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Reports of another ship being hijacked off the coast of Somalia have become a daily routine. The latest incident involving the hijacking of a US flagged vessel and the subsequent successful rescue of its captain has caught the world’s attention. Yet the coverage of the crisis often ignores the fact that piracy is only symptom of a much larger crisis. Lawless Somalia has endured nearly two decades without a functioning government. Numerous interventions and even a two-year occupation by neighboring Ethiopia have failed to stop the anarchy on land and in the high seas.
The greatest victims of this tragedy have been the Somali people themselves. Hundreds of thousands have perished in conflict or from famine while millions have been internally displaced or forced to become refugees in neighboring countries. Now that the crisis has spilled over to involve innocent foreigners and has endangered critical world shipping routes, Somalia is once again under the spotlight. It remains unclear, however, if the international community and the new Somali government will seize the opportunity to finally bring this modern-day tragedy to an end and establish lasting security and stability in Somalia.
Except, perhaps, for the pirates themselves, the world is united in confronting piracy on the high seas. The response to the piracy, however, has been anything but comprehensive. Individual countries have decided to patrol Somali waters and sometimes conduct daring military rescue operations to free their citizens held hostage by the bandits. And while these risky operations are understandable in the short-term, they will do little to reduce or eliminate piracy off the coast of Somalia in the long-term as they fail to address the root causes.
The killing of a few pirates will only push the others to take revenge and harm the innocent hostages they hold. Furthermore, it is not inconceivable that a purely criminal enterprise may be pushed into an ideological struggle leading to a far greater loss of human life and further destabilization of Somalia. If Somalia is not stabilized soon, there is a significant risk that radical groups outside the new Somali government’s control may join the action resulting in further escalation and danger to Somalis and the world at large. The recent failed attack on an aircraft carrying United States Congressman Donald Payne during a visit to Mogadishu underscores the reality that not even a sympathetic foreign statesman is immune to the turmoil. This cowardly and reprehensible attack was clearly aimed at undermining the Congressman’
The fundamental reason for all this mayhem is the lack of a functioning state in Somalia capable of controlling its territory, both land and sea. In the absence of such an effective government, the land is ruled by warlords and armed factions while the coast has become a free-for-all of illegal fishing, toxic waste dumping and more recently, piracy. And while Somalis may suffer most effects of the chaos, it is clear that the world community is also suffering.
Now that piracy has exposed the gravity of the situation in Somalia, The Somali Diaspora Network strongly urges the international community led by the United States to:
1. Develop and implement a comprehensive long term strategy to bring peace and stability to Somalia now rather than later when it will be harder and more costly.
2. Work with the new Somali government to pursue a holistic approach encompassing both the political and humanitarian problems facing the country to achieve security both on land and sea.
3. Immediately afford the necessary diplomatic and financial support to the new Somali government so that it may exercise full control over all its territory and bring law and order to the country.
4. Partner with the new Somali government particularly in the areas of capacity building, education, health, job creation, and building security forces and intelligence apparatus that respect human rights and the rule of law
5. Ensure that all nations respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Somalia on land and sea and to refrain from illegal commercial fishing and toxic waste dumping off the coast of Somalia.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
