Tourists perfectly safe in Seychelles, minister stresses
Minister Joel Morgan has strongly attacked claims made by a British newspaper on Monday that Seychelles is a “pirates’ paradise” and he has stressed that tourists are perfectly safe on our islands.
Mr Morgan, who is head of the High-Level Committee on Piracy, has sent a response to The Independent newspaper after its article also appeared on the internet and was published by a newspaper in Seychelles.
The minister’s reply to Daniel Howden, deputy foreign editor of The Independent, reads as follows:
“Your article – ‘How the Seychelles became a pirates’ paradise’ – falsely suggests to the reader that the Seychelles islands are an unsafe destination where visitors should ‘fear’ coming face to face with pirates on one of the islands’ beaches.
“I must clarify that the Seychelles islands are safe.
“Tourists on the islands of Seychelles are not under direct threat of being attacked by pirates and should not be anxious of what you call ‘the big fear’ that pirates will ‘launch a raid on one of the islands’ beaches’ or ‘nightmare scenarios’ of pirates ‘waving guns at free-spending tourists’ on Seychelles’ beaches.
“This is an unjustified and unrealistic picture of the current situation.
“The Seychelles islands possess a vast exclusive economic zone of 1.3 million square kilometres of ocean, roughly the size of western Europe.
“We have appreciated the strong support from all our international partners who have sought to assist us with patrolling and surveillance of the zone.
“2009 was a year of increased piracy activity off the Somali basin, and pirate incursions in our EEZ increased. As you noted, this has severely affected the niche tourism sector of leisure yachting and the large-scale tuna fisheries operations, and consequently our economy.
“However the impact on sea-based activity and land-based activity should not be confused. Seychelles has been directly affected by piracy on the high seas, as boats passing through the economic zone were targeted. However, Seychelles’ tourism arrivals experienced only a 1.4% drop from the previous year, unheard of elsewhere in the region particularly during a year when the global recession impacted worldwide travel.
“This is proof that, overall, Seychelles’ tourism industry was not directly affected by piracy because the tourists are safe.
“However, tourism at sea in certain areas is still a risk. The Seychelles government has issued warnings to leisure yachts wishing to sail beyond the inner islands, as it is not possible to guarantee their safety on an individual basis on the high seas.
“While Seychelles and its international partners, such as the European Union’s naval force, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, India and the US, continue to refine strategies to combat piracy in certain areas of our vast EEZ, both in terms of the surveillance and interception of suspected pirate craft, it is a case of ‘business as usual’ for all yachting and boat traffic among our inner islands.
“Seychelles prides itself on being at the forefront of the fight against piracy, as we actively promote our islands as an anti-piracy hub for international forces. We have had a 50% increase in the number of warships entering our port in the last year, and have increased surveillance programmes from our islands. For this reason our islands remain safe and are not, as you nonchalantly claim, a ‘pirates’ paradise’.”