It's almost a month the news about Somali pirates appeared in various media in Indonesia. On March 16, 2011 an Indonesian vessel "Sinar Kudus" which was carrying nickel ore hijacked by Somali pirates in Arabian Sea in the voyage from Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi to Rotterdam. There were 20 hostages along with the vessel. The pirates demanded a ransom of US$ 3.5 million, but then fall to US$ 3 million.
Well, this is an urgent situation and also a dilemma. After one month it seems these piracy cases still not found its end point. Therefore, some observers in Indonesia proposes military force to rescue the hostages, especially Somalia's Ambassador to Indonesia Mohamud Olow Barow had provide an opportunity for the Indonesian government to use military force in freeing the hostage. But there is the family of one hostage were objected because they are feared the military operation would be very risky to the safety of the hostages. Perhaps the reason of live safety has made the Indonesian government to act very carefully (rather slow I think).
I think the diplomacy and negotiation efforts by PT Samudera Indonesia, Tbk (the company owner of the ship) for one month is sufficient. It is clear that the pirates demanded a ransom in money. I think there are only 2 options to makes this story ended quickly. First, give them money then the story will end. If you do not want to give them money then use the second option that is sending special forces to free the hostages. Treat them like freeing hostages from terrorists. Why not? even permission has been given by Somalia's Ambassador, right? so what are you waiting for ! Still hoping Somali government to help? Hmmm... it was hard because the Somali government itself was unstable due to prolonged civil war.
In the future the international cooperation to combat Somali pirates need to be strengthened again. Please you search on Google with keywords "Somali pirates", then you will find approximately 15,400,000 stories about them. Perhaps the kids fairy tales about pirate have to be withdrawn from circulation because pirates can become an idol in their imagination.
konon perompak somalia makin berani menjalankan aksinya di tengah laut. ini perlu menjadi perhatian besar semua negara dari berbagai kawasan.
ReplyDeleteSetuju dengan Anda Pak Sawali.
ReplyDeleteNegotiation and peaceful efforts must be attempted and using a special force unit should be the last resort. However if it fails, and if the pirates insists on demanding million dollar ransom then the last resort is chosen because if we yield to what they want, it will lead to other series of piracy in the future and the worst part is they would see that the Indonesian ships are sitting ducks and they think it would be easy for them to make lots of fortunes from pirating our ships. So it must be stopped, dispatch a special force unit to free all the hostages like other countries do!
ReplyDeleteHi Tikno,
ReplyDeleteI read a running text on one of our TVs saying that our government agreed to pay the ransom, but they have prepared a military option.
Actually the US, EU and other countries have placed their naval force in the region but still they failed to eliminate those Somali pirates.
Don't you think it is strange?
@ Yari NK,
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree that negotiation and peaceful effort must be attempted first, but... sorry if I says peaceful negotiation without ransom is close to the mission impossible.
@ Multibrand,
Glad to hear this good news.
Strange? Maybe. Perhaps they're feel not in the same level if have to fight pirates.
Indian ships and sailors have been hijacked by Somali pirates and we now have over a hundred pirates in our jails. The war lords have now taken ransom money and refused to release sailors till India releases all the pirates. Indians want the Indian armed forces to enter Somalia and destroy the warlords and their infrastructure. The government has to be more circumspect and go by UN approval. A lot is being planned for in the background and we can see some action very soon by international cooperation.
ReplyDeleteRummuser,
ReplyDeleteI had once read at somewhere, that there is an interesting side story about a group of Somali pirates. Their booty or ransom were distributed to the poor villagers where they came from. However that is not something that can be justified.
Another strange is like Multibrand's comment above.
Tikno,
ReplyDeleteAround exactly the same month last year, 10 Somali pirates were captured by Dutch marines. They were trying to hijack a Dutch flagged ship. One year later and after the second trial, these pirates plan to apply for asylum. They are convinced that they would not get fair treatment once they are sent back to Somalia.
It is true what Multibrand and Rusmussen said. Nowadays marine fregats of several EU countries are patrolling at the Gulf of Aden on regular basis, but the piracy stays. It has unfortunately become a big business for poor Somali young men.
Chezlorraine,
ReplyDeleteFor me, why should give asylum to criminals. Send them back to their country whatever the reason.