0:00:07 > 0:00:09The Indian Ocean...
0:00:09 > 0:00:13Home to the world's most exotic islands.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16And beautiful and rare wildlife.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23I'm travelling through 16 countries around the edge of this vast ocean
0:00:23 > 0:00:27that stretches 6,000 miles from Africa to Australia.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34Steeped in history, the Indian Ocean is vital to world trade.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38It's a journey of extremes,
0:00:38 > 0:00:40from stunning islands,
0:00:40 > 0:00:43across pirate-infested seas,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45to remote villages...
0:00:45 > 0:00:47THEY GREET EACH OTHER
0:00:50 > 0:00:51..and war-torn land.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54GUNFIRE What was that?
0:01:04 > 0:01:08This is a journey about much more than just what's under the waves.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13It's about the lives of the millions of people
0:01:13 > 0:01:17who live around this, one of our greatest oceans.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24On this leg of my journey, I travel from Kenya to Somalia,
0:01:24 > 0:01:26and through the Horn of Africa.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33In one of Africa's most spectacular river deltas, I meet the villagers
0:01:33 > 0:01:35defending their homes and their way of life.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38You have succeeded.
0:01:38 > 0:01:39CHEERING
0:01:41 > 0:01:46I travel north from Kenya's wild and beautiful coast
0:01:46 > 0:01:49on the most dangerous leg of my entire Indian Ocean journey,
0:01:49 > 0:01:51to war-torn Somalia
0:01:51 > 0:01:55and the front line of a battle against piracy and terrorism.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00How does he know it's al-Shabaab?
0:02:00 > 0:02:03That side, that side's al-Shabaab.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06My last stop is in Somaliland,
0:02:06 > 0:02:08a country which doesn't officially exist,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12where I join youngsters on a very special trip to the seaside.
0:02:12 > 0:02:14The Indian Ocean!
0:02:14 > 0:02:15Indian Ocean.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29I have reached Kenya on my journey around the Indian Ocean,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33I'm heading towards Somalia and the Horn of Africa.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37It's going to be a tough trip, but Kenya's Indian Ocean coast
0:02:37 > 0:02:38is spectacular.
0:02:40 > 0:02:41Whoa!
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Quick, quick, quick, look, look, look, look!
0:02:44 > 0:02:45Dolphins!
0:02:45 > 0:02:48They're all around us, there's dozens of them.
0:02:49 > 0:02:50Whoa!
0:02:50 > 0:02:52It's just an incredible sight.
0:02:54 > 0:02:56From the spectacular Kisite Marine Park,
0:02:56 > 0:02:59I was travelling the length of Kenya's coast
0:02:59 > 0:03:01with my guide, Michael Kaloki.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04Michael.
0:03:06 > 0:03:07Michael Kaloki.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13The national parks and beaches down here in the south
0:03:13 > 0:03:15are a huge draw for tourists.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18More than a million people visit Kenya each year
0:03:18 > 0:03:20for a mix of sea, sand and safari.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35We're on the road, we're heading up the coast,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and our first stop is the port city of Mombasa.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Kenya's second city has been
0:03:43 > 0:03:47an important Indian Ocean trading centre for more than 1,000 years.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49It's now home to a million people.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Mombasa is actually on an island,
0:03:52 > 0:03:55so we just need to take a little ferry to get across to it.
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Here we go, we're going on board.
0:04:06 > 0:04:08On the ferry to Mombasa!
0:04:12 > 0:04:17So, look, they let the cars on first, and then come the foot passengers.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26The ferry is the main way into the city from the south coast,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28for people, vehicles, goods, everything.
0:04:37 > 0:04:40So this is the port of Mombasa just here.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42It's one of the biggest ports along the East African coast,
0:04:42 > 0:04:43if not the biggest.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Mombasa's port is a vital trade hub for this entire region,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54handling almost 20 million tonnes of cargo a year.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01Hundreds of years ago, merchants traded ivory, grain, spices and gold
0:05:01 > 0:05:05from here across the Indian Ocean to India, and even as far as China.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11And it's not only mega-container ships
0:05:11 > 0:05:13that are now bringing the world's goods
0:05:13 > 0:05:17to Mombasa. Through the back alleys of the old town, Michael took me
0:05:17 > 0:05:21to see the more traditional side of modern Indian Ocean trade.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24- So, Simon, this is the old port. - Yes.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Of Mombasa.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Ageing wooden dhows,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31like those that have plied the Indian Ocean for centuries,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33still off-load their cargo here.
0:05:35 > 0:05:36Oh, there are some people in there.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38- Hey, hello!- Hello.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Where have you come from?
0:05:42 > 0:05:44INDISTINCT SHOUTING
0:05:44 > 0:05:45From Pakistan?
0:05:45 > 0:05:48I think they might be coming to get us, Michael.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51They'd sailed across the Indian Ocean from the north,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53where I was heading.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55I was keen to hear what lay ahead for me.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57Is it OK to come aboard?
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Salamu alaykum!
0:06:02 > 0:06:04So this is the captain.
0:06:04 > 0:06:06He's got a very fine outfit on.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09You are the captain, and where have you come from?
0:06:09 > 0:06:12- You came from Pakistan?- No.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Pakistan, Mogadishu, Kismayo, then Mombasa.
0:06:16 > 0:06:22Pakistan, to Mogadishu in Somalia, Kismayo in Somalia, then Mombasa.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Captain Hafeez Baloch and the crew of the Al Faisal 2
0:06:26 > 0:06:29had sailed through dangerous waters,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31arriving the day before with 800 tonnes of cargo
0:06:31 > 0:06:33including rice, sugar and cooking oil.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38Oh, little hatch to post myself through.
0:06:41 > 0:06:42This is a beautiful ship!
