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CONCLUSION Pirate attacks occurr ed regularly in Southeast Asia and the waters of Bangladesh between 1992 and 2006. W ithin this region piracy hot spots shifted between countries and ocean ar eas over time. In the early 1990s the waters between the Malacca and Singapor e Straits were identified as the most pirate-prone, and between 1993 and 1995 a high pr oportion of reported attacks took place in the South China Sea. However , since the mid-1990s Indonesian ports and territorial waters wer e the most pirate-infested in Southeast Asia. Of considerable concern in the early twenty-first century was also the high number of attacks in the busy Malacca Strait and the waters of Bangladesh. Pirates in these waters have tar geted merchant vessels as well as small craft with attacks ranging fr om simple hit-and-run robberies to hijackings. While hijackings of vessels and kidnapping of crew occurred in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh, the vast majority of pirate attacks on mer chant vessels were simple hit-and-run robberies at sea or in ports. Opportunistic sea r obbers or organized pirate syndicates were responsible for these attacks. In terms of attacks on small craft, yachts have only rar ely been targeted in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh between 1992 and 2006. However , examples from Bangladesh to the waters between Sabah and the southern Philippines have highlighted that piracy is a r eal concern for fishers. Indeed, fishers are arguably most affected by piracy, and attacks on such vessels were often serious in nature, and included kidnapping of fishers. Overall, attacks on fishers can have very dif ferent consequences and impact compared with attacks on mer chant vessels, as sea r obbers inevitably confront the fishers directly and can destroy a fisherman’s livelihood by taking his vessel, equipment, or catch. However , fishers were not only victims of pirate attacks. In many places in SoutheastAsia and Bangladesh, fishermen themselves were the perpetrators, attacking their counterparts or participating in attacks on mer chant vessels. 09 Oceans_Crime Conclusion 12/14/10, 2:56 PM 359 360 Oceans of Crime This book offered explanations for why piracy still exists today and argued that piracy can be understood as both a symptom and a sign of a number of geopolitical and socio-economic pr oblems and security concerns. Factors which have contributed towards the occurrence of contemporary piracy in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh and have determined the nature of pirate attacks include: the impact of ecological degradation and overfishing on the occurr ence of piracy; loopholes and shortcomings in maritime laws and r egulations that are conducive to the operations of pirates; the involvement of transnational crime syndicates and radical, politically motivated groups in piracy; as well as problems with state and private responses to pirate attacks. The examination of these r oot causes of piracy exposed a range of security concerns and political and social developments which affect security adversely. Piracy, therefore, offers a singular framework to cast a critical gaze at a range of political, social, and ecological developments, as well as security risks, and how they impact the lives and circumstances of people in Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, and the wider international community. Indeed, it has been shown that piracy and the various responses to it reflect both political and social developments within countries, and cooperation, tension and friction between states. Additionally, it has been demonstrated that the occurr ence of pirate attacks in a region, or a country , indicates the existence of a wide range of traditional and non-traditional security risks in the area, which can have far-reaching repercussions for individuals, nations, or the international community . Through an examination of maritime piracy in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh, and the r esponses it triggers, important new tr ends and practices in the security sector have also been identified, including the increasing privatization of security and pr otection services ar ound the globe. In essence, many of the issues pertaining to maritime piracy in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh mirror those associated with other political developments and security thr eats evident at local, r egional, and international levels. This examination of piracy, therefore, clearly demonstrates that piracy in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh should be taken seriously as a security concern and that ways need to be found to address the problem. Both the examination of piracy in SoutheastAsia and Bangladesh and the discussion of its wider security implications ar e useful in suggesting appr oaches to combat piracy successfully...

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