Somalia, in the eastern
part of Africa, is suffering from an immense deal of social and personal
suffering. Civilians and incoming outsiders are getting kidnapped left and
right; and the numbers keep increasing. People now don’t only have to worry
about their lives being affected by the dysfunction in the economy, but
they are concerned with their safety. Some of the kidnappings unfortunately
turn into far more than the being held in captivity, some people are led to
face their untimely death through the hands of these callous individuals. Consequently,
Somalis trying to receive help from outside aids are not able to receive the
help needed; this issue with the kidnappings can be seen as a spark of new
issues waiting to arise in Somalia.
The Somalia government does
not seem to have many resources to put an end to the situation. They have been
unstable since the early 90s—not having “a central government for more than 20
years”; and until recently was a government formed. Ken Menkhaus (an expert on
Somalia) and Amnesty International refer to it as “a government on paper only”
and “a caricature of a government.”But how can this said government do anything
about protecting its people, if it is not viewed as an official government?
Their social dynamics
need to change; the government has to gain some power over the republic.
At the moment the kidnappers are holding the power over the country. They
demand outrageous amounts of money for the return of people’s loved ones, yet they
are in a state of poverty. According to the AKE, the ransoms are “averaged between
$250,000 and $600,000”, extreme amounts when the “average income is less than
$2 a day”. The people of Somalia who are committing these
despicable crimes have no mechanical solidarity; it is obvious that no
one sharing the same beliefs, especially in safety, as other Somalis would
commit such barbarities.
This article can be found at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/01/hold-why-do-people-get-kidnapped-in-somalia.html
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