SPEAKERS CORNER: Piracy on the Somalian coast and the UK's involvement

On last november 17th the MV Sirius Star was kidnapped, some 400 nautical miles from the Kenya. This ship, being an oil tanker, carries two million barrels of crude oil which is worth about 100 million dollars (67 million pounds). On board the Saudi-Arabian vessel are 25 hostages, including 2 British citizens. The Somalian hijackers demand a 25 million dollar randsom. Today, the UK proclaimed that they will not be paying the ransom, for this will only encourage Somalians to hijack ships. This has been a major problem in the past year, with dozens of ships hijacked in and close to Somalian waters, the Sirius Star being the biggest vessel to be hijacked to date. The British foreign secretary, David Milliband, said this problem can best be resolved with a European force to the region. Some actions have been taken, for instance a safe lane was created to make sure food aid ships can safely reach the shore, but apart from that, a solution has not yet been formed.

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Since it has been a problem for several months now with dozens of hijackings, it surprises me no real solutions have been formed against these pirates. In this situation I can imagine that the UK is not willing to come up with 25 million dollars ransom. Although it is true that human lives are at stake here, it will only lead to more piracy and dangerous situations. My suggestion would be to monitor outgoing traffic from the Somalian shore, in cooperation with the Somalian government obviously. Since Somalia is a political fractured state this will a hard assignment, but only by coming to terms and bringing law and order, this problem will be solved.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7739604.stm

Mental patients escape

Last Tuesday, John Claydon fled from the Springfield medical hospital in London, along with another prisoner. John was detained for killing Ben Foster last April in Bath, he was kept in the medical unit for psychiatric assessment. According to Clare Wallace, Ben Foster’s mother, this would not have taken place if Claydon would have been imprisoned rather than detained in a medical hospital, which she mentioned before this escape. Alongside Claydon, prisoner John Slavin escaped, who was who was awaiting trial for violent burglary. Springfield hospital has been known for it’s breaches in the past, adding up to patients who were lost for several days and at one time even a murder by a fugitive. The organisation that runs the hospital had some other failures outside the hospital as well: Anthony Joseph, a delusional patient who thinks he is God, was set free and killed his social worker, who wasn’t informed of his dangers at all.

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How do these things happen? When criminals are convicted by the government, I always assume they are sent to well organized facilities, detaining them or making them better. These errors are incomprehensible and unforgivable. These facilities should be closed down after several of mistakes of this calibre. After one mistake a project should be started which focuses on the roots of the problem and the holes in the system. If a criminal can find a way out of that situation, than so can a team of experts beforehand, making sure it won’t happen. In this case, it did not only happen once, it happened several times, so when will the decision be made that this is not to be tolerated any more? The past proved the current situation is far too dangerous, not to mention the grief the families of the victims have to go through...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7738912.stm

Young boys stabbed to death

Two young boys (Romario and Delayno Mullings-Sewell) of 2 years respectively 3 months old were found dead in North Manchester on the 12th of November. The mother who is the suspect was detained under the mental health act. Presumably it had something to do with the fact that the family’s social worker who was no longer assigned to them. The social worker had carried out a full assessment over 5 months time. After several 999 calls the police checked the family’s wellness but found nothing unusual. They returned after another 999 call to find the two boys dead, due to multiple stabs in the chest. The case is investigated by separate police teams.

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Obviously, this is a gruesome case which may have been prohibited if the social worker had had time to spend more time with the family. For the healthcare system though, this is a very hard thing to determine. Social workers cost a lot of money and there are a lot of people who need them. The social workers therefore have to be divided between the needy. In this case it ended wrong but it also could have gone wrong if the social worker stayed and another family lacked a social worker. It’s harsh but these are decisions that have to be made. Unfortunately this one had a bad ending…

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/7731381.stm

Soldiers like sitting ducks

British officer Captain David Hicks (right) was killed in action in Afghanistan, fighting the Taliban. His unit was under heavy attack at least twice a day for days on end and supplies kept on running low. Hicks called his fiancée multiple times to complain about the lack of decent supplies like good protection and ammunition. This was party due to a helicopter shortage but also due to poor funding. Just minutes before Hicks was killed he spoke to his wife on the phone again about the shortage of supplies. He had to hang up because they were under fire, just seconds later he was hit and minutes later he was dead.

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Wars obviously cost a lot of money, money that maybe could have been better spend on healthcare and education. This is a topic that no one will ever really agree on. When however a country decides to go to war, I think poor funding should not be possible. The people you send to the front lines as a country deserve the best protection and supplies available, because they are fighting for their lives, and no costs can be spared trying to win the fight for a human life.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7730820.stm