29 September 2008
UNA-UK urges the government to stamp out piracy around the Horn of Africa

UNA-UK's Chair, Lord Hannay, has written to the British government calling on it to support efforts at the UN to curb piracy in the waters around the Horn of Africa.

In June the UN Security Council passed a resolution authorising the use of force against such acts of piracy – several of the vessels seized were operated by the UN World Food Programme. The hijackings are disrupting international trade, contributing to rising food prices, choking the flow of aid to displaced Somalis and, through ransoms, fuelling the region’s ongoing conflict. Sixty pirate attacks have taken place off the Somali coast and in the Gulf of Aden so far this year – twice as many as last year.

Click here to read the letter.