2009+World+History+Final+Project+D+Soyon

  

Table of Contents

 * ===Who are Somali Pirates?===
 * ===How do they Operate?===
 * ===Why are they a problem?===
 * ===Conclusion===
 * ===Sources===

Them? No! Not them! So... Who are they?
 * THEM**


 So who are Somali pirates? Why do pirates still exist? Pirates are a subject of fascination; pirates are popular themes in movies, books, and even in comic books. One misconception that a lot of people have is about how pirates are these days. Modern day pirates are nothing like pirates from the film //Pirates of the Caribbean//. No Captain Jack Sparrow, no magic, and yes, no treasure. They are ordinary people just like you and me except that they have weapons and that they don't care what the world says about them.

**Who/What/Where:**
Somali pirates are made up of people who come from an area in Somalia called Puntland. There are four major pirate gangs and in total there are thousands of people who are involved with piracy. These four groups are the: Most of them are men aged from 25~30 and belong to one of the 3 groups inside the gang, they are either (Rice, Xan . " Pirates anchor hijacked supertanker Sirius Star off Somalia coast | World news | guardian.co.uk):
 * 1) National Volunteer Coast Guard
 * 2) Marka Group
 * 3) Puntland Group
 * 4) Somali Marines (Pirates." __GlobalSecurity.org - Reliable Security Information)__
 * 1) Local Fishermen: they are important members of gangs, they have knowledge about the sea and also navigating skills
 * 2) Ex-Military related personnel: they fight
 * 3) Technicians: helps with technical stuff such as the GPS systems they use (Hunter, Robyn . "BBC NEWS | Africa | Somali pirates living the high life." __BBC NEWS | News Front Page__)

media type="youtube" key="UTxJLlQCe4U" height="265" width="320" Musician K'naan talks about how the pirates came to be. Being a native Somalian himself, K'naan tells us the other side of the story. He states that the pirates came into existence because of the toxic waste that foreign companies have dumped in his country. According to K'naan, compaines have been dumping waste since the 90s by taking advantage of Somalia's weak government. The local fisherman reported it to the UN security council but was ignored so they stood up and confronted the problem. The fisherman took militiamen with them on their boats to protect their shores. They would capture boats they thought were suspicious and demand ransom. This eventually led up to modern piracy. He also addresses how the world is sending navy forces but not solving the toxic waste problem. (YouTube - K'Naan on Somali Pirates -There is a reason why this started.)
 * From Somalia's Point of View:**

**Corruption:**
There are rumors that government officials in the Puntland area have joined pirate gangs. But that's not the only one that's been going around. Some evidence shows that the corrupt Puntland government have bribed by the pirates and have allowed pirates to keep their captured ships in the bay. The government also seems to have supplied the pirates with weapons by helping in smuggling illegal arm in the Horn of Africa. (Baldauf, Scott. "Who are Somalia's pirates? | csmonitor.com." __The Christian Science Monitor | csmonitor.com)__ Pirates also state that the government officials take more than half of the ransom money. (YouTube - Somalia Pirate interview) It is also known that pirates sometimes act like Somali Coast Guards in order to get closer to boats. It is highly likely that real coast guards also help the pirates from time to time. (Cleopatra, Delegas. "PIRACY WEBSITE_hotspots.)

Piracy has been growing fast in the last few years as many people in Somalia see it as a good way to earn money. Many people are joining in piracy but not everyone likes it. Some join because they don't have any other options, some people join because they see that successful pirates have good houses, pretty wives, and most importantly, a large income. Pirates usually work for their own good, their clan, and their family.(YouTube - Somalia Pirate interview)
 * Why are more people joining in?**

Here's CNN interviewing a pirate (YouTube - Somalia Pirate interview): media type="youtube" key="Yj5f6ApIjUE" height="295" width="480" South Park does a good job on summarizing the situation ( Well, Well, Well, Well, Kyle - Clips - South Park Studios." __South Park Studios)__: media type="custom" key="3899075"

How do they operate?
Well, Somali pirates operate in an interesting way that is surprising organized. Groups such as the Somali Marines even have ranks such as ones in the military. Anyways, when they're out at sea, they have a huge mother ship which acts kind of like a base. The actual attacks are done by using small speed boats. The speed boats are launched from the mother ship and they come back after each attack. The mother ship will send a small number of people, equipped with weapons, on a speed boat to their target. Pirates will seize the crew as hostage until a ransom is paid. They will keep the boat in their base or sometimes the ship docks in Puntland and release them when they receive money.The weapons that the pirates use range from mortars and shoulder-fired rockets to small arms such guns and grenades. (Cleopatra, Delegas. "PIRACY WEBSITE_hotspots.)