0:06:45 > 0:06:49Now, this, captain, this is a great sight.
0:06:49 > 0:06:51A proper wheel. Too many ships now,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54they just have a little computer here,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57some little joystick to drive the ship.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00- This one.- Oh, you've got one!
0:07:00 > 0:07:03This one, no need anybody. Autopilot.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07You say, "I want to go from Karachi to Mogadishu,"
0:07:07 > 0:07:09and vroom, you're off?
0:07:09 > 0:07:10I am sleeping!
0:07:13 > 0:07:16On my journey, I was planning to visit Mogadishu,
0:07:16 > 0:07:19the war-torn Somali capital, possibly travelling by boat.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21The captain had other ideas.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26Do you think it would be safe for us to travel from Mombasa
0:07:26 > 0:07:27in a ship to Mogadishu?
0:07:27 > 0:07:29- No.- Not safe?
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Sometimes pirates come inside the boat.
0:07:34 > 0:07:36- Really?- Yeah.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39They take our food and the telephone.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42- Satellite phone. Television. - Sometimes take clothes.
0:07:42 > 0:07:44Take your clothes off you. Incredible.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Incredible.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49- And they are holding a gun at you, presumably?- Yeah.
0:07:49 > 0:07:50And this has happened to you?
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Yeah, RPGs.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Really? So that's a sort of rocket-propelled grenade?
0:07:54 > 0:07:56Yeah, RPG. Really big.
0:07:56 > 0:07:57My goodness.
0:07:58 > 0:08:02- Mogadishu is more difficult. - Mogadishu very, very difficult.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04Now, I mean, Mogadishu blast.
0:08:05 > 0:08:08I come from Mogadishu, there are too much problem now.
0:08:08 > 0:08:11Blast, you mean conflict, war?
0:08:11 > 0:08:12- Yeah.- Fighting?
0:08:12 > 0:08:15- Suicide bomber.- Suicide bombers. Right.- In the port, yeah.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20I'm ready to my mind, when I go in Somalia,
0:08:20 > 0:08:22maybe I not come back in my home.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27What does your wife say when you leave to go towards Somalia?
0:08:27 > 0:08:30She prays every day for me.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32For you to return safely?
0:08:36 > 0:08:39The waters off Somalia are the most dangerous in the world
0:08:39 > 0:08:40for shipping and sailors.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44I'd need to find another way to get to Mogadishu.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53In the meantime, I left Mombasa and headed north up the coast,
0:08:53 > 0:08:56towards the region of Kenya that borders Somalia,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58and has its own security problems.
0:08:58 > 0:09:03We're heading into an area where there's been bandit attacks in the past,
0:09:03 > 0:09:06and we've been told we need to take police guards with us.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Michael, it feels a little bit like we've entered the badlands.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Well, I would say this is more or less seen
0:09:16 > 0:09:20as perhaps a sort of frontier district in some way.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26I wanted to visit an area of international ecological importance,
0:09:26 > 0:09:28that's now at the centre of a bitter dispute.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35The Tana Delta is where Kenya's longest river meets the Indian Ocean.
0:09:43 > 0:09:45That's a great view, eh?
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Indian Ocean all the way along the horizon, of course,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51and for quite a bit of a way beyond.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57And just down here, this is the mouth of the Tana river.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00And this is what we're going to explore.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05The Tana river delta is not on Kenya's tourist trail,
0:10:05 > 0:10:10but it's one of the most important wildlife sites in the whole of Africa.
0:10:10 > 0:10:11There's a crocodile over there.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17It's a whopper!
0:10:17 > 0:10:19You certainly don't want to leave your fingers in the water.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Not a good idea.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27The delta is a refuge for both larger animals
0:10:27 > 0:10:30and more than 350 species of bird.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35UK charity the RSPB has identified it
0:10:35 > 0:10:37as a wildlife site of global importance,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41and is campaigning for its protection.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Because this is a twitchers' paradise.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47So we think that's a malachite kingfisher.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55WHISPERS: Right underneath a fish eagle just up here.
0:10:55 > 0:10:56Magnificent.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04We've come round a bend in the river,
0:11:04 > 0:11:07and where there was forest before, now the view has opened up.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09And the tragedy, though,
0:11:09 > 0:11:13is that developers are planning to come in here
0:11:13 > 0:11:17and carpet this whole area with sugar cane.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21And that, of course, is going to be an absolute disaster for the wetland
0:11:21 > 0:11:23and for the birds.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29The Kenyan government is trying to sell off the Tana Delta,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32so vast areas of sugar cane can be grown on the land,
0:11:32 > 0:11:37some of it to sell to Europe as an ecofriendly biofuel.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39This won't only affect the wildlife.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43Around 90,000 people live in and off the delta
0:11:43 > 0:11:47by fishing and grazing their livestock on its fertile grasslands.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50- After you.- Thank you, mate.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56After a five-hour boat ride we came to a settlement.
0:11:58 > 0:12:02The villagers had only recently arrived here.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06They were thrown off their land elsewhere in the delta by TARDA,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09a Kenyan government development agency.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12In the last few years,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16TARDA has evicted thousands of families in the area.
0:12:18 > 0:12:19I went to meet the village chief.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Jambo!
0:12:21 > 0:12:23THEY EXCHANGE GREETINGS
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Good to meet you, sir.
0:12:26 > 0:12:28- Salaam. How are you?- Hello.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32CHIEF SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:12:32 > 0:12:33Ah, OK.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37He says welcome, you are free to walk wherever you want,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39you are free to sleep in our village.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41So you're welcome.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43- Asante sana.- OK. Thank you.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48It turned out the villagers had been evicted several times by TARDA.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52So you've been forced to move from one place to the other.
0:12:52 > 0:12:57Can you explain to us what happened when you were evicted?
