Book Highlights Toxic-Waste Dumping

A recently published book about organised crime once more highlights the dumping of toxic waste off the coast of Somalia.

'Crime, Trafficking and Networks', published in May this year, reports on the links between several organised crime groups in southern Italy and some Somali warlords. Interestingly, the attention-grabbing title and opening sentence of the article about the book, focus on possible links between the Mafia and Somali pirates. But what follows are claims by the Paris-based criminologist, Michel Koutouzis, that it is some Somali warlords who the Mafia supply "... with black market small arms from the Western Balkans in return for permission to dump waste."

Koutouzis then goes onto point out that, "Tonnes of waste are discharged every year off the coasts of Somalia, Sudan and Eritrea under the noses of countless warships which control sea freight in the Read Sea and the Gulf of Aden."

He says that the practise has been going on for years, and refers to 'After the Tsunami', the UN Environment Taskforce report of 2005 that spoke of the toxic waste washed ashore with the 2004 tsunami.

According to the article, both the EU's special envoy for the Horn of Africa, a former Greek diplomat, and the commander of Atalanta, a British rear-Admiral, were interviewed about the information in the book. The special envoy said that the matter was being 'checked'. However, the rear-admiral said there was "...no hard evidence of the Italian link,.."

Koutouzis' response was that, "Of course they know about it. But they don't want to do anything."

Dead fish

In mid-January three tonnes of dead fish were found washed ashore near Bosaso. Bosaso, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden, is one of the main ports in Somailia.

The Minister of Fisheries in Puntland has said that the dead fish are a result of toxic waste dumping in the Gulf and around the Horn of Africa.

Despite repeated calls from Somalia, environmental agencies and many people around the world for countries to halt this practice, toxic waste dumping around the Horn of Africa is ignored and allowed to continue. The UN gives mandates to countries to patrol the waters to stop piracy, but nothing is done to stop the dumping.

More can be read about the dumping of toxic waste in Somalia's waters on the following pages: 'A Rainforest of Fish' and 'Piracy or a Resource Swap?'.

UN on IUUs

Resources are seemingly pouring non-stop into campaigns such as Atalanta, CTF-151 and Operation Ocean Shield, and the independent navies continue to patrol the Horn of Africa.

But not much action occurs against the IUUs (Illegal, Unreported and Unregistered fishing vessels).

This week the UN General Assembly in New York expressed concern:

... that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing constituted a serious threat to fish stocks and marine habitats and ecosystems, putting the economies of many States — particularly developing States, who were frequently the most vulnerable to risks related to climate change and economic crises — in danger.

However, it is just a concern. There is no hard action to be taken against these pirate vessels.

(Links to information about IUUs can be found on this page.)

Coalition of the Willing

"It is particularly ironic that many of the nations that are presently contributing warships to the anti-piracy flotillas patrolling, or set to patrol, the waters off the Horn of Africa, are themselves directly linked to the foreign fishing vessels that are busily plundering Somalia's offshore resources," Clive Schofield, University of Wollongong, and author of Plundered Waters: Somalia's Maritime Resource Insecurity 2009.

Fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia is now big business, private security companies and international military forces are all working in the Horn of Africa to combat piracy – that is the Somali 'pirates'. They do not focus on the international shipping fleets poaching the Somalian fish or the international ships that are dumping toxic waste; they focus on the local Somalian people.

Since 2008 more than 30 countries have sent navies to the Gulf of Aden. Most of the G20 countries are active in the area. A large number of international organisations are also suddenly involved in the fight; before piracy off the coast of Somalia became popular, only the IMO and Interpol had policy relating to piracy. Now even the World Bank does. Regional and state organisations such as the EU, NATO, the Arab League and the African Union also have policy or play active roles in the area.

An unprecedented number of Resolutions has been passed by The United Nations Security Council authorising military operations in the area, the most recent in November 2011.
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