The Seychelles, promoted by tourism brochures as an untouched paradise, is building special courts and a maximum security prison to combat the growing menace of Somali pirates.
Pirate sightings or attacks were reported almost daily near the islands late last year, including the kidnapping of the British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler.
Facing a threat to its two main industries, tourism and fishing, the Seychelles Cabinet last week agreed tough new anti-piracy laws. It also plans to build a £320,000 (US$500,000) jail by the end of this year that will be capable of holding up to 40 pirates. It will make the Seychelles, along with Kenya, the main center for the prosecution and detention of pirates in east Africa.
The move follows international frustration last year when the Seychelles repatriated 22 Somalis, claiming it had insufficient evidence to bring piracy charges against them.
The expanding range of the pirates, displaced from waters further north in the Gulf of Aden, has hurt the Seychelles as a yachting destination. It also resulted in a 30 percent drop in income from the fishing industry at one point last year. The Taking Stock tuna industry conference in Victoria last week heard that nine European fishing vessels have left the Indian Ocean because of security fears.
French ships are protected by navy marines, while their Spanish counterparts have hired private guards and requested mounted heavy armaments.
Joel Morgan, the environment, natural resources and transport minister, said that a major incident would be disastrous for the economy.
“The pirates are getting better equipped, using better vessels, getting bolder and better organized. Now we see them commandeering bigger ships, like the dhows, and basically using these boats as attack ships with civilian crews under their control,” he said.
Morgan, who leads the country’s anti-piracy effort, said it was ready to become a regional hub with EU and UN help.
“We are prepared to set up a court here with the help of our partners ... to try these people and bring them to justice. But there must be one or more facilities in Somalia itself because we cannot take long-term liability for incarceration of huge numbers of pirates,” he said.
The new laws are to include conspiracy to commit piracy, meaning that suspects will no longer need to be caught in the act for a reasonable chance of prosecution.
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