Nuclear waste dumped on Somalia.

Some pirates operating off Somalia's coast claim to act as coastguards [GALLO/GETTY] Somali pirates have accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali  coast and are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukranian  ship they  captured, saying the money will go towards cleaning up the waste. The ransom demand is a means of "reacting to the toxic waste that has been  continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years", Januna  Ali Jama, a spokesman for the pirates, based in the semi-autonomous region  of Puntland, said. "The Somali coastline has been destroyed, and we believe this money is  nothing compared to the devastation that we have seen on the seas." The pirates are holding the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship carrying tanks and  military hardware, off Somalia's northern coast. According to the International Maritime Bureau, 61 attacks by pirates  have been reported since the start of the year. While money is the primary objective of the hijackings, claims of the  continued environmental destruction off Somalia's coast have been largely  ignored by the regions's maritime authorities. Dumping allegations Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy for Somalia confirmed to Al Jazeera  the world body has "reliable information" that European and Asian companies  are dumping toxic waste, including nuclear waste, off the Somali coastline. "I must stress however, that no government has endorsed this act, and that  private companies and individuals acting alone are responsible," he said The pirates are holding the MV Faina off Somalia's northern coast [Reuters] Allegations of the dumping of toxic waste, as well as illegal fishing, have circulated since the early 1990s. But evidence of such practices literally appeared on the beaches of northern Somalia when the tsunami of 2004 hit the country. The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reported the tsunami had washed up rusting containers of toxic waste on the shores of Puntland. Nick Nuttall, a UNEP spokesman, told Al Jazeera that when the barrels were smashed open by the force of the waves, the containers exposed a "frightening activity" that has been going on for more than decade. "Somalia has been used as a dumping ground for hazardous waste starting in the early 1990s, and continuing through the civil war there," he said. "European companies found it to be very cheap to get rid of the waste, costing as little as $2.50 a tonne, where waste disposal costs in Europe are something like $1000 a tonne. "And the waste is many different kinds. There is uranium radioactive  waste. There is lead, and heavy metals like cadmium and mercury.  There is also industrial waste, and there are hospital wastes, chemical  wastes – you name it." Nuttall also said that since the containers came ashore, hundreds of  residents have fallen ill, suffering from mouth and abdominal bleeding,  skin infections and other ailments.