Almost nine months after he was tasked with inquiring into the circumstances surrounding the 2018 pirate attacks off the coast of Suriname, Dr Rishee Thakur yesterday presented Minister of State Dawn Hastings-Williams with the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report, which found that a turf war over fishing grounds was the motive.
During the presentation at the Ministry of the Presidency, Thakur gave a brief summary of the findings. He said there were two attacks, which occurred at the popular fishing area known as the Double High Bush, involving five boats and 25 fishermen. He added that they have complied biographies of each of the 25 fishermen involved and placed them into three categories—survivors, the dead, and the missing.
He said, as stated in the CoI report, those attacks were the result of a turf war over fishing grounds and on the basis of extensive findings, it is clear that the piracy was organised, planned and systemic in its execution.
