The vast earnings from piracy off the coast of Somalia leave donor-funded livelihood programmes designed to create economic opportunities for the country’s youth looking like pocket change by comparison, and make the minimal risk of prosecution well worth taking, states a new report on ransom flows.
“In the context of ransoms that could well reach over hundreds of millions of dollars, UK and US alternative livelihoods funding of US$5m and the Puntland [the northern Somalia piracy hub] national budget of around $17.6m is simply insufficient to deter future pirates,” according to the report released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime during a piracy conference in Nairobi.
“This lack of alternative livelihoods opportunities within Somalia means that there are few opportunities presented to this generation of Somali youth,” states the report, adding that the best way to stem the growing crime of piracy is to interrupt the flow of its proceeds. In 2010 alone these amounted to more than $100m.
Source: ARIN
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