So why are they a problem?
So why are these pirates such a problem for the world? Well, they effect many of things such as world economy, especially world trade. They operate mostly near the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's biggest and most important shipping routes. A few years ago, pirates only attacked small ships and had smaller success rates but now they are becoming a rising threat to the world. (Baldauf, Scott. "Who are Somalia's pirates? | csmonitor.com." __The Christian Science Monitor | csmonitor.com)__

**Ransom:**
Piracy is a profitable business. Somalian pirates make money by taking hostages. They take the crew of the ships they capture and ask for expensive ransoms. Negotiations undergo immediately and these are usually paid right away. Even though they ask for ridiculous sums the governments pay because it is a human life they are dealing with. Pirates are earning millions through taking hostage: last year, they asked for $25 million for a oil tanker called the Sirius Star. (Baldauf, Scott. "Who are Somalia's pirates? | csmonitor.com." __The Christian Science Monitor | csmonitor.com)__

**Targets/Trade:**
Now, the pirates are attacking big and valuable ships such as oil tankers, tugs, and survey ships. On November 20th, 2008, pirates seized the supertanker Sirius Star and asked for a sum of $25 million for the crew and the valuable goods it carried. As pirates reach out to other oceans, there are less safe areas and there are even fewer safe ships. With the GPS systems, the pirates can go far out to sea and even into foreign waters. As they earn more money through ransoms, they buy more and better equipment which they use to attack even bigger and valuable targets. Another problem is that because of the pirates, less vessels are willing to use the Suez Canal, which is the main source of Egypt's revenue. Ship owners are preferring to sent their ships to the Cape of Good Hope which will make them pay even more to get their ships across. (Berger, Sebastien . "Somali pirates drive up world prices - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph)

**Violence in Africa:**
Somalia is currently under international weapons sanctions so weapon smuggling is also an issue. Local warlords in Somali will use smuggled firearms to fight other clans and Ethiopian peacekeeping missioners. Piracy is bringing weapons back in to the land. After receiving money from ransoms, pirates buy weapons for their next mission but if this goes on, they'll be able to buy stuff such as ground-to-air missiles which may lead to more conflict into the already wartorn land. Having such arms can affect Somalia's struggle for freedom as well as neighboring countries.(Baldauf, Scott. "Who are Somalia's pirates? | csmonitor.com." __The Christian Science Monitor | csmonitor.com)__

**Insurance and Security:**
Piracy is also raising insurance and security rates. Now that all ships are prone to attacks, escort ships and a few guards won't be enough. Escort ships are too slow to follow large ships so the best option is to put personnel on the ships itself. So now, the options are: (Berger, Sebastien . "Somali pirates drive up world prices - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph)
 * 1) Protection on board= $5,000 per day+getting them back to base
 * 2) Escort ships+ personnel on bard= $10,000 per day

**Statistics:**
Successful piracy raids have increased dramatically over the years. Why? Well, as pirates get money from ransoms, they buy more and better equipments and with those they can attack even bigger ships. There is an endless cycle going on in the ocean. So far, countries such as Denmark, France, India, Russia, U.K, U.S. have had pirate attacks on their ships. In 2008 alone, there were 293 piracy incidents in which 29 vessels were hijacked and 889 hostages were taken. Success rates has gone up to 70% in 2008. (ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login ." __ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login)__



Conclusion:
In the beginning, I didn't really know anything about Somali Pirates. I just thought they were fascinating because it seemed "cool" to me, just like how it appealed to the kids in //South Park//. But as I researched, I realized that piracy is a huge problem that affects us all in many different ways. The main reason why pirates are dangerous are because of the impact they have on world trade and security rates. But not only that, pirates endanger the lives of the people riding the ship and they also contribute to the violence in Africa.

At first, I had a lot of misconceptions on who the pirates were, I thought that they were the same as other criminals but I was wrong. Somali pirates came to be because of their poverty and the dumping of toxic wastes. I later felt sympathy toward Somalians as I got to learn more about how they came to be. To me, it seems like their environment kind of forced them to committing these crimes. If Somalia hadn't been so corrupt and if the nation was a bit stronger, these pirates probably would have never existed.

As I did my project, I also thought about how the rest of the world was approaching this issue and I came to a conclusion that piracy is a problem that needs to be solved peacefully, not militarily. Many nations are sending in their navy forces but I believe that this isn't the right way to solve the problem. Governments from different nations and the U.N. are focusing too much on the threat that these pirates are causing. They need to focus more on how these pirates came to be and how to prevent more Somalians from becoming pirates. They need to learn how to stop it without using violence and force. Unless the domestic problems in Somalia is solved, piracy will keep on growing.

