Somali pirates now protecting illegal fishing ships, says UN report

FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 file photo, a Somali government soldier walks next to some of the overturned pirate skiffs that litter the dunes on the shoreline near the once-bustling pirate den of Hobyo, Somalia. Frustrated by a string of failed hijacking attempts, Somali pirates have turned to a new business model: transporting weapons and providing "security" for ships illegally plundering Somalia's fish stocks - the same scourge that launched the Horn of Africa's piracy era eight years ago. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh, File)

By JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press

NAIROBI, Kenya –  Frustrated by a string of failed hijacking attempts, Somali pirates have turned to a new business model: providing "security" for ships illegally plundering Somalia's fish stocks — the same scourge that launched the Horn of Africa's piracy era eight years ago.

Somali piracy was recently a fearsome trend that saw dozens of ships and hundreds of hostages taken yearly, but the success rate of the maritime hijackers has fallen dramatically over the last year thanks to increased security on ships and more effective international naval patrols.
Somali pirate gangs in search of new revenue are now providing armed protection for ships illegally fishing Somali waters. Erstwhile pirates are also trafficking in arms, drugs and humans, according to a report published this month by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea.

The security services for fishermen bring piracy full circle. Somali pirate attacks were originally a defensive response to illegal fishing and toxic waste dumping off Somalia's cost. Attacks later evolved into a clan-based, ransom-driven business.

Up to 180 illegal Iranian and 300 illegal Yemeni vessels are fishing Puntland waters, as well as a small number of Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and European-owned vessels, according to estimates by officials in the northern Somali region of Puntland. International naval officials corroborate the prevalence of Iranian and Yemeni vessels, the U.N. report said.

Fishermen in Puntland "have confirmed that the private security teams on board such vessels are normally provided from pools of demobilized Somali pirates and coordinated by a ring of pirate leaders and associated businessmen operating in Puntland, Somaliland, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Yemen and Iran," the report said.

The "security" teams help vessels cast nets and open fire on Somali fishermen in order to drive away competition. "The prize is often lucrative and includes large reef and open water catch, notably tuna," the report says.

The nearly 500-page U.N. report also accuses Somalia's government of wide-ranging corruption. Somalia's president said in response that the report contains "numerous inaccuracies, contradictions and factual gaps."

"We are pleased to see the huge reduction in piracy, and yet equally concerned by the reports of increased criminality. We have much work to do to create legitimate livelihoods and deter Somalis from crime," President Abdirahman Omar Osman said.

Somali piracy has been lucrative. The hijackings of 149 ships between April 2005 and the end of 2012 netted an estimated $315 million to $385 million in ransom payments, according to an April World Bank report.

But fishermen who have participated in piracy might argue that the attacks were merely bringing back money stolen from Somalis. A 2005 British government report estimated that Somalia lost $100 million in 2003-04 alone due to illegal tuna and shrimp fishing in Somali waters.
In Somalia, pirates sometimes refer to themselves as "saviors of the sea."

A piracy expert at the International Maritime Bureau, said the protection racket makes for a "potentially dangerous situation at sea."

"I guess the region has always been rich in this kind of organized crime," said Cyrus Mody. "I think that probably the positive side of all this is it's being highlighted which would hopefully give the government in place now enough movement to try and do something about it with the help of the EU and U.N."

Piracy peaked in 2009 and 2010, when 46 and 47 vessels were hijacked respectively, according to the European Union Naval Force. Hijackings dropped to 25 in 2011, five in 2012 and zero so far this year. Still, Somali pirates netted an estimated $32 million in ransoms last year, the U.N. report said.

One current pirate said he did not know about pirates providing protection to foreign fishing vessels, but he said some pirates are using Yemeni fishermen to smuggle weapons into Puntland.

"That's our current money-making business because ship hijackings have failed," a pirate commander who goes by the name Bile Hussein said by phone from Garacad, a pirate lair in central Somalia. "If you drop one business, you get an idea for another."

Associated Press reporter Abdi Guled in Mogadishu, Somalia contributed to this report.

MO FARAH PLEADS WITH BARCLAYS NOT TO WITHDRAW FROM UK REMITTANCE MARKET

Double Olympic gold medallist supports campaigners who say the withdrawal could have catastrophic repercussions globally

 

by Hugh Muir

Double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah tonight threw his fame and weight behind a campaign to stop Barclays Bank withdrawing from Britain’s £2 bn remittance market, a decision campaigners say will have catastrophic repercussions for some of the world’s poorest countries, including his native Somalia.

