PIRATES OF SOMALIA

Presented by:
Lt Divyesh Kaushik
WHERE IS SOMALIA?
Somalia covers
the horn of
SAUDI ARABIA
Africa on the
continent’s
eastern coast.
The Indian
Ocean and its
waterways
separate
Somalia from
the oil-rich
nations of the
middle east.
 BACKGROUND
In 1991, the outbreak of civil war
in Somalia led to the collapse of
its government in Mogadishu.

With the fall of the capital came

the fall of national defense.

Without a functional coast guard,

the waters around Somalia’s vast
borders were invaded by foreign
fishing and dumping vessels.
 At first it was “Pure Survival”
 one of the few
opportunities to
make a living in
lawless Somalia.
 Stole from local
fisherman.
 Used the money to
buy boats and
weapons.
 Pirates Gone Crazy
 Lately, the Pirates are becoming more
organized and persistent.
• Because of food prices going up.

 It has become a highly profitable,

sophisticated criminal business with
millions of dollars in ransom payments.
 Who They Work For
 They mainly work for
themselves.
 Most pirates work in
groups similar to gangs
called clans.
 They gain alliances with
the officials from the
Puntland government
and bribe them so they
can use ports to store
their captured ships.
 BENEFITS
 The warlords get the money and in most
cases, give it out to their family and
friends.

 They also distribute it to their clan

members.
 Al Queda Connection?
 There is some evidence that connects the
pirate attacks to Al Queda through the
International Islamist Groups.

 "There may be some loose elements among the

Islamist groups that have tie-ups with the
pirates, because the movement is fractured
into six or seven different groups, and each
may have its own problems getting funding,"
says Iqbal Jhazbhay.
 Why Somalia Works for Pirates
 The war.

 Regional dynamics.

 Just broken enough.

 The economy.

 Ransom.
 What Has Been Done To Stop
Them
 The NATO alliance and a group of countries assigned
ships to patrol the coast of the Somalia coast and the
area surrounding it.

 However, there are no guarantees of total safety

( the pirates have escaped Naval patrolling)

 "Unless you have a warship in the immediate area, and,

crucially, with a helicopter, you've got no chance of
stopping them," says Richard Cornwell (a senior
researcher at the Institute for Strategic Studies,
Pretoria).
 Continued..
 Ships also should try to protect themselves
from the pirates by making sure they are
prepared for any surprise attacks.

 Egypt hosted a meeting with many countries

including Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and
Jordan . They tried to figure out a joint
strategy against piracy that threatens trade
through the Suez Canal which is a major canal
for Egypt.
THANK YOU..