0:12:57 > 0:12:58HE SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:12:58 > 0:13:01- TRANSLATOR:- The bulldozers gathered around the village
0:13:01 > 0:13:03and started to clear the ground.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08When they got near to the huts, the children ran away.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13When they tried to enter our houses, we resisted.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17Then they brought the police,
0:13:17 > 0:13:20and they started to beat us and used tear gas.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22One of the villagers was shot.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27But surely TARDA have compensated you
0:13:27 > 0:13:30in some way for taking away your land?
0:13:30 > 0:13:32We didn't get any compensation
0:13:32 > 0:13:34because they said it is not our land.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36It's theirs, and we have to leave.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51As you can see, there are some houses that are being constructed now.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Maulidi Diwayu is a committed local campaigner
0:13:55 > 0:13:59who is fighting for the rights of the people of the delta.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02So they've been forced to move to this location?
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Yeah, utterly. They have been forced to move anywhere,
0:14:05 > 0:14:07because they were not identified a place.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Oh, really? So they were just told, get out.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12They were just moved without caring where they were going.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16Could we help these women at all? Could we help them...?
0:14:16 > 0:14:18I don't know if they will agree.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20If a man is seen building this house,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22he is considered not to be a full man.
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Well, I'm quite happy to suffer that indignity.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27You have volunteers!
0:14:28 > 0:14:32So there's one here, and there's one here.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33This is the door.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35Yeah. This is the door, OK.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Oh, dear.
0:14:41 > 0:14:42I missed.
0:14:46 > 0:14:51Diwayu's hole is significantly wider and deeper than mine.
0:14:55 > 0:14:56There we go!
0:14:56 > 0:14:59Oh, no! Disaster!
0:14:59 > 0:15:01You are not a sharpshooter.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05- That's enough!- That's enough?
0:15:05 > 0:15:06You have succeeded.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08CHEERING
0:15:11 > 0:15:14A doorway emerges here.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17How many people will be living in this home?
0:15:17 > 0:15:21This house is going to be occupied by about ten people.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24And presumably they must be hoping and praying
0:15:24 > 0:15:27that they don't get evicted again.
0:15:27 > 0:15:28Of course, yes.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30They're going to be evicted again.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33This one now is still in TARDA land.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36So they could actually be evicted again?
0:15:36 > 0:15:38Yes, of course.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40They have to be evicted again.
0:15:48 > 0:15:5225 villages and more than 30,000 people face eviction
0:15:52 > 0:15:55under the government plans for the Tana Delta.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59They'll lose their homes as well as grazing land for their livestock.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03All of us will lose a vital habitat for birds and wildlife.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09Instead, companies will farm sugar cane to make fuel for foreign cars.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13The government says the project will boost the economy,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15but corruption is rife in Kenya,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18and I doubt locals here will see any benefits.
0:16:20 > 0:16:25- So this is where we're staying tonight?- That's right.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27This is going to be our home for the night.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30The toilet facility is around the side.
0:16:30 > 0:16:31Excuse me one moment.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35You don't have to come, Michael!
0:16:46 > 0:16:50- How's the food looking? - Ah, the food is looking delicious.
0:16:52 > 0:16:53The goat meat is ready.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58Excellent. That was one of the best bits of goat meat I've ever had.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06What can be done to save the delta and save the people who live here?
0:17:06 > 0:17:09The community have started some initiatives.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13They are actually resisting, and already some community members
0:17:13 > 0:17:18have taken TARDA to court so that they could block their land,
0:17:18 > 0:17:20from losing their land.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25So, basically, you all need to shout loudly and say, "This is ours."
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Exactly. And that is what we are doing.
0:17:28 > 0:17:32Because the local people are making all these noises,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36one day we are going to win and we'll get back our land.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41Diwayu is a resourceful campaigner,
0:17:41 > 0:17:45and it was good to hear that villagers are fighting back
0:17:45 > 0:17:46and using the courts.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50SIGHS DEEPLY
0:17:50 > 0:17:53What a day.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55It's an absolutely beautiful area.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59But I fear that protecting it is...
0:17:59 > 0:18:03not a battle that the little guy is necessarily going to win.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16The RSPB has joined the battle to project this delta,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19but its future is by no means clear.
0:18:23 > 0:18:26Next day, we took a plane back out towards the coast,
0:18:26 > 0:18:29flying over the Tana Delta.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32The whole area is absolutely gorgeous.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34Lush, beautiful, spectacular.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38And, at the moment, still pristine.
0:18:38 > 0:18:40But for how much longer?
0:18:44 > 0:18:46We're back to the Indian Ocean.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49We're going to bank left and then head up the coast.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55At the far north of Kenya's Indian Ocean coast
0:18:55 > 0:18:57is an island called Kiwayu,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59just next to the border with Somalia.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Around Kiwayu Island, the azure waters teem with marine life.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16Few tourists venture up here...
0:19:17 > 0:19:20..and the long white sandy beaches are virtually deserted.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25It's a remote and beautiful corner of the Indian Ocean.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31But the community here is linked to the rest of the planet
0:19:31 > 0:19:33in a surprising way.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37WOMAN SPEAKS LOCAL LANGUAGE
0:19:37 > 0:19:38We've met up with some villagers
0:19:38 > 0:19:41and we're walking across the island with them,
0:19:41 > 0:19:46because the ladies here are about to do a bit of beachcombing.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Because when you get down onto the beach,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55you see that it's not quite the perfect paradise.
