Somali has recently become the world’s most well-known country of the so-called third world, due to the threat which it temporarily poses to the entire world.
Because of the country’s extreme poverty rates, the local dwellers are often engaged into piracy, which puts the life of millions of people who cross the Somali water areas. Since the reasons which make the Somalia people break the law can justify their actions to some extent, the events connected with the actions of the Somali pirates make one think of whose fault is that numerous victims have suffered.
The Curse of the Somali: What Makes a Pirate
Beginning with the terrible poverty statistics and the hopeless state of affairs, the Somali population finally found the way to earn for a living. Choosing piracy as the means to make money, the Somalians now feel quite certain in the water area of their homeland, robbing the ships which pass by them. According to the recent news, the situation does not seem to change for the better; on the contrary, the pirates are seemingly enjoying the new way of solving their own economical problems[1].
It was clear from the very beginning that the Somali pirates have chosen their path to live the life of the rich. Because of the desperate state of affairs in their own country, they resorted to the easiest way of making money, that is, robbing.
As it has turned out, the problem did not vanish as the time passed. On the contrary, it was grasping even wider space, making people from the other countries fear the Somalia water areas. As Gettleman (2010) noticed, by 2010 the oirates had already established their personal “business” and were tracing the ocean seaway for the probable “crop” to pluck:
NAIROBI, Kenya — The monsoon season has ended. The Indian Ocean is calm again. For Somalia’s pirates, that means one thing: it is a busy time of year.[2]
As it could have been predicted, the pirates not only did not abandon the profitable business, but also expanded it to the range of a large-scale enterprise. Although this could seem shocking to the European people, the Somalia pirates considered this the only way to earn for a living.
Holding hostages and taking ransoms for the people which the pirates have captured appeared to be much easier than sharing the economical collapse with the rest of the countries with the same economical situation. According to Gettleman, these are the incredible for the Somali people amounts of money which makes them participate in the piracy. In spite of the seeming freedom in robbing and taking “free money”, it has turned out that the Somali pirates have a well-developed infrastructure in their business.
Thus, the people ranked higher than the ship crew receive the greatest amount of money, while the rest of the pirates are supposed to enjoy the remaining of the ransom money[3]. Such situation signifies that the Somali pirates have the system of ranking which is approximately close to the European idea of business enterprise; this could be called a mock-capitalistic relationships.
It must also be marked that the piracy was progressing rapidly during this period of time. The Somali pirates were taking hostages more often than at the beginning and seemed to know no boundaries for their riots.
Tracing the Course of Events: Living the Life of a Pirate
As the problem of piracy has been detected in its early stage, there was the idea of conducting an international trial, yet the pirates managed to escape the latter. Since the sentence has been passed in the Malaysian court which was well-known for its corruptness, the pirates managed to get away lightly, and the problem remained unsolved.[4]
Knowing no fear, the Somali pirates are quickly learning the way to make easy money. Touching on the most important strings of people’s souls, the concerns for their own lives, the Somali pirates have “progressed” greatly, improving their system of tracing the ships and attacking them. Knowing no mercy, they do not fear to face the justice either, for they are already aware of the Malasian justice.[5]
According to Rice, it is the Navy “catch and release” policy which makes the pirates feel absolutely invulnerable. Causing certain disturbances and protests, the Malasian policy is still in motion, making the pirates feel that they could never be caught and punished appropriately.
Because of such debatable issue of the Malasian justice, the countries of Oceania cross the line once toed between them and the European countries, which results in numerous political discords. This must be the will to be economically independent in the modern world that makes Oceania act in this way; otherwise, they would have acted in accordance with the European system of justice.
However, it must be admitted that the modern world takes all the necessary measures to combat the Somali pirates. As the most recent news say, 12 Somali pirates have been recently arrested[6] and are supposed to be hung over to justice in the nearest future.
According to the evidence from Xinhua, the pirates caught have already gained a big death score, which means that they have to be judged as the murderers; however, taking into account that the case is going to be handed to the Malasian court of justice, it can be suggested that the investigation will lead to nowhere.
Giving a lot of food for thoughts, this event makes suggest if the on-coming trial will be a lesson taught to the Somali pirates in general. Their piracy being a protest against the hypocrisy of the European people, the Somali robbers will make sure once again that Europe is helpless to do anything to them:
The pirates will be charged in a Madagascan court given that they were arrested within Madagascan waters and that some of the hostages were Madagascan nationals. (Xinhua)
It seems that despite all the attempts of the piece-makers to calm the pirates down and start a conversation with them, the latter would not give up the easiest way of making money. Once learning the taste of richness, they will never be able to return to the previous lifestyle, accepting the poverty and the miseries which they had to survive. Despite the danger of being caught or killed, they resort to this very way of surviving in the ocean of capitalism, the system which they will never get used to.
It is obvious now that the actions of the Somali pirates have become more aggressive tan ever. Taking even families as hostages now, they show no mercy to both adults and children, as cruel as no human can be:
Most hostages captured in the waters off East Africa are professional sailors, not families. Pirates are not known to have captured children before.[7]
It seems that the ferocity of the Somali pirates has reached its peak, together with the unbearable impudence. Having no fear for justice, they commit the crimes which they would have been penalized long before in civilized countries. It is evident now that their isolation from the European world makes them feel absolutely free from any form of justice except their own one. In addition, it must be mentioned that Europe is no authority for them; on the contrary, they are trying to be as independent from Europe as possible.
