Piracy, looking at the bigger picture

          For quite some time these have been issues with piracy in certain parts of the world but it seems to be used as an excuse for pirates to make financial gains while looking like heroes to their people. More specifically, the pirates in Somalia and their citizens believe that they are not committing an injustice. There will always be some type of waste being dumped in the seas near civilians and this will always be off putting or the illegal usage of their water ways but that does not justify the piracy that is taking place although the pirates and citizens would disagree. But they are disagreeing on the basis that these pirates are protecting what the citizens and government rightfully own and should delegate. Yet they are doing more than just delegating their seas, they are stealing goods and holding innocent people hostage for ransom in order to make a huge profit. These are goods that are disbursed around the world, not just in Somalia. With these pirates hijacking ships with goods that need to be distributed, it creates a delaying effect on much of the world’s production. If the pirates of Somalia were tamed and made to understand that it is not just the illegal fishing in their seas that they are protecting but the global market they are ruining and holding hostage, it would set the tone to organize all the other faults that global trading experiences.

            This heroism complex that these pirates seem to have going for them is an excuse for their piracy. It’s great that there’s less waste in their waters and not as much illegal fishing but they are making billions of dollars off of all the other ships that they hijack and take hostage. These pirates could possibly be being advised by Al Qaeda, and that could explain their pirate behaviors due to Al Qaeda being the base for terrorism in the Middle East. More so, could the hostage money that the pirates are receiving be tunneled back to Al Qaeda for more terrorist endeavors? Possibly, but the point at hand is that there is nothing being done about it on their part because the pirates are seen as saints or protectors of the seas. But, the citizens would change their minds if they were educated on the facts of what more their savior pirates do. Millions of Somalians are dependent on humanitarian food aid but they will not receive this food in a timely fashion, or at all, due to their pirates that are protecting them and their seas. The pirates make a bigger issue people attempting to deliver food and other goods to people in need because they need protection to go and deliver the goods but if there is no one to protect them, the goods do not get transported to the people in need of them.

            It’s not just the seas and the straits that need protecting, but the people from themselves need protecting. While they are unknowingly supporting these pirates, they do not know that they are also supporting their lack of aid to their country and many other countries. With their government lacking in existence, this issue will continue on. But if the government can be rebuilt and educated on the issues at hand that these pirates are causing around the world and in their country alone, it would be a good start to end the heavy piracy in the area. This would make it easier for everyone around the world to get the goods they need, and for the people in Somalia to get assistance and grow again as a country.