![]() I needed a partner because it’s unwise to enter Somalia alone. Why do it this way, and how might it have affected your access to information? You went into the area through connections with Abdirahman Farole, the president of Puntland, and his family. I use the word because the UN and other international bodies use it, and Somalis themselves call them “ocean robbers.” Sometimes they bristle at the word “pirate,” and insist they are “saviors of the sea” or “coast guard,” but this is inaccurate. They believe that fishing is wrong and has diminished their livelihood. They often argue that illegal international fishermen who deplete their lobster population are the real pirates. ![]() ![]() These pirates did not want to be called pirates. I recently caught up with Bahadur to discuss his book. On returning home, Bahadur secured a book deal – and enough funding to complete his research on the pirates. There, he would learn as much as he could about the infamous Somali piracy problem. After several failed attempts to break into journalism, Bahadur found a Somali journalist willing to help him set up a self-funded research trip to the semi-autonomous zone of Puntland in northeast Somalia. A recent graduate of the University of Toronto, he had studied political science and economics. Before his first trip to Somalia in 2008, Jay Bahadur, the 27-year-old author of The Pirates of Somalia, had no journalism training or experience. ![]()
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