0:19:55 > 0:20:01You can see the high-tide mark just here all the way along the beach,
0:20:01 > 0:20:02and you can see as well
0:20:02 > 0:20:06there's a fair bit of rubbish on this beach,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08almost all of it plastic.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10Just a few years ago,
0:20:10 > 0:20:14tropical beaches like this really were pristine and untouched.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16But, thanks to our global addiction to plastic,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19beaches and seas are now polluted
0:20:19 > 0:20:21by millions of tonnes of plastic waste
0:20:21 > 0:20:23that swirls around our oceans
0:20:23 > 0:20:25and washes up onto the sand.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28It's a catastrophe for the Indian Ocean and the planet,
0:20:28 > 0:20:30and nobody's really doing anything about it.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35What is this? Some sort of storage bottle, some sort of...
0:20:35 > 0:20:36Yeah, look.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42This will not biodegrade.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Right? This will photodegrade,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47so the sun and the movement of the waves and the sand et cetera,
0:20:47 > 0:20:49and the wind, this will break this down into smaller pieces,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53and it will turn this one heavy plastic container
0:20:53 > 0:20:55into a million smaller fragments of plastic.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01A generation ago, this plastic just wasn't here.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07It's now one of the most serious pollution threats to the Indian Ocean.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11But the women of Kiwayu have hit on a way
0:21:11 > 0:21:14to help clean up at least some of this tidal wave of rubbish
0:21:14 > 0:21:16at the same time as earning a living.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Bihawa, I know you're looking for something specific,
0:21:23 > 0:21:25or one thing in particular,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28but can you explain to us what it is and why?
0:21:30 > 0:21:34- TRANSLATION:- We come to clean the beach and clear up the plastic.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39The most important thing for us is to collect flip-flops,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41because we use them for our business.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Villagers on the island collect flip-flops from the beach
0:21:50 > 0:21:55and turn them into ornaments and souvenirs to sell to tourists.
0:21:55 > 0:21:57And there's no shortage of raw materials.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00So I suppose now, then, what we need to do is gather up
0:22:00 > 0:22:03as many flip-flops as possible.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Come on, Mike, get those Masai eyes scanning the beach.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Flip-flop!
0:22:16 > 0:22:18They are everywhere, look!
0:22:20 > 0:22:22Look at this!
0:22:27 > 0:22:29- Come on, Mike!- I'm looking!
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Put your back into it, son!
0:22:32 > 0:22:34Cos the Brit here is steaming ahead.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39Look at this!
0:22:39 > 0:22:42This is from a walk of 100, 150 metres.
0:22:44 > 0:22:46It's just incredible!
0:22:48 > 0:22:50SHE CHEERS
0:22:50 > 0:22:52Not bad! THEY LAUGH
0:22:52 > 0:22:54What's he got? Look!
0:22:58 > 0:22:59Is that good?
0:22:59 > 0:23:01Oh, you want me to carry it.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Oh, these ladies, they know how to work the men, don't they, eh?
0:23:04 > 0:23:06THEY LAUGH
0:23:12 > 0:23:14- TRANSLATION:- We know how to make something out of flip-flops,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17but we'd like help to get rid of the other plastics.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21If anyone knows what we can do with this plastic, we'd like their help.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23I think, in reality, Bihawa,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26there isn't really anybody who knows
0:23:26 > 0:23:31what to do with all the plastic that we've put into the sea
0:23:31 > 0:23:34and that is washing up on our beaches.
0:23:34 > 0:23:37What you're talking about in relation to your beach
0:23:37 > 0:23:42is a question that I think needs to be asked on a global level.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49So, I think we should head back and see what you do with these.
0:23:54 > 0:23:56- Look at this!- This is our shop.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58- Oh, my goodness!- Mm-hm!
0:24:02 > 0:24:03Everything here...
0:24:03 > 0:24:06This is made...
0:24:06 > 0:24:08This is all made from flip-flops!
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Look at this!
0:24:13 > 0:24:17The villagers make more than just pocket money from recycling this ocean waste.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Most of their handiwork is shipped to Nairobi for sale
0:24:21 > 0:24:24and exported to order. You can even buy them on the internet.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29How has life changed for people in the village
0:24:29 > 0:24:32since you started creating flip-flop products?
0:24:32 > 0:24:37- TRANSLATION:- Some people didn't have houses, but now they have them.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40Some people didn't have livestock, but now they do.
0:24:41 > 0:24:45We've bought a lot of things.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Some of us couldn't send our children to school, but now we can educate them.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50That's the thing I put first.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59The income from their cottage industry
0:24:59 > 0:25:01is now doubly important for this community.
0:25:03 > 0:25:05The ladies were just telling me
0:25:05 > 0:25:07that the guys here have had problems
0:25:07 > 0:25:10with Somali pirates in recent years...
0:25:12 > 0:25:15..and while they've been out at sea in these sort of boats,
0:25:15 > 0:25:19pirates have harassed them, taken things from them...
0:25:21 > 0:25:26..and even forced them to carry them up the coast to Somalia.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30And the women were saying that some of the men
0:25:30 > 0:25:31are frightened of going to sea.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35So while the men can't really go to sea,
0:25:35 > 0:25:38it's the women who are making an income
0:25:38 > 0:25:40from turning
0:25:40 > 0:25:43washed-up flip-flops
0:25:43 > 0:25:45into toys and art!
0:25:48 > 0:25:51It's a very 21st-century story, really, isn't it?
0:26:00 > 0:26:04Just a few weeks later, the horror of Somali piracy
0:26:04 > 0:26:05struck the island itself,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09when British visitor David Tebbutt was shot dead on Kiwayu
0:26:09 > 0:26:13and his wife Judith was kidnapped by a Somali gang
0:26:13 > 0:26:14and taken back across the border.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Most of Somalia is controlled by warlords
0:26:21 > 0:26:24and Islamic militants linked to al-Qaeda.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27I took a flight to Mogadishu, the capital.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30It's not a journey I undertook lightly.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33Mogadishu is described as the most dangerous city on earth.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37But since almost the start of my journey in South Africa,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40and even in the paradise islands of the Seychelles,
0:26:40 > 0:26:43piracy had been a recurring issue on my Indian Ocean travels.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Somalia is the source of the piracy epidemic
0:26:47 > 0:26:48affecting millions of people
0:26:48 > 0:26:51and the whole of the western Indian Ocean.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54It was somewhere I felt I had to visit.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56Welcome to Mogadishu.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07I was greeted by chaos the minute I stepped off the plane.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11It's par for the course here.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13- Par for the course?- Yeah!
