Piracy, a word that has many meanings, though when related to the sea the picture becomes more clear, or does it? The real lives played out within Somali pirates and Somalia is general needs to be discussed as well as the reasons why piracy exists and what can be done. This is to show that the sea is both a resource and a space for crime to occur.
Piracy in Somalia is an issue depicted recently in the media such as this clip from Captain Phillips:
While this is used for entertainment (and has been used in meme culture), there is a serious undertone here, due to how practices are depicted and what is the story actually behind them.
Somalia is a developing country. Not much is known due to the fact the country is split into three (despite only the whole country being recognised internationally). Though what is known is that it is poor (71.3% living in poverty) and has a low life expectancy (56). A catastrophic civil war in 1988 killed over 700,000 people and has caused deprivation into the country Though it does have a resource which is the sea, therefore fishing occurs. However, there has been a rise in illegal fishing from other nations. All of these reasons can arguably explain why piracy exists: for livelihoods but for many it’s a profitable exercise. This shows how the sea is used by people for both necessity and greed, highlighting the sea as a resource.
This video here explains the process of Somali piracy:
Piracy is having effects on land, showing the connections between the land and the sea. A case study of this is of Puntland (where the pirates normally dock), whereby prices are increased as traders know the pirates have money. This can have impacts on the local economy, meaning countries do want not what supply goods to Somalia due to their high prices. This is why Somalia have a decline in the supply of goods. The seemingly harmless narrative of pirates finding treasure is inaccurate, the pirates’ actions actually have consequences for those living back in Somalia and exacerbates the issues they already face.
A final point about piracy that I have gathered is about the different actors present in this process. There are the pirates themselves, the financiers and the clan leaders (which are given some the ransom from the people who owns the hijacked boat). This highlights how the sea is used by a variety of people and it is these fixed connections within the actors that mean piracy still exits. There are other issues within the sea, e.g, waste and sovereignty issues which are reproduced though these actors. This is why is it very hard to tackle these issues.
The blog has shown the devastation piracy can have for Somalia, as well as how difficult it can be to govern this land due to the different actors involved. It shows that the connections between land and sea cannot be ignored.
Slowly drifting...1911729 