Maritime security : Safe Seas Africa first Steering Committee
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The European Union shares a proactive vision towards security in the Indian Ocean in the context of its Indo-Pacific Strategy.
The European Union's maritime security strategy in the Indo-Pacific aims to contribute to the region's stability, security, and prosperity, while upholding international law and ensuring free and open maritime routes.
The European Union remains the largest partner in the region since 2008 that is supporting the Coastal States in the combined effort for peace, stability and Maritime security.
Actions were initiated by European Union in partnership with the countries of the region to address Piracy and armed robbery at sea, prevention, deterrence & repression.
When pirates made it impossible to trade and sail in the Indian Ocean, the European Union joined forces with international partners to bring security to the coast of the Horn of Africa.
We sent our ships and personnel as part of European Union naval operation ATALANTA arresting pirates and strengthening the regional capacity to bring criminals to justice.
And it has worked! The European Union's engagement as a security provider in the region has drastically reduced pirates' attacks.
The last three Regional Ministerial Conferences on Maritime Security organised in Mauritius earlier were quite comprehensive with a range of issues discussed particularly in terms of the increasing ownership of the countries of the region to tackle increasing maritime threats – drug trafficking, IUU fishing, illegal migration amongst others.
The MASE programme has also enable all of us to gain useful lessons learnt that can help us to enhance our partnership and intervention.
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Maritime security is transnational; no single country can tackle threats like piracy or trafficking alone. This means that there is a need to greater solidarity and sharing of information to address maritime threats. This also means that each country should have a governance mechanism at national level that enable inter-agency cooperation that help to make quick decision in the face of challenges.
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Fragmented maritime domain awareness leads to limited operational effectiveness. The fact that the agencies at national level operate in a ‘silos’ mechanism does not help in having a complete maritime picture that would enable policy makers to take the timely decisions.
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Maritime threats evolve, requiring constant adaptation and learning. This implies that there is need for continuous training for coast guards, and law enforcement agencies emphasizing adaptability and skill development.
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Legal gaps hindered prosecution of perpetrators. Operations that were initiated by the two regional maritime centres to tackle maritime crimes showed that there is a need to review and update legal frameworks at national level. Addressing the legal aspects will be essential for enhancing the scope of regional maritime governance.
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The establishment of Regional Maritime Security Architecture has enabled states to pool limited resources—both surface and aerial—for joint maritime operations which developed a certain degree of inter-operability among the Coast Guards of the countries in the region. However, there is a need for additional involvement by our partners in operations at sea which was relatively limited under MASE. The institutionalization of successful mechanisms needs to be sustained through political will.
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Asset Availability and Readiness is key for operations at sea. From experience of MASE, there were some cases where delay in decision process from the national chain of command cancelled participation, which may reduce operational effectiveness. There is a need for more consistent political engagement at regional level and asset allocation systems that can be triggered to undertake operations.
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Operational Coordination and Execution: The inability to track or intercept dhows in certain operations indicated challenges in surveillance coverage at sea, asset deployment timing or possibly limitations in technical capabilities of certain patrol vessels, suggesting a need to enhance real-time tracking, inter-agency coordination and regional cooperation with other countries for assistance.
Based on the outcomes of MASE, the European Union is committed to further support the region to strengthen the regional maritime security architecture with the coming into operation of the Safe Seas Africa programme.
Under Safe Seas Africa, particular attention will be paid at the national level maritime security set-up, with activities targeting the national information sharing centres, national law enforcement agencies and judiciary systems. This strong bottom-up approach is aimed to foster the ownership of the programme at national.
From a regional perspective, there are several options in addressing law enforcement and legal finish through effective regional collaboration e.g developing standardized protocols for use of force, hot pursuit, and cross-border cooperation, making it easier for states to collaborate in maritime law enforcement operations and possible regional judicial proceedings.
European Union support will focus will be on Consolidating the sustainability of the regional maritime security architecture, Regional maritime set up under MASE and DCoC mechanisms, Building the capacity to reinforce information sharing at national and regional levels, and Legal finish to combat maritime crimes.
The European Union is also engaged in de-confliction, cooperation with and support to International organizations: naval forces like the CMF and independent deployers.
I would like to reiterate the strong engagement of European Union in building capacity and ownership of the region. Examples include information sharing mechanisms provided to Coast Guards and other maritime agencies in the region, support to undertake regional patrols at sea on suspected vessels and capacity development of law enforcement agencies.
Given the lessons learnt under the MASE programme for operations at sea where Coast Guards from the MASE signatory countries participated, I would propose that a Western Indian Ocean African Coast Guards Functions Forum be set up to improve coordination and enhance mobilisation of resources to address maritime crimes.
The European Union is also supporting the region in ensuring coherence among the various regional initiatives and actions within the Regional Maritime security architecture including the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC).
The European Union welcomes this decision of the DCoC and encourages all partners to work in close collaboration with the two regional centres – RCOC and RMIFC for more effective use of resources.
Given the need to enhance national and regional maritime security governance framework, the European Union is aware of the challenges concerning inter-agency coordination at national level as well as inter-regional coordination and cooperation.
The support from Safe Seas Africa will take into account the need for enhanced coordination among agencies with a stake in maritime security to improve inter-agency cooperation.
At the national level, setting up and operationalisation of the National Information Sharing Centre is very important.
The European Union has already deployed technical support to enhance capacity of National Information Sharing Centres in various countries with the use of IORIS tool for information exchange.
The European Union encourages countries that have not yet set up their National Information Sharing Centres to do so as it will enable better inter-agency cooperation.
The biggest challenge to maritime security is not the simple absence of rules, but the lack of enforcement of rules that already exist.
In the absence of adequate legal finish, maritime crime perpetrators would continue to pose threats and high risk to the region.
Safe Seas Africa will provide dedicated support to law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities for trial and prosecution of maritime crimes. Legal support will also be extended to the regional maritime centres.
We believe that enhanced national maritime surveillance through effective national chain of command can significantly contribute to strengthening the regional maritime security architecture. This is a new regional approach that the EU supports under Safe Seas Africa.
Internationally, this new regional approach for maritime security would make the region more visible, credible and forceful.
This is the greatest responsibilities that you, members of the Steering Committee, bear today.
And, the European Union will continue to remain a key partner for countries of the region.
Thank you for your attention.