The UN envoy for Somalia called Wednesday on Japan and the international community to help bring the financial backers of Somali pirates to justice. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN special representative for the war-torn African nation, said piracy had become a business venture for criminal organisations and urged governments to go after the pirates' bosses.
"A very limited number of people are financing and benefiting from piracy. It is something we cannot neglect," he told reporters. "Impunity is one of the causes" encouraging the piracy, he said. However, he declined to name any suspected backers, saying he only had "strong suspicions" but no evidence.
Ould-Abdallah also reiterated calls from the UN to stop paying ransom payments for the release of hijacked ships. From January to September of this year, at least 160 acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia have been reported, including 34 hijacked vessels and more than 450 people made hostage.
Ould-Abdallah lamented what he said was a lack of international commitment to the crisis in Somalia, saying ordinary Somalis were being held hostage by a criminal minority. "We should be there to liberate the hostage," he said. The UN Security Council earlier this week renewed authorisation for measures to combat piracy off Somalia's coast. The measures include allowing foreign nations to send warships into Somalia's territorial waters for a year.