The runner has sent a direct appeal to the Barclays board pleading with them to step back from its plan to withdraw banking facilities after 12 August from about 250 remittances services sending money transfers to countries in Africa and Asia. Barclays is the last of the major banks dealing with a significant number of the smaller remittance firms but fears its continued involvement could it leave it open to accusations of aiding terrorists and money laundering. Last year, the US authorities imposed a $1.9bn fine on HSBC for poor money laundering controls, prompting that bank to run down its activities in the money-service sector.

But MPs, aid agencies and campaigners say the move will be devastating for countries that rely on remittances from minorities in the UK. The treasury and the department for international development – though loth to dictate to Barclays – are also known to be concerned, as remittances sent by workers in Britain to their families abroad relieve the pressure on the aid budget. Aid agencies have voiced concern because many use the smaller remittance firms to pay their staff, particularly those working in remote areas less well covered by the multi-national remittance companies.

Farah, who returns to the Olympic stadium on Saturday to compete in the anniversary Games, pleaded for a year’s stay of execution. “Cutting this lifeline would be a disaster for millions,” he said. “The small sums sent home by British Somalis each week enable family members to buy food, medicines and other life essentials. I have been sending money home for a number of years and the Mo Farah Foundation, along with some of the world’s biggest international charities and organisations, including the United Nations, rely on these businesses to channel funds and pay local staff. Everyone following the issue understands that Barclays has a bank to run, but this decision could mean life or death to millions of Somalis.”

He said the timing of the Barclays decision was disastrous. The bank has already set back its deadline by one month, but still small remittance firms say they were given too little notice to make alternative arrangements. Remittances account for 50% of Somalia’s gross national income. 

“I just cannot see how cutting the remittance lifeline squares with British foreign policy in the Horn of Africa. It will undo all the good work the Government has achieved in the region,” he said. “I have written to the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and the Mayor of London to voice concern, as have all the leading aid charities and development academics. We desperately need to find a solution.”

The issue has been rumbling behind the scenes in parliament for several weeks. Recently Bethnal Green MP Rushanara Ali and 46 other Labour MPs sent a letter to Barclays seeking a six month delay.

One fear is that people will be reluctant to use more expensive money transfer firms. Another is that the remittance market will be driven underground, making its use for illicit transfers more likely.

The Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has also called on Barclays to rethink its decision, saying his country is at a crucial stage, having endured ” two decades of chaos”.

Firms such as the east London based Dahabshiil argue that they are already subject to rigorous regulation and say they cannot understand why Barclays does not seek to address its concerns with further checks.

In a letter to Dahabshiil, a Barclays representative said the decision is ‘not a negative reflection of your anti-money laundering standards, nor a belief that your business has unwittingly been a conduit for financial crime. It is, however, a commercial decision that we have taken due to the risks of the sector.” For all the campaigning, Barclays seems resolute. Earlier this month the bank said the onus must be on firms to show they have sufficient safeguards. “We remain happy to serve companies who have strong anti-financial crime controls, but are asking the others to find another bank.”

Source: The Guardian

Long-term dispatches to Somalia may disrupt MSDF’s regular duties

The Yomiuri Shimbun Although a pair of Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers have been dispatched off the coast of Somalia, participating in antipiracy missions could negatively impact the MSDF’s operations.

A total of up to six vessels will need to be reassigned from their regular duties in order to escort commercial ships in a seamless manner. The four additional ships include two that will leave Japan for Somali waters to replace the currently dispatched destroyers. The other two will be retasked with antipiracy training in Japan.

The MSDF has 48 destroyers. However, a senior MSDF official said, “Because we have to remain vigilant and continue surveillance activities in the East China Sea, where China has stepped up its military presence, it’s very difficult for us to send that many vessels.”

Some opposition party lawmakers and observers have said there is a constitutional problem with the MSDF’s participation in Combined Task Force 151. Article 9 of the Constitution is interpreted as prohibiting the use of force overseas, as well as the Self-Defense Forces’ participation in multilateral operations to use force.