0:27:14 > 0:27:15The airport is under the control
0:27:15 > 0:27:19of an African peacekeeping force called AMISOM,
0:27:19 > 0:27:23who are fighting the Islamic militants in Somalia.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26The airport's within AMISOM's military base,
0:27:26 > 0:27:28which was the safest place for me to stay.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34They don't want to show inside the camp,
0:27:34 > 0:27:37because that could provide the enemy
0:27:37 > 0:27:39with the location of targets.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45So we'll stop now and pick up later.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57Conflict has raged in Somalia for decades.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01In the 1970s and '80s, it was ruled by a dictator.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04In 1991, there was a civil war.
0:28:04 > 0:28:05Government collapsed.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Then warlords took over and battled endlessly.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11There's since been famine.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13Foreign powers have tried to intervene,
0:28:13 > 0:28:17but all previous attempts to save the country have failed.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19At least one million people have died,
0:28:19 > 0:28:24and amid the constant instability and anarchy, piracy has flourished.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26The reason I really wanted to come here
0:28:26 > 0:28:31is because the violence and chaos ripples out from this place
0:28:31 > 0:28:34to affect the whole of the Horn of Africa
0:28:34 > 0:28:36and the entire western Indian Ocean.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45In this, perhaps the poorest and most violent place on earth,
0:28:45 > 0:28:51the job of the AMISOM peacekeeping force is to try to stabilise Somalia.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54We are ready to go. We are ready to go. Over.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58The soldiers are from Uganda and Burundi.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01They're backed by the United Nations
0:29:01 > 0:29:04and indirectly by some money from the West.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09Leaving their base meant travelling in armoured personnel carriers.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14On the streets of Mogadishu, the soldiers face the constant threat of attack
0:29:14 > 0:29:17from anything from car bombs to shoulder-launch rockets
0:29:17 > 0:29:18or suicide bombers.
0:29:19 > 0:29:24I was travelling with Ugandan Lieutenant Colonel Paddy Ankunda.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34All the buildings look as though they've got bullet marks.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Well, that's the truth of the matter.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40Fighting has been to every corner of this city.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44We're talking about 20 years
0:29:44 > 0:29:47of statelessness, no government,
0:29:47 > 0:29:50people have guns, shooting about,
0:29:50 > 0:29:52so the result is what you see.
0:29:56 > 0:30:02Since 2007, AMISOM has been locked in a bitter struggle with al-Shabaab,
0:30:02 > 0:30:06a heavily armed, exceptionally violent Somali Islamic group
0:30:06 > 0:30:10which has close ties with al-Qaeda and takes a cut from local piracy.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15Al-Shabaab controls a large area of the country,
0:30:15 > 0:30:17terrorising its own people,
0:30:17 > 0:30:21and, until just a few weeks before my visit, it held most of Mogadishu.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24So, this is now the front line.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28AMISOM aren't just peacekeeping security guards.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33I was being taken to the front line of a full-scale war.
0:30:33 > 0:30:35We show you the positions
0:30:35 > 0:30:39that belonged to the al-Shabaab just five days ago, so...
0:30:39 > 0:30:42And are you still taking fire at this position?
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Are the soldiers still being shot at?
0:30:44 > 0:30:46Yeah, because you'll see
0:30:46 > 0:30:49that those are firing positions. Those are gun points.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53It was reported that scores of AMISOM soldiers died
0:30:53 > 0:30:56in the fight for this position just days previously.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03So...obviously, we're safe behind these barriers.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05Is it OK to... I mean, we can look out?
0:31:08 > 0:31:10So, what are we looking out onto here?
0:31:10 > 0:31:12That is the Deyninle trading centre.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14It's our next target.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16In there, there are al-Shabaab.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20You see that building with a mast?
0:31:20 > 0:31:23And that's what, an al-Shabaab stronghold?
0:31:23 > 0:31:24Yeah.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27This road was actually constructed by the al-Shabaab.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29In order to join Deyninle with Bakara market
0:31:29 > 0:31:30they had to build this.
0:31:30 > 0:31:31MORTAR FIRE
0:31:31 > 0:31:33Jesus! GUNFIRE
0:31:33 > 0:31:36Oh, they have seen a vehicle of the al-Shabaab.
0:31:36 > 0:31:38And when they see a car, they shoot.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40AMISOM's plan was to spread out
0:31:40 > 0:31:43from this position and retake Somalia.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45So this is an absolutely key point, then.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Very key indeed, because the moment we get that town,
0:31:48 > 0:31:53I think then the next stage is to move out into the entire country.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55It's really important we all understand
0:31:55 > 0:31:57that this isn't just the front line
0:31:57 > 0:32:00for the Burundian and Ugandan soldiers who are fighting here -
0:32:00 > 0:32:04this is the front line in the war on piracy as well.
0:32:07 > 0:32:12Al-Shabaab is linking itself more and more closely to al-Qaeda.
0:32:12 > 0:32:16AMISOM and Western intelligence agencies believe that Somalia
0:32:16 > 0:32:20is becoming a training ground for international terrorism.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23Paddy took me to the national stadium to see where,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26until recently, al-Shabaab had their base.
0:32:26 > 0:32:28Right.
