Grudge Match

Ecoterra International has stated that the level of violence being used by pirates has drastically escalated.

There are many potential reasons for this, but one very interesting theory has stated that the increased violence stems from an increasingly close link between pirates and authorities.

Dr. Linda Wesley states that, “Most of the pirate groups now have members who feel that they have an axe to grind with those, who they feel are responsible for the death or arrest of one or more of their close relatives”. She continues, “Often without reflecting their own criminal deeds, many Somali youngsters now go on these piracy missions with the mindset of a Kamikaze fighter“.

Dr. Wesley is working with ECOTERRA Intl. in Kenya specifically on post-kidnap counselling of victims, who had been held hostage, as well as with refugees from Somalia, several of whom had been subjected to the most severe and cruel forms of corporal punishment or had been tortured.

The piracy problem was serious and frightening enough when it was based on greed and fuelled by khat – to throw in this new angle of revenge and retribution changes the complexion completely.