The Defense Ministry’s stance is that dealing with the crime of piracy does not constitute “the use of force,” but “the use of police authority.” Regarding the CTF, a senior SDF official said it is not an armed military force, adding, “No compulsory power is involved in the command relationship during operations.”

While the MSDF’s antipiracy missions have been prolonged, the government is also taking measures to combat piracy through stabilizing Somalia, where many pirates are based.

After the anarchy that followed Somalia’s civil war in 1991, a unified government was finally established in 2012 with the help of the international community. Through the work of international organizations, Tokyo has supported Somalia with such efforts as strengthening its police force and offering job training for young people. The government will soon resume direct support for Somalia, as well as help enhance the maritime police capabilities of neighboring countries such as Djibouti.

However, it is likely that MSDF vessels will continue to be dispatched for the forseeable future as such efforts will take time to bear fruit.

Source: the-japan-news.com

Somalia: Danish Refugee Council Article - On the Edge of Somalia

Bossaso IDP settlement. Photo: Alexandra Strand Holm

press release

Millions of men, women and children have fled their homes in Somalia since civil war broke out in 1991. After more than two decades of continuous war, recurrent droughts and famine, over one million Somalis remain displaced. Some have settled as far north as they could, and reside in Puntland. 

Danish Refugee Council with the support of the European Commission Office for Civil Aid and Protection works in support of people living under extreme and insecure conditions in Puntland. The stories of the Somali people there are ones of hardship, fear and loss - and of appreciation.
An elderly man kneels in prayer on the rocky and dusty ground next to his home, a home-made of card board, old clothes and plastic sheets. He rises back on his feet, his palms held in front of him, and thanks God for what he has been given.

'Allah o'Akbar' echoes from megaphones in Bosasso during the warmest hours of the day and when the sun shows no mercy - 'God is the greatest' says the deep male voice sounding over the settlements for displaced in the outskirts of the port town, Bosasso in Puntland, at the northern tip of Somalia.

For a moment, this can seem as a place of serene equatorial beauty and economic potential with long stretches of sandy beaches, the sun, blue sky, and a coastline formed by mountains dropping as waves into the turquoise sea. That moment is soon gone. The sun is merciless here.

More than 50 degrees Celsius during the summer and the frequent strong wind, is lashing dust and dry heat onto the faces of anyone venturing out.

This is where Danish Refugee Council works to provide shelter and access to water and sanitation, to improve the limited income opportunities, as well as helping the thousands of displaced people to better help themselves with safety and security measures.

'Our work in Somalia began in 1998, and since then we have been able to expand our efforts to reach out to some of the many people in need of humanitarian aid. Puntland is one of the areas of Somalia where widespread poverty and protracted displacement have made people extremely vulnerable and in need of continued assistance,' tells Heather Amstutz from Danish Refugee Council's Regional Office for the Horn of Africa and Yemen.

An epicenter of crisis

As of May 2013, UNHCR estimated that 1.1 million people in Somalia are living in displacement within their own country. Some are hoping to return to where they fled from. Others have nothing to return to and simply wish to stay where they are.

'Somalia is the epicenter of what is today one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world. War has created immense needs for emergency assistance in the region, and when famine struck in 2011, the last bit of resilience was gone. People need everything now - to survive and to rebuild their lives whether in displacement or from what is left in their home areas,' says Heather Amstutuz.

Aid needs in the 34 settlements in the outskirts of the port-town Bosasso span from getting access to basic services as water and food, but also longer term assistance that can rebuild and strengthen a minimum of resilience among the populations in Bosasso. Protection of the most vulnerable people living here is of great concern.

Even for those who have lived here for many years, the struggle for better shelter and for safety and protection continues. Crime, abuse, and violence is ever present in the settlements for the displaced people. They are facing dangers and risks during daytime, but even more so at night, especially for the women of whom many live alone with their children.

Attacked and raped

Not far from the man praying in solitude is a woman watching from inside what is her home. She too lives in a home which under layers of sand dust reveals second hand clothes, old sacks, plastic sheets and card board boxes that have carried goods from around the world to Somalia.

The woman, 40 years of age, is a mother of five daughters living with her in a Somali buul like that of the elderly man praying, and of hundreds of thousands other refugees and displaced in this region.

