Security Council reaffirms call to fight piracy, armed robbery
Piracy continues to pose a threat to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country The United Nations Security Council has reiterated its calls on the international community to fight piracy and armed robbery at sea, which continue to pose a threat to the delivery of humanitarian aid to the country.In its resolution, the Council urged Member States to work in conjunction with relevant international organizations to adopt legislation to facilitate prosecution of suspected pirates, as well as to cooperate on the issue of hostage-taking.Pirate networks "continue to rely on kidnapping and hostage-taking," the 15-member Council said, noting that the profits "help generate funding to purchase weapons, gain recruits, and continue their operations activities, thereby jeopardizing the safety and security of civilians and restricting the flow of free commerce."Pirates off the coast of Somalia and the Horn of Africa have made between $339 million and $413 million in ransom profits in the past seven years, fuelling a wide range of criminal activities on a global scale, according to 'Pirate Trails' - a report released earlier this month by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Bank and INTERPOL.Meanwhile, piracy is estimated to cost the global economy about ...
Read more
