‘Somali pirates are the most sought after groom among Somali women’

Published : Jan 28, 2011 - 19:28 Updated : Jan 28, 2011 - 19:28

Those who are considered elite in Somalia join a gang of pirates, and pirates are the most sought after groom among Somali women, according to a source in Seoul.

As pirates get ransoms of $2million on average, according to a BBC report in 2008, the rewards which pirate gang members receive, can exceed the average annual income of a developed country, the source said.

The Financial Times reported that the average ransom Somali pirates fetched in 2010 was $5,400,000, citing One Earth Future, non-governmental organization for global governance.

In this photo taken on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2011 and released by Royal Malaysian navy, its commandos keep watch on detained Somali pirates on Malaysian tanker MT Bunga Laurel in the Gulf of Aden. (AP-Yonhap News)

Those who can read, and handle technical gadgets become pirates who need those skills in their operations.

BBC Somalia analyst Mohamed Mohamed said in the BBC report that pirate gangs consist of three different types of member: Ex-fisherman, the brains of the operation; ex-militiamen, the muscle; technical experts, computer geeks who know how to operate high-tech equipment such as satellite phones, GPS and military hardware.

In a war-torn country without a functioning government since 1991, piracy poses a great attraction for Somali youngsters, the BBC reported. Piracy started along Somalia’s southern coast and moved north in 2007.

A file photo taken on January 7, 2010 shows an armed Somali pirate along the coastline while the Greek cargo ship, MV Filitsa, is seen anchored just off the shores of Hobyo, northeastern Somalia, where its being held by pirates. On the 20th anniversary of president Mohamed Siad Barre's ouster that triggered Somalia's descent into chaos and one of Africa's longest civil wars, prospects for peace remain slim, analysts said. The Horn of Africa country is now best known to the outside world for being the place that inspired the Hollywood war movie "Black Hawk Down" and the reason the term "failed state" was coined. (AFP)

“Piracy in many ways is socially acceptable. They have become fashionable,” said Abdi Farah Juha, a resident in a regional capital of Somalia, in the interview with BBC.

According to the Juha, most of the pirates are aged between 20 and 35 years and in the piracy business for money. “They wed the most beautiful girls; they are building big houses; they have new cars; new guns,” he added.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)

<한글 요약>

‘소말리아 해적은 일등 신랑감’

서울의 한 소식통에 따르면 소말리아에서는 지식인들이 해적단에 가담하며, 해적들은 소말리아 여성들에게 일등 신랑감이라고 한다.

또한 2008년 BBC와의 인터뷰에서 한 소말리아 주민은 해적들은 20세에서 35세 사이의 젊은이들로 이루어져 있으며, 돈을 위해서 해적에 가담하고 있다고 말했다. 그들은 가장 아름다운 여성들과 결혼하며, 큰 집과 자동차, 새로운 총을 구매하고 있다고 한다.

해적들은 몸값으로 평균 2백만 달러에 해당하는 금액을 받으며, 각 해적들에게 돌아가는 금액도 선진국의 연봉을 넘는 수준이라고 소식통은 밝혔다.

파이낸셜 타임즈는 글로벌 거버넌스를 위한 One Earth Future NGO 재단의 자료를 인용하며 2010년 소말리아 해적들이 받은 인질 몸값은 평균 540만 달러에 해당한다고 보도했다.

소말리아 사회에서 글을 읽을 수 있고, 전자기기를 다룰수 있는 사람들, 즉 지식인들이 해적에 가담하며, BBC의 소말리아 전문가인 모하메드에 따르면 해적단은 세 가지 부류로 나뉘는데 그들은 바다를 잘 아는 전직 어부, 작전의 힘을 담당하는 전직 민병대, 컴퓨터를 다룰 수 있는 전문가들이라고 한다.

소말리아는 오랜 내전과 정부의 부재로 해적은 소말리아 젊은이들에게 매력적인 직업이라고 한다. 한편, 해적은 소말리아 남부 해안에서 시작하여 2007년에 북쪽해안으로 확산되었다.

(MCT)