'Everyone fears the night here - especially women like me who have no protection and no men to guard the family,' the woman tells. She is one of the estimated 35,000 people living in poor settlements scattered in the outskirts of Bosasso. Being alone with five daughters, she is among the very vulnerable inhabitants of the settlements.

Only two months ago, the nightmare came true as a group of armed men broke in just after midnight. The daughters managed to escape, but she didn't. She screamed and called for help, but her calls were not heard. She was raped by the three men who fled after the attack and who have never been found.

'There is hardly any light in the settlement. And not even inside our homes can we feel safe.' The woman was examined at a hospital the day after. Pain killers was all she got before she went back home. As Danish Refugee Council became aware of the case, the woman received protection support and assistance allowing her to recover at home.

As part of Danish Refugee Council's efforts to help improve protection in the settlements, solar cell torches have been distributed which make it feasible for women and children to travel around the settlements after dark and safely access facilities such as latrines.

Through awareness raising campaigns people have been informed about their rights and obligations, and how to refer cases of crime, violence, and rape, to the local police. Her case was reported the day after the incident happened.

'I pray to God that the perpetrators will be found. The men who raped me were armed, and if they are powerful people then they will get away with it. I don't know. But they knew where my daughters and I are living and since this happened I can't sleep at night any longer.'

As the call for prayer again sounds out over the settlements in Bosasso, the elderly man reappears outside his shelter and again turns his face in the direction of the sea, towards Mecca.

Faith can seem all that is left here where survival is a daily quest. A new shelter made of iron sheets with windows and a door, a torch, better access to water and sanitation, small business grants and improved livelihoods - these are little but essential improvements of lives on the edge of Somalia.

The European Commission's Office for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection is among the donors funding Danish Refugee Council's protection and emergency aid activities in Puntland, and most recently through the 'Integrated Emergency Response' project in Somalia from 2011 to mid-2013.

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Read the original of this report on AlertNet Climate, the Thomson Reuters Foundation's daily news website on the human impacts of climate change.

Somalia: Puntland 'To Attend Brussels Conference With Own Status': Farole

Garowe — A high-level European Union delegation visited Puntland region in northern Somalia on Thursday, as the EU prepares to host the Brussels conference for Somalia in September, Garowe Online reports.

The 10-member EU delegation included Mr. Nick Westcott, EU Managing Director for Africa, Mr. Marcus Cornaro, Deputy Director for Development Cooperation of the European Commission, Amb. Michele Cervone, the EU's Special Envoy to Somalia, and Amb. Etienne de Poncins, Head of Mission for EUCAP Nestor maritime security initiative.

Puntland Cabinet ministers received the EU delegation at Garowe airport, and the delegation was escorted to the State House, where they met with Puntland President Abdirahman Mohamed Farole and Vice President Gen. Abdisamad Ali Shire.

After meetings at the State House, the EU delegation had meetings with the Transitional Puntland Electoral Commission, the registered political associations, and civil society representatives.

Prior to arriving in Puntland capital of Garowe on Thursday, the EU delegation visited Mogadishu where they met with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, and Hargeisa where they met with Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Silanyo.

Puntland participation at New Deal conference

President Farole thanked the EU visiting delegation for coming to Puntland for consultations ahead of the New Deal conference in Brussels.

"We are pleased to receive this high-level EU delegation here in Puntland. We discussed a number of important issues for Puntland and Somalia, including the upcoming New Deal conference for reconstruction and development of Somalia," said President Farole.

The president said Puntland government plans to submit its priorities, to be incorporated into the New Deal conference agenda.

"Puntland is completing its Second Five-Year Development Plan and we have shared a briefing paper with the [EU] delegation. The Development Plan includes Five Priority Sectors and Eight Cross-Cutting Issues, including HIV/AIDS and the effects of khat drug," said President Farole, adding that "security is the priority of priorities" for Puntland.

On Puntland's participation, President Farole said: "Puntland is ready to attend the conference with its own name and status. Media reports said [Somali] President Hassan Sheikh [Mohamud] said the Federal Government, Puntland, and Somaliland will attend the conference. But Puntland can only attend when its weight is recognized."

President Farole noted that Puntland were historically neglected in terms of economic development, adding that "families who resided in southern Somalia for centuries returned and rebuilt Puntland and hosted hundred of thousands of fellow Somalis from southern Somalia who found safe refuge and shared with the host community meager resources in Puntland".

