Why do some Somalis become pirates?

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‘Mohammed’ had no education. But that hasn’t stopped him from becoming wealthy and highly-respected in his community. He drives a fancy 4×4 land cruiser, and makes more than enough money to support his two wives and three children.

As a youngster, he grappled with some of the same life-changing questions that face almost every adolescent entering adulthood: Which was the career path for him? What job could he do to earn enough money, and maybe even a little social prestige?

He soon found his answer. Although Mohammed’s country craves young doctors and teachers, he made a choice that is too familiar amongst Somali teenagers. ”(Because) I have never been to a formal school, piracy was the only way out,” he concluded.

Now in his late-twenties, he is part of an established industry which offers rewards that the likes of law or medicine never could. Speaking from his hideout over a crackly phone-line, he was reluctant to talk about the detail of his growing wealth — but he reveals that he was recently involved in a “multi-million dollar hijacking.”

Many others will have taken a cut from that ransom too. In so-called “pirate towns” like his, the beneficiaries can live far away from the coastline.

“Everyone I know…is either a pirate or is involved indirectly in piracy,” he says.

The riches often flow throughout entire communities, according to Peter Lehr, an expert in piracy. “You have caterers and car dealerships aimed specifically at the pirates. They sell to them with few questions asked”.

Today’s pirate is likely to be a young man in his late teens or early twenties. He is almost certainly from Somalia — the “failed state” in Africa where tribal conflicts have bred since the dictatorship collapsed in 1991. That is where and when the modern pirate was born.

But it was around the same time that western ships began looting the waters off Somalia. As well as stealing seafood, foreign vessels are said to have used the distraction of the chaos on land to quietly dump their dangerous waste at sea.

Some desperate fishermen took up arms in response to the international aggression. It was their only choice, many say. They had to defend themselves and their livelihoods. Some saw ransom-taking as a legitimate form of compensation from the giant foreign ships. Piracy flourished. Quickly, it grew into the international threat that it is today.

Nowadays, pirates are likely to carry advanced rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns. Some have hi-tech GPS systems fitted to stylish speed boats. They operate in groups of about a dozen — often many more — attacking cargo vessels or yachts late at night.

Although there is evidence that it is fear that still drives many into the shady and deadly world of piracy, there are many violent criminals motivated entirely by the potential for massive ransoms, whatever the human cost. However, on the murky waters, you’ll find a mixture of motives: self-protection, wealth, and even glamour.

Some pirates go out to sea in search of the swash-buckling allure celebrated in the movies — and return to the glitzy status of the Hollywood actors who play those roles. Many are able to become superstars within their own communities. They have fast cars, beautiful wives and fashionable clothes. They hold an air of mystery and carry tales of extreme adventure.

“It is seen as an honorable industry against westerners. And earning money is seen as a glorious thing,” says Lehr.“Other young men look up to the pirates. They say that when they’re older, they want to be just like them”

But for British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler, 61 and 56, the psychology of the pirate is much simpler. The couple was kidnapped as they sailed their yacht from Tanzania to the Seychelles, then held by an armed gang for 388 days. They were released from captivity after a large ransom was paid.

“These are cruel, despicable people… The younger ones are very misguided.” Rachel told ITV’s Tonight program.

“They grow up in a society that doesn’t know right from wrong and they believe what they are told — that the rest of the world has all the money and they are poor Somali people so it’s alright to go and capture ships and hold hostages to raise money. They have no sense of remorse.

“There is no law and order in Somalia and it’s going to be a long time, if ever, before it’s sorted out,” Rachel’s husband Paul said. “All we can do is to hope that the international community can do more to clamp down on the piracy.”

The United States and other naval powers have deployed warships to try to deter and capture the hijackers. But many believe that ‘get tough’ schemes will not dissuade the emerging generation of pirates, who are even smarter and more technologically savvy than today’s veterans. The solutions can only be found on land, they say.

In a lawless, desperate country, piracy might still seem irresistible. For many young Somali men there is no alternative.

According to Lehr, “Most of them are not evil. For them, it is simply an exercise in rational choice.”