0:32:33 > 0:32:38This would ideally be a symbol of nationhood.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41- Yes.- Now, if you want to see how destroyed this country is,
0:32:41 > 0:32:44- you come to some of these symbols. - Yeah.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54- This is the Emirates, or the... - Emirates Stadium...
0:32:54 > 0:32:57Yeah...the Highbury...
0:33:00 > 0:33:06Al-Shabaab did use the stadium for its own sinister public events.
0:33:08 > 0:33:13They actually used to execute people here in the stadium.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15That's what used to happen here.
0:33:24 > 0:33:25It was time to head back
0:33:25 > 0:33:29to the relative safety of the AMISOM base for the night.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31This is such a bizarre place.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33And I have to have...
0:33:33 > 0:33:38blast boxers, I think they're called.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43It's underwear that's got a special panel in it,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46this yellow bit here, that... well, it won't stop a bullet,
0:33:46 > 0:33:49but it will stop small bits of shrapnel
0:33:49 > 0:33:52from wiping out my vital parts.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54I'm only allowed to film in here,
0:33:54 > 0:33:57not outside in the camp, for security reasons.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01A few nights ago, an intruder got over the wall of the base
0:34:01 > 0:34:02and was shot dead.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05A couple of nights ago, there was another intruder.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09He's since confessed to being a member of the al-Shabaab group.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11He has a GPS locator with him,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14which he was supposed to use to identify targets here.
0:34:14 > 0:34:16It's all incredibly nerve-racking.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33Next day, we hit the streets of Mogadishu again.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39Somalia's enormous problems don't end
0:34:39 > 0:34:42with piracy, chronic instability and conflict.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49When I visited, the country was suffering the worst drought
0:34:49 > 0:34:54in 60 years and a famine that affected millions of people.
0:34:58 > 0:35:02Tens of thousands of refugees have flooded into Mogadishu,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05and we're now going to a feeding centre
0:35:05 > 0:35:08where many of them are being looked after.
0:35:20 > 0:35:22Even here at the feeding centre,
0:35:22 > 0:35:24we needed protection and weren't safe.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27But in this country, nobody is.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34There are dozens of centres like this across the city,
0:35:34 > 0:35:38offering a simple but life-saving meal to Somalis who've lost everything.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44There'll be families here
0:35:44 > 0:35:46who've walked for miles across the burning desert to get here.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51Some of them will have lost family members along the way.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55And, to be honest, these are the lucky ones as well -
0:35:55 > 0:35:58these are the fittest and the strongest.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00The weakest just don't make it.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08One of the reasons many people have fled to Mogadishu in search of food
0:36:08 > 0:36:11is that al-Shabaab have prevented foreign aid agencies
0:36:11 > 0:36:15from working elsewhere in the country in regions destroyed by drought.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19The militants have helped to turn the drought into a famine.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25Musa Usublay and his family walked much of the 250 miles
0:36:25 > 0:36:29to get here from the southern city of Kismayo.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33Why did you want to come here to Mogadishu?
0:36:33 > 0:36:35Was it because of the lack of food in the south?
0:36:57 > 0:37:01You can imagine how bad life is in the rest of this country
0:37:01 > 0:37:04for this place to be a paradise for people coming here.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11Outside Mogadishu, al-Shabaab has control.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14The West worries about them training terrorists,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18yet AMISOM is under-resourced and underfunded.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21AMISOM had made some significant gains
0:37:21 > 0:37:23against al-Shabaab just before my visit,
0:37:23 > 0:37:28but they're a relatively small force battling a fanatical enemy
0:37:28 > 0:37:30who are able to hide among the local population.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38I was just telling the driver to be very careful
0:37:38 > 0:37:39and follow the right roads,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42otherwise the roads can be misleading -
0:37:42 > 0:37:45you may find yourself in al-Shabaab territory.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47- Seriously?- Yeah.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54Paddy took me to the edge of AMISOM's area of control
0:37:54 > 0:37:57in the north-west of the city.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01Here, too, the Ugandans were locked in tough urban warfare against al-Shabaab.
0:38:03 > 0:38:04GUNFIRE
0:38:04 > 0:38:06What was that?
0:38:06 > 0:38:10- What's going on?- We need to find out what it was.- Yeah.
0:38:10 > 0:38:12GUNSHOTS
0:38:14 > 0:38:16My goodness.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19Now we emerge and we're in somebody's back garden.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22In this close-quarters fighting,
0:38:22 > 0:38:25gains and losses are made one street -
0:38:25 > 0:38:27and sometimes one garden - at a time.
0:38:27 > 0:38:29That side of the wall, you have al-Shabaab.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31How does he know it's al-Shabaab?
0:38:31 > 0:38:34That side, that side, that's al-Shabaab now.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37That side. The whole of that side could be...
0:38:37 > 0:38:39Everybody on that side? GUNFIRE
0:38:41 > 0:38:45The world is not safe if Somalia is not stable.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47It is just as simple as that.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51And it doesn't matter in which capital of the world you are,
0:38:51 > 0:38:53because al-Qaeda can reach there,
0:38:53 > 0:38:55so you need to hit them where they are training from,
0:38:55 > 0:38:57and this is Somalia.
0:38:57 > 0:38:59What do you need to do the job?
0:38:59 > 0:39:00Well, a lot of things.
0:39:00 > 0:39:03I mean, we...we have some troops here, just about 9,500 soldiers.
