The past few months have been a crucial and testing time for the people of Somalia. A fierce battle is currently raging across the land that has pitted the fragile government forces and regional powers against the brutally oppressive militia of the extreme Al-Shabaab group. With the world’s attention firmly registered on the Arab awakening and the depressingly deadly developments in Syria, it is easy for the longstanding conflict that has bedevilled the Horn of Africa region to go unnoticed. One could even go so far as to call this the world’s ‘unknown war’. That might have all changed last week though.

David Cameron’s decision to convene and hold a major international summit on Somalia was a good diplomatic move and should be welcomed. It brought together one of the largest international gatherings in recent times of world leaders to discuss and plan a way ahead for Somalia. There now exists a stronger sense of international leadership and, importantly, hope for the Somali nation. In terms of content and what was actually agreed at the conference, there were several positive developments.

First, an agreement was reached to better coordinate humanitarian aid efforts and boost resources for the African Union forces who have courageously driven out Al-Shabaab from the capital Mogadishu but still face an ongoing dangerous threat. The international community also bolstered efforts to crack down on piracy that plagues the country and wider region. In future, it should be easier to prosecute and bring to justice suspected pirates and to take on their global ringleaders. A strong message was also sent out to Somali politicians that any delay to the political transitional process will not be tolerated.

Despite all this, we need to ask ourselves: did we achieve enough last week? Has the international community passed upon a great opportunity in going further and really pushing hard to secure Somalia’s political and economic future, particularly from the threats of piracy? The answer is yes, they have. Without doubt, there has been significant progress in tackling piracy in the last couple of years with a sizeable reduction in the number of successful hijackings. And the UK government’s decision to sanction the arming of merchant vessels should further help to deflate the threat. But we cannot afford to be complacent and must do more than just address the symptoms. Somalia deserves to have its coastline back and last week’s conference missed an opportunity to galvanise a major new strategy to help secure it once again.

The framework for action already exists with naval forces from several countries patrolling the seas off the Horn of Africa region and helping to stem the number of attacks on merchant vessels. However, we must move beyond this defensive policy of containment and protection. The international community needs to coordinate a greater naval and air offensive with the aim of establishing a secure zone off the coastal region. This will not involve military engagement on Somali territory or putting boots on the ground. Both moves would be unwise and counter-productive.

Rather, it requires committing more resources and military hardware to a beefed up and coordinated international effort to secure Somali waters. The benefits of such a strategy are clear. By severely disrupting piracy activities a vital source of funds and support for the Al-Shabaab network can be hit. The lawless and criminal havens that litter the shoreline have provided a fertile source for the extremists’ deadly attacks in Somalia. Putting the gangs and pirates under intense pressure would allow the Somali army backed by a well-equipped African Union force to begin to take back the coastal cities that have been lost to criminal enterprise for too long. And with the continual progress of government and international forces on mainland territory, Somalia may begin to see the reality of a secure state.

But this is not just a military strategy. It is also about national sovereignty and empowering a nation to live its way in the world. At last week’s London conference, the prime minister of Somalia rightly stated that his country is menaced by two acts of piracy: the piracy of criminality and desperately violent opportunism; and the piracy of illegal fishing and coastal destruction. That is why Somalia needs its waters back. And that is where the international community has a role to play.

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Rayhan Haque is a welfare researcher and a member of Progress

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Photo: Official US Navy Imagery