Dutch tackling Somali pirates at sea and on land

In the wake of recent European Union agreements, the Netherlands will intensify its anti-piracy patrols off the Somali coast. Brussels hopes its counter-piracy operation will start to show results now that the pirates are being hit on land as well as at sea. Operation Atalanta, which started in 2008, now looks to be extended until at least 2014. But just how involved should the Netherlands get? It certainly won’t be a walk on the beach.

Dutch rescue missions
Hans Lodder sailed to the Gulf of Aden in 2010 as a commander of the Royal Dutch Navy’s frigate Hr. Ms. Tromp. He describes his deployment as a “challenging time”. It was under Captain Lodder’s command that a team of special-forces freed the crew of a German merchant vessel.

“We went over there with a beautiful rescue team,” said Lodder with pride. “We overpowered ten pirates. They were extradited from the Netherlands to Germany; the trial is still in progress.” An excerpt of that mission was recorded and released on YouTube.
During its deployment, the Hr. Ms. Tromp apprehended 83 pirates. Because all but 10 were picked up before they were able to commit an act of piracy, they had to be freed. However, the Dutch Navy confiscated their weapons and other implements that might be used to seize another ship. All of the pirates were returned to Somalia
Setting foot on land
The decision to conduct operations on Somali soil is a preventive measure. “In the past, we were not allowed to operate on land because it's a naval mission,” said Lodder. “Pirates dump their ships and supplies and oil on the beaches. We noticed it would be easier to stop the pirates before they leave by destroying these supply camps. That doesn’t mean we’re now allowed to actually operate inland... it’s just get on shore, destroy the camps and get back on the ship.”

Rem Korteweg, a strategic analyst at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, is afraid the EU has failed to take the broader picture into account. “Once we start becoming involved on land, we also become involved in a very complex conflict dynamic. Of course, if you look at it from a military perspective, and you want to prevent pirates from hijacking, you necessarily need to be open to attacking them on land. The question is whether that leads to an escalation of Western nations becoming too involved. When attacking them on land, they can take defence measures and move further back inland...then what do you do? That’s where things start to become a mess.”

Piracy is a job
Despite increased patrols and intelligence-gathering, the EU seems to have a poor grasp of the problem. It is not clear how many pirates are active in the region. From a distance, they aren’t distinguishable from fishermen.
“Every pirate is different,” said Captain Lodder. “They are of every age – from minors to 60-year-olds – and from different regions and tribes.”

“You have the petty criminal and you have the organised, well-structured form of piracy,” added Korteweg. “Part of the Somali elite is involved in piracy because it’s so financially rewarding. It’s basically white-collar crime with a deadly accent.”
Dahir Alasow agrees. The Somali refugee who lives in the Netherlands is editor of Somalia’s most popular online newspaper, Waagasucub. “It’s all about money. It’s proven to be a lucrative business, now that pirates are more experienced and ‘grown-up’. They even cooperate and share money with terrorist organisations al-Shabaab and al-Qaida.”

Get rich or die trying
Piracy still appears to be a fairly lucrative undertaking and Operation Atalanta has so far failed to scare them off. Some experts wonder if the problem has a military solution. “They’re not afraid of foreign vessels,” said Alasow. “A pirate thinks about one thing: he’s going to get money or die. It’s like a suicide attack.”

“We’ve been there for some years now and the problem is increasing,” explained Korteweg. “So obviously, we are not solving the problem. I would even argue that we aren’t really managing it either.”
According to Alasow, the only solution for the Netherlands and the EU is to interfere in Somalia – on land. Whether this is something they want to do after the bloody events of the 1990s remains to be seen.
 
(jric/imm)