"We hope that the Federal Government recognizes and fulfills its national responsibilities," President Farole added.

'EU to expand cooperation with Puntland'

Speaking for the EU delegation, Mr. Nick Westcott, the EU Managing Director for Africa, thanked the Puntland government and leadership for receiving the EU delegation in Garowe.

"We discussed the state of European Union partnership with Puntland on the development programs that are underway. We are pleased with the progress that has been made and the scale of those programs," said Mr. Westcott.

"Secondly, we looked at expanding our cooperation in the security area, particularly maritime security and begin a discussion of deeper cooperation, given the importance of Puntland in the fight against piracy throughout the Somali region and the seas adjacent," Mr. Westcott added.

Speaking about the Brussels Conference to be held on Sept. 16, Mr. Westcott said: "We discussed ways in which Puntland's priorities can be embedded in the New Deal Compact. We look forward to Puntland's participation as part of the Somali delegation."

On Puntland's democratization process, Mr. Westcott said: "We discussed the democratization process that will continue. We recognize your [Puntland] pledge that the democratization process will continue and we indicated our willingness to continue supporting an inclusive and transparent political process that will lead in due course to full democratization here in Puntland. Thank you again for your hospitality and time and we look forward to maintaining a lively and continuing partnership with Puntland in the future."

Puntland was founded in 1998 as an autonomous state in a federal Somalia. The region has been relatively stable and has contributed to helping rebuilding the Somali nation-state after the state collapse of 1991.

Source: Garowe Online

U.S. assures Russia no death penalty for Snowden

Eric Holder tells his Russian counter party Snowden would be tried in a civilian court.

(Photo: Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras, AP)

by Oren Dorell and Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY

Attorney General Eric Holder has appealed to Russia to extradite National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden by assuring Moscow that the U.S. would try him in a civilian court, would not seek the death penalty and would not torture him.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, again ruled out extradition for the 30-year-old former defense contractor, RT.com reports.

The promises came in a letter from Holder to his Russian counterpart, Justice Minister Vladimirovich Konovalov.

"The charges he faces do not carry that possibility, and the United States would not seek the death penalty even if Mr. Snowden were charged with additional death penalty-eligible crimes," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter to Russian Minister of Justice Vladimirovich Konovalov.

In addition, Holder said that Snowden would be tried in a civilian court and "would not be tortured."

In the past, Russia has cited the prospect of capital punishment as a factor in its decision not to turn Snowden over to the U.S.

"We believe that these assurances eliminate these asserted grounds for Mr.Snowden's claim that he should be treated as a refugee or granted asylum, temporary or otherwise," Holder wrote.

A copy of the letter was released by the Justice Department on Friday.

Attorney Bruce Fein, who represents Snowden's father, Lonnie Snowden, called Holder's letter "laughable."

"The president of the United States calls him (Edward Snowden) a hacker. At least four members of Congress called him a traitor. The president has said nothing about presumption of innocence," Fein told USA TODAY. "A majority of Americans are concerned (about the programs Snowden exposed) and he thinks it's a concession that he says he would not execute him."

Snowden could not get a fair trial in the current political environment, or in the Eastern District of Virginia, where charges against Snowden were filed, Fein said.

He pointed to other leakers who've never been charged, such as Bush administration official Richard Armitage who acknowledged leaking the identity of CIA-operative Valerie Plame to Washington Post columnist Robert Novak, and Obama administration officials who leaked details about the U.S. drone program earlier this year.

"Is it only the big guys that get away with this and the little guys get smacked on the top of the head?" he said.

The Holder letter surfaced amid reports of discussions about the Snowden case between FBI Director Robert Mueller and FSB chief Aleksandr Bortnikov, RT.com reported.

Despite the flurry of activity, Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Friday that "Russia has never extradited anyone, and will not extradite," according to RT.com.

The spokesman also said he is certain that the former defense contractor, who has applied for asylum in Russia, will stop harming Washington with leaks or new revelations about the NSA if allowed to stay in Russia

Peskov said that if Snowden, through his actions, should undermine Moscow's ties with Washington, "the head of state (Putin) has expressed strong determination not to allow this."

Snowden argued in his application for temporary asylum in Russia that he "faces persecution by the U.S. government and he fears for his life and safety," according to his lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena.

