The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution on Tuesday 31 May to step up fighting against piracy, armed robbery and hostage-taking in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Gulf of Guinea (Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Togo) is the region most affected by attacks on ships and seafarers in the world. And this costs the Member States almost two billion dollars every year. In 2020, for example, 130 of the 135 ship crew abductions worldwide took place in the Gulf of Guinea.
This is of concern to the United Nations, which has addressed the issue by calling on “member states in the region to criminalise piracy and armed robbery at sea under their national legislation”. Indeed, Resolution 2634 was voted on 31 May by the 15 members of the UN Security Council. It strongly condemns piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as the frequent killings and hostage-taking in the region. Thus, tougher measures need to be adopted to punish perpetrators at the country level.
Furthermore, this resolution requires the Heads of State of the Gulf of Guinea to implement maritime security strategies, both at national and regional level, in order to strengthen, with the support of the UN, the fighting against this scourge. “Member States in the Gulf of Guinea must fastly act at national and regional levels, with the support of the international community (…), to develop and implement maritime security strategies.
In addition, Heads of State are called upon to criminalise acts of piracy in their domestic law and to investigate, prosecute and extradite the perpetrators. According to the resolution, “anyone who intentionally encourages, finances or facilitates such acts, including the masterminds of criminal piracy networks” will also be brought to justice.
Finally, the paper points out that maritime insecurity hinders the development of the region’s coastal economies, leading to an increase in terrorism and military coups, as well as worsening the impact of climate change.
