(Image Source: YachtPals)
BY MADISON MACK
“After nearly 13 months held hostage by Somali pirates, Paul and Rachel Chandler finally taste freedom. Their 388 day nightmare ended after a ransom payment was reportedly paid to their kidnappers.”
Paul and Rachel Chandler were originally kidnapped in October of 2009, while sailing to Tanzania and held for an original ransom of $7 million. Local Somali elders say the pirates were paid about $750,000 for the release of the British couple. The BBC explains how that ransom was paid.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11755351
“Several hundred thousand dollars were handed over to the pirates in different trenches. One amount was handed over in June. At that point the Chandlers thought they were going to be set free. That was supposed to be roughly 400,000 thousand dollars. Then it seems more money was paid.”
Questions have been raised as to who exactly paid the remaining ransom money and the Chandler family refuses to comment. But at least part of the remaining ransom was raised by the Somali community angered by the negative image piracy brings to their county.
“So we ask you for forgiveness and tell your government the Somali people are innocent people who are helpless, cannot defend themselves. Surrounded by religious fascists, surrounded by thugs, surrounded by criminal pirates.”
Somalia’s transitional government also contributed to the ransom, raising questions as to whether British money was involved. A reporter for CNN explains Britain doesn’t typically make concessions in hostage situations.
"That’s the public face of the policy. We know that the British government works behind the scenes. In its words, it does everything it possible can without saying publicly very much at all. It prefers to act in a discrete low key way to knock down or to suppress any and all publicity of these sort of hostage takings so they can work most effectively.”
Regardless who paid the ransom, a writer for the Herald Scotland says paying pirate ransoms only encourages pirates to continue kidnapping.
“It is easy to understand the desperation of the Chandlers’ supporters to get them home safely but their actions endanger the lives of others, especially other yachtsmen...”
And a reporter for CNN agrees but says ransom was probably the only way to free the Chandlers.
“You don’t want to incentivize this kind of activity, but in this case there is such a precedent of paying ransoms for hostages in Somali, that it would have been almost impossible to get the Chandlers out without some kind of monetary compensation for the pirates.”
According to the Telegraph, Somali pirates are currently holding 400 people hostage. So what do you think? Bad precedent for piracy? Or -- do what works?
