On Sunday we had the news that the British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler had been released by Somali pirates - over a year after they were first taken hostage. The news has obviously come as a huge relief to them and their families. But, as Nuala pointed out yesterday, unconfirmed reports suggest a ransom was paid - and that has been the cause of much debate.
The family's statement acknowledges outright that disclosing anything about the release process, for fear that it would "encourage others to capture private individuals and demand large ransom payments."
And indeed, in this case, the pirates initially demanded some $7m. The 成人论坛's security correspondent Frank Gardner says the sum paid for their eventual release had been "the best part of $1m" (拢620,000), although there has been no official confirmation of this.
The point is, though, should a ransom ever be paid?
Somali pirates currently hold close to 500 hostages and more than 20 vessels.. The payment of the Chandler's ransom is unlikely to encourage them to relinquish their hostages without remuneration.
Bob Shepherd, an ex-SAS soldier who is now a security analyst, explains:
I can't fault any family for doing everything in their power to free their loved ones. But ransom payments do make the world a more dangerous place. Caving in to hostage-takers encourages them to keep kidnapping and tempts more criminals to the trade. He adds that though the British government has been very insistent since the Chandlers were released that they did not pay any ransom - nor ever will - their efforts have been frustrated because there are a number of other countries that do pay ransoms.
As a result, kidnapping has become a booming industry in places like Afghanistan. Surely, the argument goes, this would not be the case if other countries took the British stance.
But the counterpoint to this is obvious. Hostages are not commodities like the cargoes of the boats the pirates routinely capture; they are human beings with families and friends.
And if your wife or father or best friend were captured, would you not also do everything in your power to see them again - even if it involved giving thousands to criminals?
These are the words of Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik after money was paid to secure the release of the five-year-old British boy Sahil Saeed earlier this year.
"Yes, there was seed money. There were two ways: to catch them [the kidnappers] and have the boy killed - but what was decided was that the life is more important." Earlier this year, the French launched the most successful EU mission against pirates in the two years it had been in operation , capturing 35 of them.
However, it involved the use of four mother ships and six smaller boats. Obviously, the average family or community, desperate to see their loved ones again, does not have access to that sort of equipment. But they do, perhaps, have it in their power to raise enough money to meet the kidnappers' demands.
And that is precisely why kidnapping can be so lucrative.
So should a ransom ever be paid? What would you have done in the situation of the Chandler's family? Does kidnapping work, regrettable as that may be?
Your comments
Comment sent via Facebook
18:54
113631290
Nadia
Ransoms have to be paid. To end piracy, other solutions need to be found. There is no easy solution, but we can certainly not expect people to sit and wait without paying, when the lives of their beloved are at stake
Comment sent via Facebook
18:54
113631290
Omar Hafiz - Saudi Arabia
I think ransoms should be paid, because there is simply no other alternative. Are we going to outlaw ransoms?
In which case the friends and family of the victim are going to have to go behind the backs of the law and... pay from their own pocke...t and in addition they have to break the law to do it.
Yes it is an easy and unjust way to make money (that is to say kidnapping), but the solution does not lie with banning ransoms
Comment sent via Facebook
18:44
113631290
Micah in Eldoret, Kenya
Ransom should not be paid. It encourages piracy and destabilises somali more. A concrete solution should be found immediately!
Comment sent via Facebook
18:44
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Abdallah
Paying ransom doesn't work. It just keeps the trade going, why don't they try trapping the pirates this time, kidnap the pirates instead. That would work.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:42
113631290
Heather posts on FB
If a humans lives are at risk then yes. We might be their only hope. Who has the right to take that away. They may be killed anyway. Wouldn't you rather try to pay than live with the guilt.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:42
113631290
David in Bududa, Uganda.
I don't recognise the so called Somali pirates as heroes. They are just cowards who intercept vessels in the sea because of their own selfish interests. The best way to accolade them is by hanging them!
Comment sent via Facebook
18:42
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Leonard
Life is precious. For the sake of a ransom we should pay and not disclose it to the media 2 avoid encouraging piracy.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:39
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Jibriil Mohamed in Somalia
We Somali civilians feel bad about this issue of kidnapping innocent couples but the main issue which needs more concentration is how to make a stable Somali state.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
18:35
113631290
Kangogo emails....
