry", achieving political stability and strengthening the nation's economy must be looked into, in order to prevent such acts of terrorism and bring the phenomenon of piracy to a complete halt. 2. Piracy in Somalia: Brief background The term maritime piracy is defined by Piracy Repo rting Center of the International Maritime Bureau of ICC as "an act of boarding any vessel with the intent to commit theft or any other crime and with the intent or capability to use force in the furtherance of that act" (Wu and Zou, 2009: 139). The Geneva Convention on the Law of the Sea 1958 defines piracy as any illegal and/or hostile acts leading to the detention, harm or injury to the crew or passengers on board; as well as intentional destruction, capture and seizing of property on the ship. It also includes acts which are committed beyond the jurisdiction of a particular state1. The issue of maritime piracy has been in existence historically and no strategy has achieved complete success in eradicating this evil. The policy initiatives taken at national as well as international level have so far been merely able to partially suppress the phenomenon. However despite such measures incidences of hijacking, random pirate attacks, and armed hostility continue to be reported. The is sue of piracy in Somalia is of a more serious nature, due to its weak economic structure and long-term political instability. These two factors combined have caused the elevation of piracy from mere erratic sea attacks to the status of an organized crime. Today, maritime piracy is internationally recognized as an issue of serious concern and active steps have been taken to ensure that such activities are curbed instantly. Piracy off the Somali coast did not begin with a group of bandits looking for money or