POST-TSUNAMI PIRACY

Daryl Sng last week brought my attention to an ominous warning in this article:

The United Nations also warned of the danger of pirates hindering its relief efforts off the west coast of Indonesia's Sumatra island, which took the brunt of the earthquake and resultant waves.

Regular visitors know of my obsession with pirates and the potential for marine terrorism. In my mind, the biggest security risk in Southeast Asia over the past few years has been a potential terrorist hijacking of an LNG or chemical tanker in the Malacca Straits. Others who are far more knowledgeable than I had noted that 'pirates' operating near the coast of Aceh, Indonesia, were more well organized and better armed than was usual.

Well, It seems that piracy in the Malacca Straits hasn't been a problem over the past two weeks. That's one of the longest times in the recent past that the Straits have been free from a 'pirate' attack.

I see two possible reasons for this. The first is that the 'pirates' were also victims of waves – losing lives and property along with everybody else.

Ordinarily, the thoughts of terrorists or pirates being wiped out by the ocean would fill me with a sense of schadenfreude. But given that the tsunami took more lives and caused more damage than a marine terrorist attack ever could, the thought is more chilling than it is reassuring.

Another thought, is that the large presence of foreign navies – particularly those of Singapore and the United States – has prompted Aceh's pirates to lay low for a while.

If that's the case, this report is disheartening:

Indonesia sets deadline for foreign troops
By Jim Gomez, Associated Press Writer - January 13, 2005
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia -- Foreign aid workers in Indonesia's tsunami-stricken Aceh province must take military escorts to areas facing insurgency violence, the government announced Thursday, the latest in a series of security demands that also require U.S. and other foreign troops providing relief to leave the country by the end of March.

On a related note, Hui Chieh Loy - a Singaporean grad student in North America - has created a blog covering Singapore's contribution to the relief effort. It links to several items on the fine job the Singapore Armed Forces have been doing.

It's a shame they are being asked to leave. I have reasons to believe that the Indonesian military won't be nearly as effective in delivering assistance.