SEYCHELLES NEW MANTRA: INDIAN OCEAN ‘ZONE OF PEACE AND OPPORTUNITY’

In July 2015,  at the 18th Plenary Session, the Contact  Group on Piracy off  the coast  of Somalia   (CGPCS)   accepted   the   Government   of   Seychelles   offer   to   take   over   the Chairmanship   of   the   CGPCS   for   the   year   2016   from   the   European   Union.   It acknowledged Seychelles proactive engagement in international efforts to fight  Somali piracy. Earlier this month, in his message as the incoming Chair of the CGPCS for 2016, Joel Morgan, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Transport announced that his country’s ‘mantra’ during the chairmanship would be to see the Indian Ocean as a ‘Zone of Peace and Opportunity’. Although the statement does not elaborate on the words ‘Peace’ and ‘Opportunity’, it  is a  reflection of  Seychelles  commitment  to ensure maritime order  in the  Indian  Ocean  is  upheld.  There  are  at  least  four  issues  in  the  statement  that  merit attention.

First, the statement warns that the decline in incidents of piracy off Somalia and the Gulf of Aden does not necessarily mean that the pirates have ‘gone home’ given that the  last  big  merchant  vessel  hijacked  by  Somali  pirates  was  in  May  2012;  instead Somalia  remains  unstable  with  a  number  of  criminal  organizations  engaged  in  arms, drugs,  and  human  trafficking.  Further,  the  international  community  must  continue  to remain vigilant and the investments made in bringing “like-minded states and entities together  to  combat  piracy”  are  not  lost.  These  concerns  are  further  corroborated  by experts who believe that  it  is too early to ‘lower your guard’. The  Puntland’s Counter- Piracy Minister Abdalla Jama Saleh has  also cautioned that  pirates “are not  dead, but dormant now, so they will come definitely… straight away, no question about it [as soon as  the  warships  leave]”.  Seychelles  is  keen  that  naval  operations  in  the  Gulf  of  Aden continue and any let up would necessarily mean the return of piracy.

The second issue in the statement is about the mariners held hostage by various pirate groups who need to be released and returned home. According to UKMTO weekly report 10-16 October 2015, there were no incidents of attack/board/hijack reported in the Gulf of Aden and no merchant vessels or its crew were under pirate control except 45 Personnel belonging to a fishing vessel (Naham 3; 26 persons held since March 2012)and  a dhow (Siraj;  9  persons since March  2015). Interestingly, another Iranian dhow, the Jaber, which was captured along with Siraj by the Somali pirates, was successful in escaping in August 2015 and was able to seek refuge under the EUNAVFOR. The rescue of the crew of these vessels is a complex task and it remains to be seen who would be willing to send forces into Somalia.

The  third  issue  relates  to  Seychelles  call  for  a  regional  approach  to  addressing piracy given that it began within the region and it is therefore important that a regional approach  be  adopted to  end  it.  The  counter piracy  operations  in  the  Gulf  of  Aden  are good  examples  of   cooperative  approach   to  security.   The   international  community responded firmly through a number of political, diplomatic, security, legal and financial initiatives  with  positive  results.  The  international  shipping  industry,  concerned  about the threat of piracy, also joined hands with the governments and instituted best business practices to protect ships against pirate attacks. At the heart of these engagements was a firm belief that the pirates are hostis humani generis; meaning “enemy of all mankind”.

Fourth,  the  statement  argues  for  an  inclusive  approach  through  consultations with regional partners by sharing experiences which would help Seychelles drive agenda during  its  chairmanship.  In  the  Indian  Ocean,  two  important  multilateral  forums  i.e. Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) are proactively engaged addressing the issue of piracy in the Gulf of Aden. The  Bengaluru Declaration  (2011),  the  Gurgaon  Communique  (2012)  and  the  Perth  Communiques (2013 and 2014) have noted with concern the “prevailing situation regarding maritime security  in  the  Indian  Ocean”,  and  called on  regional  countries  to cooperate  and  fight piracy.

Although Seychelles begins the Chairmanship of the CGPCS in January 2016 with a  near  clean  piracy  ‘slate’,  there  are  disturbing  reports  of  Illegal,  Unregulated  and Unreported  (IUU)  fishing  by  foreign  vessels  in  Somali  waters.  For  instance,  fishing vessel Al Amal, flying North Korean flag, was suspected of illegal fishing in the Somali waters. It is useful to mention that Somalia loses over USD 200 million annually due to illegal fishing by vessels from Yemen, Iran, China, Taiwan, Korea and European-owned vessels. Among these, the Yemeni and Iranian vessels are perhaps the most aggressive who operate in hundreds.

The  2016  Chairmanship  offers  Seychelles  a  unique  opportunity  to  invest  its political-diplomatic  capital  to  highlight  the  menace  of  IUU  fishing  in  Somali  waters. After all, this was the very reason that  prompted the Somali fishermen  to  stand up to fight foreign fishing vessels and turn into pirates. Also, IUU can potentially undermine the  durability  of  what  has  been  achieved  in  the  Gulf  of  Aden  by  the  international community over the last five years.

About the Author 

Dr Vijay Sakhuja is Director, National Maritime Foundation (NMF), New Delhi