Somalia: Piracy (EUC Report)

Baroness Young of Hornsey Excerpts

Monday 11th March 2013 Grand Committee

[Baroness Young of Hornsey]

My Lords, I joined Sub-Committee C, on external affairs, just in time to see the Turning the Tide report through to its conclusion, although I missed direct involvement in the original inquiry that preceded it. This was my first inquiry with Sub-Committee C and, along with other noble Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, for his chairmanship, and also note the expertise of the staff and the warm welcome offered by noble Lords who were already on the committee.

Before I joined Sub-Committee C I was, along with many others, all too aware of Somalia’s recent troubled history and in particular its notoriety as the launching pad for numerous acts of piracy in the Indian Ocean. I therefore welcome the opportunity today to address some of the issues raised by the report. I should say from the outset that I agree with many of the points that have already been made by other noble Lords on the committee but want to go into some other areas.

Naval patrols, armed personnel on vulnerable ships and the military operation on land-based criminals have all, as we have heard, contributed to diminishing the threat of piracy in the region. However, none of these activities represents a viable, or indeed a desirable, medium to long-term strategy. Political, economic and social stabilisation is the key to reducing piracy and other high-stakes criminal activity. If the root causes are not addressed, such crimes will continue to flourish.

As we reported, the EU has now formulated a strategy for the Horn of Africa and appointed a special representative, Alexander Rondos, who has already been referred to. It has also launched two missions: a training mission to Uganda—EUTM Somalia; and, crucially, the newish mission to strengthen the maritime capacity of the coastal states of east Africa—EUCAP NESTOR. As my noble friend Lord Jay said, that is not a very pleasant sounding title, but none the less we hope that it will be effective.

Alexander Rondos told us of the need to build up coastal communities if piracy was to be countered. He believed that extending stabilisation and investing in coastal areas was essential and absolutely key in offering an alternative incentive to those who feel that they need to tolerate piracy or allow it to operate from within their communities. The evidence from the Council of Somali Organisations supported this assertion and made the additional point that coastal communities had,

“persistently lobbied donors for small scale support to help them develop local mobile marine cadres”,

to patrol their coastline and provide a security presence that would disrupt and deter pirate groups and al-Shabaab activity.

To counter the argument that the EU presence represents yet another hostile foreign military force, as some see it, the EU needs to make a commitment to protect and monitor fishing in Somali waters. There has been a call for the mandates to be revised to protect Somali waters from illegal fishermen and those who transport toxic and other dangerous materials. When we received the evidence, we considered recommending that Operation Atalanta should undertake greater protection of Somali fishing grounds, but we concluded that a naval mission was not in a position to undertake this additional role as well as protecting shipping, and that the task should be taken up by another organisation.

To some extent, the newly established civilian mission EUCAP NESTOR goes part of the way towards addressing some of the concerns. The mission aims to train a coastal police force and judges with expert advice on legal, policy and operational matters concerning maritime security. Giving more resources and support to the countries of the region to build capacity would make further improvements and ultimately cost the EU less in the longer term. The FCO told us that the setting-up phase of EUCAP NESTOR was going well. I hope that the Minister will be able to tell us that the initiative is on track.

The focus on a military solution to Somalia-based piracy, and conventional approaches to aid and development, should not prevent the EU addressing real concerns about fishing and the historic dumping of toxic waste by multinational organisations. A recent Italian investigation concluded that around 35 million tonnes of waste had been exported to Somalia, leading to the assertion that its inland waste dumps were among the largest in the world.

The Somali people have been caught up in a dreadful vicious circle. With the likelihood that the country will achieve just one of the eight millennium development goals by 2015, weak governance structures at all levels, an underdeveloped civil society, the constant threat of armed conflict within and between clans and extensive corruption, it is no wonder that some companies feel able to take advantage of the situation and act with impunity, dumping nuclear and other hazardous waste in Somali coastal waters.

I emphasise that this is not put forward as an excuse for piracy—not in any way. However, the issue must be addressed if the EU is to maintain confidence in what it is doing. European multinationals, the Somali Government and local clan warlords have all been implicated in these activities. Arms have been traded for the right to dump hazardous materials. The ships bringing the cargo into Somalia then become trawlers when they leave the area, with their holds full of tuna fish. These illegal activities must be robustly monitored and the consequences addressed if there is to be a long-term solution to piracy in the region.

Recently, pirate gangs have turned to land-based criminal activity such as kidnapping aid workers, tourists and journalists in Somalia and Kenya and holding them for ransom. That is why military interventions need to take place alongside strategic local and regional political initiatives supported by international collaboration. As the noble Lord, Lord Jay, said, the involvement of organisations such as the African Union and ECOWAS is crucial to that operation.

In Somaliland, which is relatively stable, unemployment among young people stands at approximately 75%. One strategy to help keep young people from the grasp of criminal gangs would be to capitalise on the influx of foreign aid agencies and other NGOs into the area by ensuring that these organisations provide opportunities for local young people to learn skills, undertake internships and gain paid work. EU development aid should also be directed towards providing alternative livelihoods for the Somali people. Somehow, as the noble Lord, Lord Teverson, mentioned at the beginning, the vast majority of the Somali population are not involved in these criminal activities yet they seem to get punished whichever way things go.

As the Africa Research Institute points out, the EU needs to demonstrate its willingness to address the issue of European-owned companies that have been dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast for years. Robust action on this matter would help to underline the legitimacy of the EU endeavours in the region. I wonder if the Minister, or indeed the Government, has a view on this matter.

There are some positive signs emerging from Somalia, some of which have already been referred to. We heard from witnesses that there was less hostility from the Somali population to the African Union’s mission in Somalia, a greater spirit of optimism and more talk of nation building. The EUCAP NESTOR mission will be a significant development in combating piracy from the land.

What happens over the next few years will be crucial to the settled future of the Somalian peoples. I very much hope that the sub-committee will somehow find a way to revisit these issues and have another follow-up report at some point in the future.