Why Somalis turned to piracy

There are reports that the reason Somalis turned to piracy was due to foreign ships illegally fishing in Somalian waters, destroying the Somali fisherman's livelihood.

From the BBC

The BBC's Mohamed Olad Hassan in Somalia says many of the pirates are former fishermen, who began by attacking ships they argued were "illegally threatening or destroying" their business.

"Businessmen and former fighters for the Somali warlords moved in when they saw how lucrative it could be. The pirates and their backers tend to split the ransom money 50-50," he says.

What's interesting is the comment about the backing of the Somali warlords.

This ties in with comments from allAfrica.com

Who Do the Somali Pirates Work For?

The emergence of strong pirate activities started in Somalia in December 2006, after the transitional federal government of president Abdullahi Yusuf took control of the country from the Union of Islamic Courts. Since then, the country has gradually declined in terms of security and morality.

There is considerable reason to believe that some pirates could be working for the transitional government, since it (government) has not expressed any disapproval of their practice even though it could know who the culprits are.

It's alleged that most pirates who operate along the port of Eyl, (a notorious hijacking point) come from the Majarteen clan from which the president of Somalia, Abdullahi Yusuf, comes. Why hasn't the president used his good contacts with the United States, Britain and several African countries fighting a proxy war on terrorism to flush out the pirates?

On the other hand, it's believed the pirates could be working to restore the country's environment, after reports that some European firms were responsible for dumping toxic wastes in the Somali waters.

To verify this claim, the United Nations envoy for Somalia Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, confirmed that the United Nations had reliable information implicating European and Asian companies in the dumping of toxic waste off the Somali coastline.

However, to the surprise of many, East African maritime authorities have continued to ignore calls by environmental organisations in Somalia over the abuse of the country's coastline.

Environmentalists believe the Somali coastline has been hugely destroyed as a result. Some have argued that the money the pirates demand is very little compared to the devastation that has been caused by the toxic waste, which includes nuclear waste.