Somali Journal March, 2014 | Page 4

The thirst for freedom

Many people are resorting to criminal activity, such as pirating to try and obtain money or supplies that they need to live in everyday life in Somalia. The poverty is caused by caos from the lack of an organized government. An organized government will keep crime down and find ways to support the economy and provide for their people.Since Somalia lacks this, people cannot find a good paying job so they must resort to crime in order to make a living. This fuels the burning problem and will continue to do so unless the government takes charge.

One of the largest problems in Somalia is pirating; Somalia is one of the few places where it still exists. Some international tankers and cargo ships along with local boats have been boarded or captured by Somali pirates. International ships have been captured and their crew have been held ransom for money. Recently Somali pirates have captured their first ship since 2012. On january 19, 2014 somali pirates captured the MV Marzooqah and it was brought to Somali territory. The vessel was crewed by Indians, Egyptians and Syrians and boarded by a gang of eight or nine pirates. The lack of government has created a hole in law and enforcement, most pirates don't get caught unless they capture a large vessel (The Telegraph, 2014). A majority of the pirating takes place on one of the most common trade routes. In these trade routes most pirates travel on small pirating boats, therefore they often do not try to trake over large vessels. on occasion a priating boat will attempt to overtake and hold a large ships crew captive. The pirates can sell the captive prisoners back to their country of origin. Generally the country is forced to accept because it would look terrible if they left their citizen to die.

By Lucas Lind-White

Somalis resort to crime as an effort to overcome poverty