Somalia: Focus on stabilising the hinterland

By on November 15, 2010

Uganda has urged the international community to focus on stabilising the Somali hinterland instead of deploying military vessels that have not yet resolved the rampant piracy. Kampala said that as long as Somali militants still control much of the country ravaged by war, piracy will have good days ahead.

The Militants offer a safe haven for the pirates in exchange for part of ransom to buy weapons and fight the Somali government. If Somalia is not stabilised, piracy will continue and it will be a vicious circle. The choice of the great powers to deploy warships on the high seas instead of concentrating efforts on stabilising the hinterland, where piracy seems to be born and nourished, was strongly criticised by international observers and Kampala has regretted that the Ugandan and the African Union request to blockade the ports and  declare the Somalia air space closed to the civilian aviation, has received limited support and yet it is one of the most important ways to pacify the country. Recently, Uganda has offered to deploy more than 20 000 peacekeepers in Somalia, provided there will be a logistical and equipment support. However, the support, according to officials, is not forthcoming. Some observers believe that the great powers are only interested in stopping piracy because it destabilizes the maritime trade routes, hence the rising cost of doing business.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.