The former NSA systems analyst has been living in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since arriving from Hong Kong on June 23.

Snowden said last week at a meeting with Russian rights activists and public figures that he would seek at least temporary refuge in Russia until he could fly to one of the three Latin American nations that have offered him asylum.

Snowden, who fled first to Hong Kong and then Russia, said he did what he believes was right to go public with information on the NSA surveillance and data-gathering networks in an effort to "correct this wrongdoing."

Attorney Genral Letter to Russian Justice Minister

Somaliland: Waran’ade Launches Emergency Police Response Unit

Citizens in dire need of emergency police action shall from henceforth dial 999.

This is as a result of the creation of a new police unit geared towards emergency responses nationwide that was launched through a donation of 20 brand new vehicles to the police force by interior minister Mohamed Waran'ade in Hargeisa today.

"We in government and desirous of providing citizens with maximum security and protection during all emergencies hope that the new unit which shall respond to calls made to the specially allocated number 999 shall be of immense benefit" said the minister Waran'ade during the vehicles handover outside the interior ministry headquarters In Hargeisa. While thanking his boss for the donation the police commissioner General Abdilahi Fadal Iman who said that the law enforcers shall put the vehicles to good use also urged citizens to in their turn utilize the unit in a properReady for service manner thus refrain from making unnecessary distress calls.

The high speed vehicles composed of Mark IIs and mini buses which bear the #999 in bold letters shall be distributed nationwide under specially trained officers who shall form the nucleus of the police emergency response unit hitherto not available.

Somaliland to stiffen human trafficking penalties

Photo: Imagens Evangélicas/Flickr. Smugglers are increasingly kidnapping migrant Somaliland youths for ransom

HARGEISA, 26 July 2013 (IRIN) - The government of the self-declared republic of Somaliland will stiffen penalties for human trafficking to stem illegal migration, particularly by the region's youths.

"Of course there is an article in Somaliland's penal code dealing with this issue, but we think it is not deterrent enough. For this reason, the government plans to pass new laws to prevent human smuggling," Mohamed Osman Dube, Somaliland's administrative director in the interior ministry, told IRIN.

At present, Article 457 of Somaliland’s penal code identifies the selling and purchasing of humans as slaves as offences punishable by prison terms of 3 to 12 years. Article 466 further provides for a three-year prison term for those found guilty of engaging in physical abuse, according to Mustafe Mahdi, a Somaliland lawyer.

The new laws are aimed at reducing irregular migration from Somaliland to Ethiopia and onwards to Sudan, Libya and Europe. When passed, they are expected to include tougher punishments for smugglers and to provide ways to rehabilitate youth migrants, added Dube.

While solid figures on human trafficking in Somaliland are not available, in late June, Somaliland President Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud (Silanyo) nominated a ministerial committee to address the problem, expressing concern over growing youth mass migration and related deaths.

According to a recent survey by the community-based Somaliland Youth Ambition Development Group (SYADG), for example, at least 15 Somaliland youths died in May in the Sahara desert, between Libya and Sudan, either from being shot dead by smugglers or due to the harsh conditions. The 15 were part of a group of 325 youths, from which 31 are still missing, with 83 and 80 others in Libyan and Tunisian prisons, respectively, according to SYADG spokesperson Ahmed Jamal.

Targeted

Most of the youths migrating from Somaliland have been from poorer families, but those from better-off families are increasingly risking the perilous journey to Europe.

"When I was looking for my son, I received a phone call from a stranger asking me to speak my son. The stranger told me to pay him US$5,000 in smuggling fees. I said, 'I will look for the money', but unfortunately, my son was shot dead," Mohamed Da'ud, the director of planning in Somaliland's interior ministry, told IRIN.

"My son is among youths who have been killed by smugglers or [who] died in the Sahara after they tried to run away from smugglers."

According to Wafa Alamin, a human rights activist based in Khartoum, Sudan, “Illegal immigrants are treated like animals by the smugglers in the Sahara, between Sudan and Libya.”

Smugglers are also increasingly kidnapping migrant Somaliland youths for ransom.

"The youths are asked about their parents’ properties and jobs. If the smugglers identify that the family of the person can pay a ransom, they take him or her across the border without any payment only to later force the client to call his or her family to demand a ransom,” explained Abdillahi Hassan Digale, the chairman of the Ubah Social Welfare Organization (USWO).

