Somalia pirates find livelihoods in their careers

Stories of horrific events on the Indian Ocean and other prominent world shipping lanes have sparked the world’s attention. The pirates from Somalia are armed with rocket propelled grenades and AK47s which are provided by the country of Yemen. They board ships of all types and rely on their ransom demands to the government naval service for a source of income. Ransom demands can vary from $ 1 Million to $3 Million and are almost always paid. 

The UN has responded with international naval presence being more prominent and powerful. But while most of the world’s attention is trained on the unrest on the seas, it seems that what needs to be first addressed are the issues ashore. With the struggle for peace that is enfolding, there is finally recognition of the instability and poverty that the nation of Somalia has been attempting to thrive under for a long while. It is for reason’s ashore that men risk their lives and freedom to pursue ships and endanger or instill fear into those onboard. 

Somalia has spent almost 20 years in a civil war and is one of the world’s poorest and most violent countries in the world. It seems that piracy is one of the only forms of stable support for most of Somalia’s civilians personal economy. Somalia suffers from frequent severe droughts and has few economic opportunities to offer to the civilians living there. 

In the face of such poverty and adversity, piracy has become one of the only possibilities as far as possible sources of income. Said Abdi Farah Juha, a citizen of the regional capital, in an interview with a BBC reporter, “Piracy in many ways is socially acceptable. They have become fashionable.” Juha expanded saying, “They have money; they have power and they are getting stronger by the day...”

In another interview by a BBC reporter with one of the pirates themselves, Mohamed Olad Hassan said that pirating is a “national service” because it stimulates the Somalia economy and everyone in Somalia is reaping the benefits. “...our work is seen by many in the coastal villages as legal and we are viewed as heros.”

In either case, most Somalian men have decided that the economic benefits of pirating are the only possibility in the face of a situation as dire as the ones they face each and everyday.