Dubai: All UAE interests are united in their concern over the threat from piracy off the coast of Somalia, a senior official said Wednesday.

“By bringing together all UAE stakeholders on piracy here today, we want to spread understanding of the issue and the challenges of responding, so we can all work together toward solving this problem,” General Faris Al Mazrouai, assistant Foreign Minister for Security and Military Affairs, told a meeting of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia Wednesday.

The meeting was designed to give an opportunity for Working Group chairs from the US, UK, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands to express their priorities for the UAE’s Chairmanship, and talk about what they want to achieve at the Plenary Session in New York, on March29.

The UAE has outlined four priorities for its chairmanship namely public awareness and outreach, increasing compassionate support for Somalia, enhancing regional capacity to respond to piracy, and highlighting the role of education in countering piracy.

General Al Mazrouai said the UAE especially hoped to see, during the 11th Chairmanship, the completion of outstanding projects including supporting a better justice system in Somalia – through training and capacity building – to allow trial of suspected pirates, bringing in the private sector more effectively to discussing of the problem and advancing the outreach agenda of the Contact Group, in support of the crucial work of Working Group 4 on public information.

“The UAE has developed a comprehensive response to piracy over the past three years, and continues to view piracy off the coast of Somalia as a top priority issue," he said.

The UAE’s response has been pioneered by His Highness Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs, when he convened a high-level, public private counter-piracy conference in April 2011, in Dubai, in partnership with global ports operator, DP World.

Threatening

At the UAE counter-piracy conference, Shaikh Abdullah described piracy as one of the most threatening challenges of our time, and called on the international community to enhance its collective response.

The UAE, which has passed laws to criminalise acts of piracy, kidnapping, smuggling in all its forms, money laundering and financing of terrorism and organised crime, is keen to strengthen its active participation in regional and international efforts aiming at combating acts of piracy and armed robbery of ships and tankers as part of its comprehensive national strategy, he said.

This strategy envisages participation in military response, abidance by international obligation of prosecution and detention of pirates, bringing them to justice and preventing their sources of funding in accordance with international law, and strengthening its development partnership and long-term humanitarian and financial assistance to some countries in the region, particularly Somalia, to enable these countries to revive their national economy.

The UAE contributed one million dollar to the Trust Fund for supporting the initiatives of the Contact Group.

Ransom

Expressing the concern about the continuing payment of ransoms for releasing captured vessels and crews by the pirates, and its impact on growing the acts of piracy, UAE also urged all countries and stakeholders to find a practical and executive legal mechanism that prevents payment of ransom for the release of vessels, whereas the total and sustainable elimination of acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea requires in the first place from all countries without exception to continue developing their national legislations for combating piracy on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions 1918, 1950 and 1967 and in accordance with the principles of international law.

It is estimated that the financial cost piracy to global trade is as high as $12 billion a year, in addition to the huge human cost of the problem. Currently, there are around 00 captive seafarers held in Somalia, either on land or at sea.

General Al Mazrouai sai the suffering of these seafarers and their families compels countries to do more to eradicate piracy.