The world is ignoring somali and somali people. They take advantage of poor governance in somali waters. They only come to rescue their own and pay the pirates to cause more harm. As a kenyan, i have seen the plight of somali people, very sad indeed.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:20
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Michele Brooks in the US on FB
these pirates seem to have a lot of resources as they had fast boats to start these operations years ago. It is a such a shame they can't use the resources to improve their country.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:20
113631290
Lawrence in Uganda on FB
In fact the piracy business should be made dangerous, risky, and unattractive so the pirates will give it a second thought before they venture into it. The western powers should unleash their military might and neutralise the pirates.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:17
113631290
Odong in Kampala posted on FB
Piracy is a mere symptom of a much more complex problem. Trying to end it without solving the cause is like pumping more aid to developing countries, you end up massaging the problem.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:19
113631290
Ihas Idriess in Nigeria posts on facebook
Piracy only thrives where there is no government, rather than trying to police the waters, the international community should allow the emergence of a government by the people and for the people of Somalia.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:19
113631290
Douglas in North Carolina on Facebook
Go for the warlords that are sending those pirates out after ships
Comment sent via Facebook
18:19
113631290
Donald posts on facebook
My cousin was released recently from kidnappers after we coughed out a whooping sum of money. It's easier for one to say 'don't pay ransom' if one is not affected and harder not to pay if you are affected.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:18
113631290
Eunice Sawe posts on facebook
Wait till your spouse, child or some close relative is kidnapped and the question of whether ransom is paid becomes purely academic. To those affected no price is big enough to free their loved ones.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:18
113631290
Beryl Ooro posts on facebook
I think it encourages other criminals, romanticises easy money and cheapens life. It demands an aggressive approach in order to deal with it.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:17
113631290
Bruce Terry posts on facebook
There needs to be ways developed to ensure that the enterprise is neither lucrative nor attractive, and since this is not mercenaries seeking notoriety or recognition, but people merely after money, the main aim must surely be money. Also, if the pirates are leaving shore from the Somalian coast, surely it would be better to concentrate patrols along the Somalian coast, with the help of the Somali government and in cooperation with their own forces?
Comment sent via Facebook
18:17
113631290
Suleiman in Nigeria posts
Paying of ransom encourages the pirates despites the risk. The UN and AU are to be blamed for the situation in Somalia.
Comment sent via Facebook
18:16
113631290
Mahmud in Mombasa ...of course a ransom was paid contrary to the so called UK policy of not negotiating [read paying up] to terrorists--let the redistribution of wealth continue it's really benefiting the Nairobi economy.
Does kidnapping pay?
| Monday, 11 Nov. 2010 | 18:06 - 19:00 GMT
On Sunday we had the news that the British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler had been released by Somali pirates - over a year after they were first taken hostage.
The news has obviously come as a huge relief to them and their families. But, as Nuala pointed out yesterday, unconfirmed reports suggest a ransom was paid - and that has been the cause of much debate.
The family's statement acknowledges outright that disclosing anything about the release process, for fear that it would "encourage others to capture private individuals and demand large ransom payments."
And indeed, in this case, the pirates initially demanded some $7m. The 成人论坛's security correspondent Frank Gardner says the sum paid for their eventual release had been "the best part of $1m" (拢620,000), although there has been no official confirmation of this.
The point is, though, should a ransom ever be paid?
Somali pirates currently hold close to 500 hostages and more than 20 vessels.. The payment of the Chandler's ransom is unlikely to encourage them to relinquish their hostages without remuneration.
Bob Shepherd, an ex-SAS soldier who is now a security analyst, explains:
I can't fault any family for doing everything in their power to free their loved ones. But ransom payments do make the world a more dangerous place. Caving in to hostage-takers encourages them to keep kidnapping and tempts more criminals to the trade.
He adds that though the British government has been very insistent since the Chandlers were released that they did not pay any ransom - nor ever will - their efforts have been frustrated because there are a number of other countries that do pay ransoms.
As a result, kidnapping has become a booming industry in places like Afghanistan. Surely, the argument goes, this would not be the case if other countries took the British stance.
But the counterpoint to this is obvious. Hostages are not commodities like the cargoes of the boats the pirates routinely capture; they are human beings with families and friends.
And if your wife or father or best friend were captured, would you not also do everything in your power to see them again - even if it involved giving thousands to criminals?
These are the words of Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik after money was paid to secure the release of the five-year-old British boy Sahil Saeed earlier this year.
"Yes, there was seed money. There were two ways: to catch them [the kidnappers] and have the boy killed - but what was decided was that the life is more important."
Earlier this year, the French launched the most successful EU mission against pirates in the two years it had been in operation , capturing 35 of them.
However, it involved the use of four mother ships and six smaller boats. Obviously, the average family or community, desperate to see their loved ones again, does not have access to that sort of equipment. But they do, perhaps, have it in their power to raise enough money to meet the kidnappers' demands.