0:39:03 > 0:39:06- Is that enough?- It's not enough at all - we think that to,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09to take the whole country, we need about 20,000.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12We need helicopters - we don't have a single helicopter.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15- Not a single helicopter? - Not even a single one.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19We all know piracy is such a huge problem in the Indian Ocean
0:39:19 > 0:39:21for shipping from around the world.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24This is where the piracy comes from.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26This is the capital of the country. GUNSHOT
0:39:26 > 0:39:29That's true, that's true. The piracy does not start on the water.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31Actually, piracy starts on the land.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35This is where they launch from, it's where they train from,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38this is where they have their leadership.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43You need to deal with them from the land.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49Let's go.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53Al-Shabaab fighters were gathering on the other side,
0:39:53 > 0:39:55preparing to attack our position
0:39:55 > 0:39:57with shoulder-launch rocket-propelled grenades.
0:39:57 > 0:40:01So we're being pulled back and we'll leave the Ugandans here to fight...
0:40:01 > 0:40:05Well, to fight the world's war, it feels like to me.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11The Ugandans are taking heavy casualties
0:40:11 > 0:40:12as they battle to save Somalia,
0:40:12 > 0:40:15with completely inadequate backing from the rest of the world.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21They're supposed to be securing an entire country,
0:40:21 > 0:40:23but they don't even have any helicopters.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28Yet with more support from the international community,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31it's just possible the militants could be defeated,
0:40:31 > 0:40:32that AMISOM could be successful,
0:40:32 > 0:40:34and that Somalis could have
0:40:34 > 0:40:38the long-term stability they're so desperate for.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45I'm leaving Mogadishu now, but what I take away from my visit here
0:40:45 > 0:40:47is the absolute conviction that
0:40:47 > 0:40:50the problem of piracy in the Indian Ocean
0:40:50 > 0:40:52has got to be solved here on land,
0:40:52 > 0:40:55starting in the capital, Mogadishu.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57It seems absolutely crazy to me
0:40:57 > 0:41:00that the world isn't doing more to support AMISOM,
0:41:00 > 0:41:02because peacekeeping can work,
0:41:02 > 0:41:04it does work and it has to work here.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09The world needs a secure and stable Somalia.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19It's not all chaos and violence in the Horn of Africa -
0:41:19 > 0:41:24just to the north of Somalia is Somaliland and its capital, Hargeisa.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32Thank you!
0:41:32 > 0:41:35There's no need for a flak jacket and helmet here,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38and it felt great to be welcomed by a familiar face...
0:41:38 > 0:41:40Hello, hello!
0:41:40 > 0:41:41How are you?
0:41:41 > 0:41:43I'm very well, thank you so much!
0:41:43 > 0:41:46I met Fatima when I was here several years ago,
0:41:46 > 0:41:50and I'm delighted to say Fatima is going to be showing us around this time,
0:41:50 > 0:41:53and we're going to spend a little bit of time with her
0:41:53 > 0:41:55and see a little bit more of Somaliland.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03I tell you what, this is all a bit different to Mogadishu, eh?
0:42:04 > 0:42:07But it's a country that doesn't really exist.
0:42:08 > 0:42:12Somaliland separated from Somalia in 1991 after civil war.
0:42:14 > 0:42:17But the rest of the world refused to recognise the new country
0:42:17 > 0:42:20and still considers it part of Somalia.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24So it's an unrecognised state with no seat at the United Nations.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28Checking out the ears.
0:42:33 > 0:42:34Fantastic!
0:42:34 > 0:42:35There we go, look...
0:42:36 > 0:42:39International Airport here in Hargeisa.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42In Somaliland, a country that officially doesn't exist,
0:42:42 > 0:42:44if you ask the rest of the planet.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47There you go, a stamp to prove it's here.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01Our first stop was the main market.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07So here we are.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13As you can see, we don't need armed guards,
0:43:13 > 0:43:17we're not afraid that a stray bullet is going to hit us,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20we're not afraid of being kidnapped or held hostage.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23- People are just getting on with life.- Nobody really cares!
0:43:29 > 0:43:31Such a difference with...
0:43:31 > 0:43:34benighted, suffering Mogadishu.
0:43:36 > 0:43:40Fatima, one thing we've got to clear up is your accent.
0:43:40 > 0:43:42Tell us where you've been.
0:43:42 > 0:43:48I've spent 42 years in Wales, in Newport, which is my home town,
0:43:48 > 0:43:52and worked in Cardiff, where I have many, many of my relatives.
0:43:55 > 0:44:00I needed to change a few quid for myself and the film crew,
0:44:00 > 0:44:02and it wasn't hard to spot the money-changers.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Take your pick - there you are.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Oh, my goodness - you mean this is how we change money?!
0:44:09 > 0:44:12- Yes.- On the street?!
0:44:14 > 0:44:17Look at all this! Unbelievable!
0:44:24 > 0:44:26Where are the armed guards here?
0:44:26 > 0:44:27There's no armed guards.
0:44:27 > 0:44:30- Come on, Fatima, let's go! - You've got to be kidding!
0:44:31 > 0:44:36We're not going to get very far! It weighs an absolute ton!
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Maybe that's why they're not worried - nobody can carry it!
0:44:42 > 0:44:47What looks like a small fortune is really just a few pounds.
0:44:47 > 0:44:52Somaliland's largest bank note is equivalent to only five pence.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56- How much is this worth?- Eight.
0:44:56 > 0:44:598. OK, so about £6.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02We need some money for the next few days
0:45:02 > 0:45:04and we're going to start with 400
0:45:04 > 0:45:06and see if we can carry it.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09- Is this all ours?! - This is your money.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14Oh, no, just feel free, give us more!
0:45:14 > 0:45:15That's ours as well.
0:45:18 > 0:45:20Into the... Whoa!
0:45:24 > 0:45:26Have you ever seen such a sight?
0:45:30 > 0:45:34We could walk around with a barrow full of money
0:45:34 > 0:45:37because Somalilanders have built a safe, functioning state
0:45:37 > 0:45:39with low corruption and low crime.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Unlike in Somalia, there's a justice system here - law and order.
