Page 139 - Conflitti Militari e Popolazioni Civili - Tomo II

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The Somali Navy was established with coastal security as its purpose. It was equipped
with four Soviet fast attack craft and smaller vessels. However, much of this equipment
became unserviceable after the departure of Soviet military personnel in 1977 and since
1991 the Somali Navy no longer exists. Somalia no longer has national armed forces or
6
a nationally effective police force, yet militia groups hold authority in various regions and
some factions hire protection. Other countries in the region, notably Yemen, Kenya and
7
Djibouti, operate small functioning navies. Despite lacking equipment and funds, the Yemeni
Coastguard is active and conducts regular patrols. Much criticism has been labelled against
them for atrocities they ostensibly committed to East African refugees. 8
In maritime security terms Somalia and the region have insufficient early warning and
intelligence services and no maritime air surveillance and reconnaissance capability. Also, no
credible indigenous maritime forces with sufficient mobility, flexibility and firepower nec-
essary for sustainable operations and deterrence, exists. If one add the lack of coastguards,
port security, policing, civilian maritime agencies as well as the fact that no single agency or
coordinating body that cooperate on security issues within the region exists, it is understand-
able that maintaining maritime security is indeed a problem.

impact of the Lack of maritime security
Mainly due to the disintegration of central government authority in Somalia, the lack
of maritime security in the region is a grave problem. This is one of the few cases in Africa
where security problems on land have affected maritime security. Maritime insecurity im-
pacts on all aspects relating to the use of the sea and effects the already dire situation ashore
negatively.
With valuable cargoes traversing the Horn, the lack of maritime security has become an
international concern. Not enforcing the law at sea, threatened maritime communications,
stimulated piracy, damaged the marine environment, causes a lack of maritime sovereignty,
while the cost in humanitarian and economic terms also became high. 9

Lawlessness at Sea: Piracy
Piracy is a great concern. Contemporary piracy is a sophisticated and brutal enterprise
that ranges from petty thieving with machetes and handguns to the well organised activities
of criminal organisations. As other criminal undertakings, it threatens finance and commerce,
but in the Horn of Africa region it goes beyond that – it also threatens peace and regional
stability.
The pirates are almost always from Somalia, specifically as Somalia is not in a position
to act against it, ensure proper policing and enforce government authority. The pirates are

6 ‘Somalia Navy’ in http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/somalia/navy.htm.
7 Somalia Security Information, March 2005, http://www.iss.co.za/AF/profiles/Somalia/SecInfo.html.
8 ‘Yemen – Horn of Africa: 130 migrants die after coast guards open fire’, IRIN, humanitarian news and
analysis, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 14 November 2007 in http://www.irin-
news.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=71614.
9 For a framework to use for the purpose of analysis see G. Till (ed), Seapower at the Millennium (Sutton,
Stroud, 2001), pp.8-11.