What the Higher Layers of Society Have to Do With This
It is quite obvious that the people who have been left with nothing else but earning for a living with piracy are highly dependent on the countries which make the world political elite.
Due to the specific relationships between the world countries, the idea of mutual help and cooperation has lost its sense, and the competitiveness of a capitalist society has taken its toll on the lies of millions of people. Those who were lucky enough to be born in the economically healthy countries have been separated from those who have sunken in poverty and misery.
Thus, the people who suffer the most unbearable economical conditions and do no have the access to more winning lifestyle resort to the only way out which seems most profitable to them. This is not an attempt to justify the actions of the Somali pirates, but an explanation of where the problem roots for. As Eichstaedt noticed,
Given the years of experience with the Somali pirates, does Mwangura think Somali privacy can be brought to an end? “you cannot fight poverty using the gun,” he says. You need to fight the root cause, then you ill find the solution to [piracy]” The situation in Somalia is hard to solve from the outside, which is why the international community has been reluctant, I say[8].
It is quite clear that the Somali piracy is not to be handled with the usual means of treating pirates. To take a look from the other angle, they are victims to the same extent as those suffering from their actions. It seems that the Somali piracy has much more than meets the eye about its roots and reasons:
The colonialist division of Somali lands had contributed to a national sense of resentment. The fragmentation of the Somalis was seen as a “wound” inflicted by Christian strangers which had “dismembered” the Somali islands.[9]
It seems that one of the core problems of the relationships between Europe or North America and Somali is that evaluating the culture and ethnicity of the Somali people, the former are trying to apply the same assessment tool as they use to evaluate themselves. Thus, considering the Somali people as savages with the culture which is not worth paying attention to, they force the Somali people fight for their place in the civilized world:
Western cultures and worldviews formed a yardstick for assessing or, as is often claimed, translating non-European cultures for the European and the dominant North American cultures.[10]
Conclusion
In spite of the fact that the Somali pirates pose a dreadful threat to people, their identity problems must be taken into account. It cannot be argued that the situation with the sea piracy has worsened greatly. However, there are certain hopes that, once the European standards of judgement are applied to the apprehended pirates, it will be possible to put an end to the sea crimes.
Taking into consideration the peculiarities of the Somali culture, it will be possible. This is the “geography of difference”[11] which Willinsky was talking about, and this is something which people have to put up with.
Bibliography
Daily Mail Reporter. Danish Family Captured in Indian Ocean Were ‘Experienced Sailors’. Mail Online, 2011. Web.
Eichstaedt, Peter. Pirate State: Inside Somalia’s Terrorism at Sea. Chicago, IL: Chicaho Review Press, 2010.
Fabian, Joseph. Time and other: How Anthropology Makes its Object. Columbai, OH: Columbia University Press, 2002.
Gettleman, Jeffrey. Money in Piracy Attracts More Somalis. The New York Times. 2010
Hunter, Robin. Somali Pirates Living the High Life. BBC News, 2008. Web.
Rice, Xan. Somali Piartes Should Face Special Courts, Says UN Envoy. Guardian, 2011. Web.
Vitzthum, Stella von. What Are Somalia’s Development Perspectives? Science between Resignation and Hope? Proceedings of the 6th SSIA Congress, Berlin 6-9 December 1996. Berlin: Verlag Hans Schiler, 2001.
Willinsky, J. Learning to Divide the World: Education at Empires End. University of Minnesota Press, 1998.
Xinhua. 12 Somali Pirates Arrested within Madagascan Waters. People’s Daily Online. 2011. Web.
Footnotes
- Hunter, Robin. Somali Pirates Living the High Life. BBC News, 2008.
- Gettleman, Jeffrey. Money in Piracy Attracts More Somalis. The New York Times. 2010.
- Gettleman, Jeffrey. Money in Piracy Attracts More Somalis. The New York Times. 2010.
- Rice, Xan. Somali Piartes Should Face Special Courts, Says UN Envoy. Guardian, 2011.
- Rice, Xan. Somali Piartes Should Face Special Courts, Says UN Envoy. Guardian, 2011.
- Xinhua. 12 Somali Pirates Arrested within Madagascan Waters. People’s Daily Online. 2011.
- Daily Mail Reporter. Danish Family Captured in Indian Ocean Were ‘Experienced Sailors’. Mail Online, 2011.
- Eichstaedt, Peter. Pirate State: Inside Somalia’s Terrorism at Sea (Chicago, IL: Chicaho Review Press, 2010), 116.
- Vitzthum, Stella von. What Are Somalia’s Development Perspectives? Science between Resignation and Hope? Proceedings of the 6th SSIA Congress, Berlin 6-9 December 1996 (Berlin: Verlag Hans Schiler, 2001), 16.
- Fabian, Joseph. Time and other: How Anthropology Makes its Object (Columbia, OH: Columbia University Press, 2002), 144.
- Willinsky, J. Learning to Divide the World: Education at Empires End. (University of Minnesota Press, 1998), 137.