Doing the math after talking to his contacts, he figures the head of the gang that seized the vessel probably made about $900,000 (U.S.) from the operation. And when he takes that information and simplifies it for general readers, it provides startling details on how Somali pirate gangs operate today.įor instance, he analyses the costs of one pirate operation, the hijacking of the German-owned freighter MV Victoria, in 2009. But the data he has collected and presented will be important to many observers of the problem. "They mouth the worn-out mantra of the just crusade against illegal fishing like sanctimonious popes, with sly eyes and cynical smiles," he writes.Īt times the book slows down as Bahadur delves into the history of piracy's growth off the Horn of Africa and statistical information about its impact.
He hears their oft-repeated defence that they are merely poor fishermen trying to defend themselves from overzealous foreign fishing vessels, but quickly sees through this fantasy. The book's strongest moments come when Bahadur meets with pirates, some imprisoned, others whom he meets in various parts of the country. Khat - the narcotic leaves widely consumed by locals - in order to gain their confidence. At one point in his travels, he learns to identify himself not as a Canadian, but as essentially an honoured member of a Somali sub-clan, all the better to break down barriers and talk with people. His grasp of the minutiae of how local clans interact, and his ability to explain this seminal aspect of Somali culture to us, is remarkable. But the fundamental problem is not really the instability of Somalia, but understanding the complexity of its local culture.īahadur overcomes this by having spent a lot of time developing contacts within the country. And many, if not most, of those reports are filed by journalists working outside the country, so fearful are foreigners of the place. As he puts it, "Somalia is like a country out of a twisted fairy tale," a land we only hear about from brief news reports.
On landing in the country, the cold reality of where he is immediately hits Bahadur.
And he has turned his research into a compelling and insightful book that takes readers into the very communities that harbour these high-seas criminals to meet with many Somalis, including pirates. He has ventured where few others have gone - be they foreigners or even Somalis - to craft one of the most incisive looks at modern-day piracy yet seen. Bahadur, a young Canadian journalist, has spent the last few years digging into the nefarious world of the pirates who have made Somalia so infamous.
0 kommentar(er)
