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Indian Ocean pirates focus of high-level forum

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Kevin Rudd co-chaired a forum on piracy on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia.Representatives of the Indian Ocean Rim countries and various stakeholders promoting security in Somalia and off the Horn of Africa took part in the forum.

The forum underlined deep concerns about the threat posed by piracy and highlighted that Somali piracy raised the costs of international trade and harmed the fishing and tourist industries of East African and Indian Ocean coastal and island states.

Participants endorsed the UN Security Council Resolution 2015 passed on 24 October and supported the international efforts to restore peace and stability in Somalia. They also backed the targeted international and regional tackling of piracy.

The forum emphasised the importance of the regional ownership and burden sharing and greatly supported the regional anti-piracy strategy and action plan adopted in Mauritius in October 2010 by the Eastern and Southern African and the Indian Ocean regions.

Minding the legal heritage of the countries involved in the Commonwealth Heads of Governments Meeting, the participants invited the common law countries to work together in support of criminal justice approaches to countering piracy.

The follow-up event was scheduled for 2012, with Perth as its host city again and with a potential to broaden the scope to include piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and South-East Asia.

SUMMARY:

In Australia, it attended a meeting where representatives of the EU and detrimental of fishing boat and security to discuss piracy. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Indian ocean to spread security in Somalia and in parts of Africa. Somalia piracy has increased the value of international trade and harms fishing vessels in the Indian Ocean.

The ONG support to international efforts to establish peace in Somalia. It also supported the fight against piracy. At this meeting, said it was important to care for the legal heritage of the countries.

OPINION:

We have to stop piracy in the Indian Ocean because it has affected the fishing activity at sea. Also people are afraid to navigate the ocean, afraid of pirates. If you don’t stop at the end going to believe that the ocean is theirs. I think they would have to take up arms.

Many businesses are affected because they have to carry the fuel to ports. Sometimes for the pirates, the products don’t reach theirs destinations.