And that is precisely why kidnapping can be so lucrative.
So should a ransom ever be paid? What would you have done in the situation of the Chandler's family? Does kidnapping work, regrettable as that may be?
Your comments
Comment sent via Facebook
Nadia Ransoms have to be paid. To end piracy, other solutions need to be found. There is no easy solution, but we can certainly not expect people to sit and wait without paying, when the lives of their beloved are at stake
Comment sent via Facebook
Omar Hafiz - Saudi Arabia I think ransoms should be paid, because there is simply no other alternative. Are we going to outlaw ransoms? In which case the friends and family of the victim are going to have to go behind the backs of the law and... pay from their own pocke...t and in addition they have to break the law to do it. Yes it is an easy and unjust way to make money (that is to say kidnapping), but the solution does not lie with banning ransoms
Comment sent via Facebook
Micah in Eldoret, Kenya Ransom should not be paid. It encourages piracy and destabilises somali more. A concrete solution should be found immediately!
Comment sent via Facebook
Abdallah Paying ransom doesn't work. It just keeps the trade going, why don't they try trapping the pirates this time, kidnap the pirates instead. That would work.
Comment sent via Facebook
Heather posts on FB If a humans lives are at risk then yes. We might be their only hope. Who has the right to take that away. They may be killed anyway. Wouldn't you rather try to pay than live with the guilt.
Comment sent via Facebook
David in Bududa, Uganda. I don't recognise the so called Somali pirates as heroes. They are just cowards who intercept vessels in the sea because of their own selfish interests. The best way to accolade them is by hanging them!
Comment sent via Facebook
Leonard Life is precious. For the sake of a ransom we should pay and not disclose it to the media 2 avoid encouraging piracy.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Jibriil Mohamed in Somalia We Somali civilians feel bad about this issue of kidnapping innocent couples but the main issue which needs more concentration is how to make a stable Somali state.
Comment sent via YOURSAY
Kangogo emails.... The world is ignoring somali and somali people. They take advantage of poor governance in somali waters. They only come to rescue their own and pay the pirates to cause more harm. As a kenyan, i have seen the plight of somali people, very sad indeed.
Comment sent via Facebook
Michele Brooks in the US on FB these pirates seem to have a lot of resources as they had fast boats to start these operations years ago. It is a such a shame they can't use the resources to improve their country.
Comment sent via Facebook
Lawrence in Uganda on FB In fact the piracy business should be made dangerous, risky, and unattractive so the pirates will give it a second thought before they venture into it. The western powers should unleash their military might and neutralise the pirates.
Comment sent via Facebook
Odong in Kampala posted on FB Piracy is a mere symptom of a much more complex problem. Trying to end it without solving the cause is like pumping more aid to developing countries, you end up massaging the problem.
Comment sent via Facebook
Ihas Idriess in Nigeria posts on facebook Piracy only thrives where there is no government, rather than trying to police the waters, the international community should allow the emergence of a government by the people and for the people of Somalia.
Comment sent via Facebook
Douglas in North Carolina on Facebook Go for the warlords that are sending those pirates out after ships
Comment sent via Facebook
Donald posts on facebook My cousin was released recently from kidnappers after we coughed out a whooping sum of money. It's easier for one to say 'don't pay ransom' if one is not affected and harder not to pay if you are affected.
Comment sent via Facebook
Eunice Sawe posts on facebook Wait till your spouse, child or some close relative is kidnapped and the question of whether ransom is paid becomes purely academic. To those affected no price is big enough to free their loved ones.
Comment sent via Facebook
Beryl Ooro posts on facebook I think it encourages other criminals, romanticises easy money and cheapens life. It demands an aggressive approach in order to deal with it.
Comment sent via Facebook
Bruce Terry posts on facebook There needs to be ways developed to ensure that the enterprise is neither lucrative nor attractive, and since this is not mercenaries seeking notoriety or recognition, but people merely after money, the main aim must surely be money. Also, if the pirates are leaving shore from the Somalian coast, surely it would be better to concentrate patrols along the Somalian coast, with the help of the Somali government and in cooperation with their own forces?
Comment sent via Facebook
Suleiman in Nigeria posts Paying of ransom encourages the pirates despites the risk. The UN and AU are to be blamed for the situation in Somalia.
Comment sent via Facebook
Mahmud in Mombasa ...of course a ransom was paid contrary to the so called UK policy of not negotiating [read paying up] to terrorists--let the redistribution of wealth continue it's really benefiting the Nairobi economy.