President of Seychelles calls for intensified efforts against piracy

The Seychelles President, Mr.

The Seychelles President, Mr. James Michel, has called on regional powers and international partners to intensify their efforts to “claim back our oceans” from the hands of pirates, which he said have “shown a great ability to adapt and exploit any weaknesses.”

โ€œWe must strengthen our ability to ensure that we can harness the power of our oceans, of the blue economy, for true sustainable development. For the coastal states of our region, it is essential for our survival. Not only to tackle piracy, but to better prepare ourselves to fight related crimes of drug trafficking, people trafficking, marine pollution, and illegal fishing,โ€ President Michel said.

The President was speaking at the opening of an international anti-piracy conference at Le Mรฉridien Barbarons this morning, titled โ€œPiracy: Orchestrating Response,โ€ which is co-hosted by the Seychelles government and the South Asia and Africa Regional Port Stability Cooperative (SAARPSCO).

The President also called on international partners to reinforce shared surveillance, patrols, and exchange of information of the Indian Ocean and at the same time to build capacity in the medium term for coastal states to better be able to be more active partners in surveillance of their waters.

President Michel warned that the piracy problem was becoming a heavy burden on the countries of the region, which do not have the adequate resource and capacity for prosecuting and imprisoning pirates.

โ€œIn Seychelles, we are grateful [for] the support of UNODC and the donor countries to be able to construct a new wing of our prison, while also supporting the prosecution services. With thousands of pirates in operation, however, it is clear that there is not enough prison capacity in this region to deal with this problem,โ€ President Michel stated.

The President said that the international community needed to do more to tackle the financing of piracy and the related transnational crime networks, and in this way disable the illegal maritime activity.

โ€œMost of the funding for piracy originates outside of Somalia, in the same way that most of the profits from piracy are taken out of Somalia. We must build on the already strong law enforcement networks that have been built to fight money laundering and trace the funds that finance terrorism. We must also be prepared to be innovative and allow regional mechanisms that go beyond national jurisdictions to seize proceeds of crime,โ€ said the President.

The opening of the conference was attended by the Seychelles Vice-President Danny Faure; as well as the President and CEO of SAARPSCO, Hans J. Niebergall; government ministers; high-ranking officers of the Seychelles Peopleโ€™s Defense Forces; the Seychelles Ports Authority; and the Financial Intelligence Unit; as well as corporate and government leaders from the Indian Ocean region and Africa; and countries of the European Union, New Zealand, South Korea, India, the United States; and representatives of the United Nations, EUNAVFOR, INTERPOL, EUROPOL, and the US Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS).

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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