International piratjagt

Antallet af piratangreb er steget kraftigt i Østafrika. Blandt de danske ofre for de somaliske sørøvere er en dansk sejlerfamilie med to voksne og tre børn samt to gaster. De blev frigivet efter næsten et halvt års fangenskab.

• Følg jagten på Somalias pirater her
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Ten pirates apprehended on the High Seas by the Danish warship Absalon are having to sweat out their sojourn in a hot container until Denmark decides what to do with them.

"The Defence and Foreign ministries are deciding what to do," says Defence Ministry Spokesman Jacob Winther.

Weapons
The Absalon, which is part of an international anti-pirate effort off Africa's coast, boarded a suspected pirate boat last week and detained 10 pirates. Inspection officers also found weapons and rocket-propelled grenade equipment.

What was a Danish success on the open seas, however, has developed into a political problem. No-one in Denmark knows exactly what to do with the detained alleged pirates.

Denmark?
Experts from the Danish Institute for Military Studies say the ten men could be brought to trial in Denmark.

"It is in our interests to bring them to court - but the problem is where to do it. We could bring them to Denmark, but that is less politically acceptable because they would eventually have to serve time in a Danish prison and then we'd have a problem sending them back to Somalia," says Anders Henriksen of thbe DIMS.

Leadership
Denmark took over the operational leadership of the international Task Force 150 group which has been set up to stop piracy off the Horn of Africa. It is the first time that one of the international vessels have actually detained pirates.

Asylum
Henriksen suggests another major problem may arise in that if the pirates are brought to Denmark, they would be able to seek asylum.

"I would have thought that a Danish warship is the same as Danish territory and the Danish authorities would have to decide on an asylum request," says Henriksen.

UN
But he adds that since Denmark is on a UN-sanctioned mission, an international solution should be found to the quandary.

"It is a problem that we have some suspected criminals who everyone thinks should be brought to trial, but no-one wants to have responsibility for," says Henriksen.