U of A HSMUN 2009 - Security Council

In a similar vein to the previous post, I'd like to bring to you delegates attention an article, titled "You are being lied to about pirates," that makes some rather controversial, perhaps unjustified (or perhaps very justified) points about the motives of Somali pirates.
The author, Johann Hari, raises the issue of illegal fishing, saying that "We have destroyed our own fish stocks by over-exploitation – and now we have moved on to theirs. More than $300 million worth of tuna, shrimp, lobster and other sea life is being stolen every year by vast trawlers illegally sailing into Somalia’s unprotected seas."
The other major issue is that of illegal waste dumping. Hari writes,

As soon as the government was gone, mysterious European ships started appearing off the coast of Somalia, dumping vast barrels into the ocean. The coastal population began to sicken. At first they suffered strange rashes, nausea and malformed babies. Then, after the 2005 tsunami, hundreds of the dumped and leaking barrels washed up on shore. People began to suffer from radiation sickness, and more than 300 died.

Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the U.N. envoy to Somalia, tells me: “Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it.” Much of it can be traced back to European hospitals and factories, who seem to be passing it on to the Italian mafia to “dispose” of cheaply. When I asked Ould-Abdallah what European governments were doing about it, he said with a sigh: “Nothing. There has been no cleanup, no compensation and no prevention.”

This may seem overly dramatic - particularly the part about the Italian mafia - it does seem to be based in reality. An article from the AFP, quoting the UN special envoy for Somalia in 2008, decries the illegal fishing and waste dumping, saying that it "is a disaster off the Somali coast, a disaster (for) the Somali environment, the Somali population."