This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/24/we-had-to-eat-rats-say-sailors-held-by-somali-pirates-for-four-years

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
'We had to eat rats,' say sailors held by Somali pirates for four years 'We had to eat rats,' say sailors held by Somali pirates for four years
(about 9 hours later)
One of the 26 sailors freed after being hostage by Somali pirates has revealed the dire conditions they were forced to endure during their ordeal. One of the 26 sailors held hostage by Somali pirates for more than four years has spoken of the dire conditions they endured.
Arnel Balbero told the BBC that the group were forced to eat anything they could get their hands on, including rats, and were given only tiny amounts of water. Arnel Balbero told the BBC the group were forced to eat anything they could get their hands on, including rats, and were given tiny amounts of water. “Eat anything, even you not like, you feel hungry, you eat it,” he said. “You eat rat, you cook it.”
“Eat anything, even you not like, you feel hungry, you eat it,” he said. One crew member died when FV Naham 3, a Taiwan-owned fishing vessel, was seized in March 2012 south of the Seychelles.
“You eat rat, you cook it.” The remaining crew – from Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines – were held by the pirates until being freed on Saturday. The pirate representative Bile Hussein said a $1.5m (£1.2m) ransom was paid for the sailors’ release. The claim could not be independently verified.
Balbero, speaking in Nairobi after his release, said his time as a hostage had left him feeling like a “walking dead” and it was very hard to imagine restarting his life. International mediators said the release meant no more seafarers taken hostage at the height of Somali piracy were still in captivity.
He said the pirates treated the group like animals. The 26 sailors will be repatriated to their home countries, said John Steed, the coordinator of the Hostage Support Partnership for US-based organisation Oceans Beyond Piracy.
The sailors were released after a ransom was paid, and international mediators said it “represents the end of captivity for the last remaining seafarers taken hostage during the height of Somali piracy.” Steed said only one other group of hostages had been held longer than the FV Naham 3 crew, who spent 1,672 days in captivity.
The crew from Vietnam, Taiwan, Cambodia, Indonesia, China and the Philippines had been among the few hostages still in the hands of Somali pirates. “They are reported to be in reasonable condition, considering their ordeal ... They have spent more than four-and-a-half years in deplorable conditions away from their families,” Steed said.
The sailors were the crew of the FV Naham 3, a Taiwan-owned fishing vessel seized in March 2012, said pirate, Bile Hussein. The ship later sank. He said two crew members died from illnesses in captivity.
Hussein said $1.5m in ransom was paid for the sailors’ release. That claim could not be independently verified. Balbero, speaking in Nairobi, said his time as a hostage had left him feeling like the “walking dead” and it was very hard to imagine restarting his life. The pirates treated the group like animals, he added.
The 26 sailors will be re-patriated to their home countries, said John Steed, the coordinator of the Hostage Support Partners for the US-based organisation Oceans Beyond Piracy, said in a statement. Piracy off Somalia’s coast was once a serious threat to the global shipping industry, but attacks have dropped dramatically in recent years after vessels began carrying armed guards and EU naval forces increased patrols.
Steed said only one other group of hostages had been held longer than this one, which spent 1,672 days in captivity. No commercial ship has been successfully attacked since 2012, but the threat of piracy remains, Steed said.
“They are reported to be in reasonable condition, considering their ordeal ... They have spent over four and a half years in deplorable conditions away from their families,” Steed said. The majority of hostages held by Somali pirates have been sailors on merchant ships, although European families have been kidnapped from yachts while travelling in coastal waters of the Indian Ocean.
He said another member of the crew died in the hijacking and two died of illnesses in captivity.
Piracy off Somalia’s coast was once a serious threat to the global shipping industry, but attacks have dropped dramatically in recent years after ships began carrying armed guards and European Union naval forces increased patrols.
No commercial vessel has been successfully attacked since 2012, but the threat of piracy remains, Steed said.
The majority of hostages held by Somali pirates have been sailors on merchant ships, though European families also have been kidnapped from their yachts while traveling in the dangerous Indian Ocean coastal waters.