Abdillahi Omar's sons are among the smugglers’ victims.  

"If the smugglers identify that the family of the person can pay a ransom, they take him or her across the border without any payment only to later force the client to call his or her family to demand a ransom"

"My two sons graduated from high school in 2011 and had no reason to risk their lives," said Omar. "I sent one of them to university in Ethiopia, but he saved up the money I used to send him to make the risky journey to Libya. On different occasions in Sudan and Libya he was held hostage by smugglers who demanded a ransom, and I spent $14,500 on him. But he is lucky he reached Europe."

Omar's other son, the younger one, is now in Libya. "I don't know what to do. I sold everything I had. My problem is not only being bankrupt but that I don't know how to bring him back," he said.

Way forward

The government, civil society and international organizations have been engaging in public awareness campaigns to sensitize the Somaliland population on the dangers of irregular migration.

But more needs to be done.

"Even though a lot of campaigns have been done, [especially] in the last several weeks, and youth migrants have decreased from 15 per day to eight per day, we believe that there are local smugglers connected to other smugglers based in Ethiopia, Sudan and Libya, and we don't think it will stop soon," said a Somaliland border immigration official who preferred anonymity.

The high rate of unemployment in Somaliland must be addressed amid an increasing number of university graduates, according to USWO's Digale. "For this reason, there is a need for interventions by both the government and the local business community, as well as international partners working in Somaliland," he said.

A past survey by the Somaliland National Youth Organization found about 75 percent of the youths there to be unemployed.

At present, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is implementing a regional mixed migration programme covering Djibouti, Ethiopia, Puntland, Somaliland and Yemen. In mixed migration, refugees, asylum-seekers, economic migrants and even victims of human trafficking use the same routes, means of transport and smuggling networks to reach shared destinations, but with different claims to protection and humanitarian assistance.

“The overall objective of this programme is to strengthen the protection of - and provide emergency assistance to - irregular migrants in Somaliland, Puntland [and] Djibouti, and potential migrants and returnees in Ethiopia, including the assisted voluntary return of the most vulnerable,” said IOM Somalia. Ethiopia is a leading source country of irregular migrants from the Horn of Africa region heading to the Arabian Peninsula.

IOM Somalia is also urging Somaliland to accede to the Palermo protocol, which aims to prevent the smuggling of migrants, promote cooperation among state parties, protect the rights of smuggled migrants, and prevent the worst forms of exploitation, which often characterizes the smuggling process.

On 17 July, Somaliland officials prosecuted 11 people on human smuggling charges. The Gabiley Regional Court “found the 11 men guilty of smuggling youths from Somaliland to Ethiopia en-route to Libya”, said an official with Somaliland’s immigration department. The arrests and prosecutions are the first of their kind in Somailland.

maj/aw/rz

Ethiopia Earned US$123.44M from Export of Leather Products

Ethiopia has earned US$123.44 million from export of leather products in the concluded Ethiopian Fiscal Year, according to the Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute.

Wondu Legesse, Director General of the institute, told Walta Information Center today that the export earnings came from finished leather products such as, footwear, gloves and other products. The revenue earned in the reported period surpassed the amount collected in the the past fiscal year by US$12.6 million. The revenue growth is mainly attributed to the export of only finished leather products and support given for tanneries and footwear manufacturers.

Ethiopia is projecting to earn  US$300 million from the sector this fiscal year.

Source: Walta

Tigray Regional State of Ethiopia Collected 2.1B Ethiopian Birr Revenue

Revenues Development Authority of the Tigray Regional State of Ethiopia  has reportedly collected 2.1 billion Ethiopian birr revenue in the concluded Ethiopian Fiscal Year.

Legesse Seifu, the Authority's Legal Core Process Head,  told Walta Information Center today that, the revenue was collected from direct and indirect taxes as well as non-income titles.

The authority nearly missed its target of collecting 2.2 billion birr for the fiscal year, he said. According to Legesse, the revenue collected in the reported period surpassed the  amount collected in the previous year by 16.6 per cent. He attributed the rise in revenue to the increasing number of people registered for Value Added Tax and implementation of tax reform program. The authority planning to collect 2.3 billion birr this fiscal year.

Source: Walta