Participants at the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia meeting. PHOTO | EUNICE MURATHE
About $1.4 billion (Sh140 billion) was spent on the war on
piracy in the Western Indian Ocean bloc last year, a team formed to find
ways of fighting the menace says.
The Contact Group on
Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) said the figures were the
latest from Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), a programme of the One Earth
Future Foundation.
The foundation is a privately funded
non-profit organisation based in Colorado, USA. The cost includes money
paid by shipping operators for increased insurance due to piracy,
labour, armed guards and other protection measures, ransom paid by
insurers and the cost of naval deployments.
More than
200 participants from 50 countries and organisations met in Nairobi mid
last month to discuss a global approach to combat maritime piracy. The
forum was organised by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), CGPCS, the
Kenyan government and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC).
Participants reiterated the commitment of the region and the
international community to fight piracy and its root causes. The
economic cost of piracy caused by groups in Somalia increased to $1.7
billion (Sh170 billion) in 2016, from $1.3 billion (Sh130 billion) in
2015.
The cost had been trending downwards from $7
billion (Sh700 billion) in 2010 due to counter-piracy measures. The 21st
plenary session of the CGPCS chaired by Mauritius Foreign Affairs
minister and IOC chair Vishnu Lutchmeenaraidoo was an opportunity to
assess the status of maritime piracy in the Western Indian Ocean.
Representatives
of EU NAVFOR Somalia and Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) identified rare
cases of piracy since the resurgence of attacks at the beginning of
2017 — namely two attacks in November 2017; the alleged perpetrators are
awaiting trial in the Seychelles — and one attack at the beginning of
this year. "We must not ease our efforts," stressed Lucthmeenaraidoo.
Members of the Contact Group and the EU vouched for the extension of the
mandate of the EU NAVFOR mission until December 2020.
EU
NAVFOR Somalia, also known as Operation Atalanta, is a counter-piracy
military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa. Furthermore,
participants stressed the importance of stopping the threat of piracy.
The mission will also be given a broader mandate to cover all crimes and
threats directly related to piracy.
Kenya’s Defence
secretary Raychelle Omamo urged for heightened war on terrorism and
piracy saying they were connected. "We must fight these ills — piracy
and terrorism — in tandem because in many ways terrorism extends into
the waters through piracy and piracy extends to land through terrorism,"
she said.
Mr Lutchmeenaraidoo added: "We cannot fight
effectively nor permanently remove piracy if we do not tackle all the
crimes and threats that feed on or are fuelled by piracy. “That is why I
suggested that we start thinking about the possible extension of the
mandate of the Contact Group and that the outcomes be submitted to the
next plenary session for debate.”
“Members of CGPCS
have confirmed the usefulness of this forum which allows the exchange of
on-going initiatives and offers a comprehensive outlook on the
activities of the fight against piracy,” a statement from CGPCS said. It
noted that maritime security is emerging as a key issue of development
in eastern and southern Africa.
Foreign Affairs secretary Monica Juma said maritime security is key to the growth of the blue economy.
"It
is becoming a very important foundation for strategies to create the
blue economy as a new pillar of prosperity for coastal communities and
for improving their livelihoods,” said Ms Juma. IOC secretary-general
Hamada Madi added: "The potential of the blue economy for growth and
social progress will emerge only if we are able to collectively provide
safety at sea with the support of our partners in the international
community.
“The CGPCS is thus an expression of a
common goal to cooperate not only for regional stability crucial for
development in eastern and southern Africa, but also for the security of
sea routes in the Indian Ocean among the most important for
international trade.” The next plenary session of CGPCS will be held in
2019.
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