Piracy in Somalia is a growing threat and an important issue that needs to be addressed appropriately.

Sources
" ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login ." ABC-CLIO Social Studies Databases: Login. 7 May 2009 .

Baldauf, Scott. "Who are Somalia's pirates? | csmonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor | csmonitor.com. 27 May 2009 .

Berger, Sebastien. "Somali pirates drive up world prices - Telegraph." Telegraph.co.uk: news, business, sport, the Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. 7 May 2009 <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/somalia/3479581/Somali-pirates-drive-up-world-prices.html>.

"Bo Gets Kidnapped." Cagle Cartoons. 28 May 2009 <www.caglecartoons.com/viewimage.asp?ID={FF817005-A5C8-4C6E-B718-3F2125741C65}>.

Cleopatra, Delegas. "PIRACY WEBSITE_hotspots." Yahoo! GeoCities: Get a free web site with easy-to-use site building tools. 7 May 2009 <http://www.geocities.com/cdelegas/PIRACYWEBSITE_hotspots.html>.

"Gone Fishing." Cagle Cartoons. 28 May 2009 <www.caglecartoons.com/viewimage.asp?ID={73E8BAF1-28D3-43E0-8C8D-7D9E61A12AF1}>.

Hunter, Robyn. "BBC NEWS | Africa | Somali pirates living the high life." BBC NEWS | News Front Page. 1 June 2009 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7650415.stm>.

Lehr, Peter. "Violence at sea: piracy in the age ... - Google Book Search." Google Book Search. 31 May 2009 <http://books.google.com/books?id=Oc500DZw4hoC&pg=PA16&dq=somali+pirates&ei=UtogSvSTB5-OkASU6Zz3CA>.

MRIN, Captain Peter Corbett MNI. "A Modern Plague of Pirates - Google Book Search." Google Book Search. 31 May 2009 <http://books.google.com/books?id=E0kUYUOtG0AC&pg=PT24&dq=somali+pirates&ei=kc4gSuWiH4vUkwSZ-tXaCA>.

" Number of attacks by Somali pirates." China Daily Website - Connecting China Connecting the World. 7 May 2009 <http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-12/26/content_7344842.htm>.

"Piracy in Africa." Cagle Cartoons. 28 May 2009 <www.caglecartoons.com/viewimage.asp?ID={2210AFDE-506E-47BB-B926-2A81D701EBFD}>.

"Pirates Of The Caribbean 015." Wallpaper Gate. 28 May 2009 <www.wallpapergate.com/data/media/284/Pirates_Of_The_Caribbean_015.jpg>.

"Pirates Of The Caribbean." Dedmentellnotales. 31 May 2009 <www.deadmentellnotales.com/onlinetexts/potc/images/3pirates.jpg>.

"Pirates." GlobalSecurity.org - Reliable Security Information. 1 June 2009 <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/pirates.htm>.

Rice, Xan. " Pirates anchor hijacked supertanker Sirius Star off Somalia coast | World news | guardian.co.uk ." Latest news, sport, business, comment and reviews from the Guardian | guardian.co.uk. 1 June 2009 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/18/somalia-oil>.

"Somali Pirates." Global Whelming. 28 May 2009 <nbnl.globalwhelming.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/somalia-pirates-400x416.jpg>.

"Somali Pirates." Islamic News. 28 May 2009 <www.islamicnews.org.sa/en/data/upimages/SOMALI_PIRATES.jpg>.

"Somali Pirates." National Terror Alert. 28 May 2009 <www.nationalterroralert.com/images/somali_pirates.jpg>.

"Somali Pirates." Xinhuan News. 31 May 2009 <news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-12/18/xin_5721205191054828139657.jpg>.

"Somalia: The Pirates Are Winning." StrategyPage.com. 7 May 2009 <http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/somalia/articles/20090507.aspx>.

"Weekend View: Somali Pirate Attack Summary Map for 2008 by UNOSAT | MarineBuzz.com." MarineBuzz.com. 7 May 2009 <http://www.marinebuzz.com/2009/01/18/weekend-view-somali-pirate-attack-summary-map-for-2008-by-unosat/>.

"Well, Well, Well, Well, Kyle - Clips - South Park Studios." South Park Studios. 31 May 2009 <http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/225460/?tab=related>.

"YouTube - K'Naan on Somali Pirates -There is a reason why this started." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.. 31 May 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTxJLlQCe4U>.

"YouTube - Somalia Pirate interview." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.. 31 May 2009 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj5f6ApIjUE>.

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