0:45:45 > 0:45:51Somalilanders are even tackling the scourge of the Indian Ocean - piracy.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55They've put dozens of pirates behind bars.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59I've been given permission to meet some of them in Hargeisa prison.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04There's a general ban on what's not allowed into the prison.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Everything from guns to rum.
0:46:17 > 0:46:19Finally, I had a chance to meet some of the men
0:46:19 > 0:46:23who are terrorising ships and sailors around the Indian Ocean.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32So the gentlemen here in yellow are the pirates?
0:46:32 > 0:46:35Salamu alaykum. Salamu alaykum.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44Farah Ismael Elih was caught as he headed out to sea in a heavily armed boat.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47He's now serving six years.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Like many Somalis, he claims the piracy began
0:46:52 > 0:46:54when Somali fishermen took up arms
0:46:54 > 0:46:56to defend their part of the Indian Ocean
0:46:56 > 0:46:58against large foreign trawlers
0:46:58 > 0:47:00that were depleting their fish stocks.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09- TRANSLATION:- I believe that these illegal fishing trawlers
0:47:09 > 0:47:11should be expelled from the Somali coastline.
0:47:11 > 0:47:12If that happened,
0:47:12 > 0:47:16fishermen would go back to sea and do their normal work.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20It sounds to me as though, initially,
0:47:20 > 0:47:22Somalis started going to sea
0:47:22 > 0:47:26to drive away the foreign fishing fleets,
0:47:26 > 0:47:30but at some point, it seems to me that a line was crossed,
0:47:30 > 0:47:33and now piracy seems like it's big business.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37There's a lot of people making vast sums of money from it.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41The first decision was to defend our waters.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44After that, a lot of money was made,
0:47:44 > 0:47:48and more and more people got involved.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Because of that, it's turned into a business.
0:47:51 > 0:47:53There's no problem taking a ship -
0:47:53 > 0:47:56it will only be taxed and then released safely.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00There's no country in the world that doesn't take taxes.
0:48:00 > 0:48:04In a small country with no government, the small militia catches a ship
0:48:04 > 0:48:06and takes some taxes from them and then releases them
0:48:06 > 0:48:08without harming or killing them -
0:48:08 > 0:48:10there's nothing wrong with that.
0:48:21 > 0:48:22I have no doubt that, initially,
0:48:22 > 0:48:24many of the men we now call pirates went to sea
0:48:24 > 0:48:28because they were angry about foreigners fishing their waters,
0:48:28 > 0:48:32but now terrible, terrible crimes have been committed -
0:48:32 > 0:48:35hundreds of people right now are being held hostage
0:48:35 > 0:48:38along the coast of Somalia by pirates,
0:48:38 > 0:48:42and vast sums of money are being paid.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46Vast sums of money are being made by the pirates.
0:48:53 > 0:48:54OK?
0:48:56 > 0:48:59Getting out of a prison - always a tricky one.
0:49:10 > 0:49:12The problems of neighbouring Somalia
0:49:12 > 0:49:15cast a long shadow over Somaliland.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18Because it's considered part of Somalia,
0:49:18 > 0:49:22it's extremely difficult to attract tourists, aid or economic investment.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25Conflict in Somalia is also felt here
0:49:25 > 0:49:30because for decades the turmoil has uprooted people across the Horn of Africa.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35There's still vast numbers of people moving around in this region,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38trying to flee war or looking for food and escaping from famine,
0:49:38 > 0:49:43and we've come to an area of the capital where...
0:49:43 > 0:49:46Well, it's basically become a refugee camp.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52Somaliland might be an unrecognised country,
0:49:52 > 0:49:58but tens of thousands of people have flooded into Somaliland from Somalia,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01many to avoid getting caught up in the ongoing fighting.
0:50:03 > 0:50:05Fatima took me to meet some of the refugees.
0:50:05 > 0:50:07I've met up with Mohammed here,
0:50:07 > 0:50:13who lives in the camp, and he's just going to take us back to his home.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17You've been here three years - what led you to come to the camp?
0:50:17 > 0:50:21What led you to come to Somaliland?
0:50:22 > 0:50:25- TRANSLATION:- I either had to join the al-Shabaab fighters
0:50:25 > 0:50:26or leave the country.
0:50:29 > 0:50:32I came all the way here.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36Sometimes I walked, sometimes I hitchhiked.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41At times, I didn't eat for three days.
0:50:46 > 0:50:50Mohammed came with his family on the 500-mile trek from his home,
0:50:50 > 0:50:52just inland from Mogadishu.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56Eight of them now share this tiny shack.
0:50:59 > 0:51:03So we're in a place that's not a whole lot bigger, frankly,
0:51:03 > 0:51:06than many people's garden shed.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13Mohammed, this...
0:51:13 > 0:51:16this is tough. I can see this is tough for you.
0:51:16 > 0:51:18You have a tough time here, a tough life...
0:51:18 > 0:51:22but, still, this is better than being in Somalia?
0:51:22 > 0:51:24Uh, yes.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28- TRANSLATION:- Yes, we prefer it here.
0:51:28 > 0:51:31This is better for us.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34If we could go somewhere better than here, we'd love that.
0:51:36 > 0:51:39But we don't have that chance, so we're here.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45Life in Somaliland is better for us than Somalia.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56Mohammed narrowly avoided being forced to join al-Shabaab,
0:51:56 > 0:51:59the Islamist militia in Mogadishu.
0:52:01 > 0:52:04But in a conflict-ridden region where jobs are scarce,
0:52:04 > 0:52:06life as a fighter or as a pirate
0:52:06 > 0:52:09is all too tempting for many young men.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16To counter the lure of the gun,
0:52:16 > 0:52:20Fatima runs a project which offers help, education and a future
0:52:20 > 0:52:23to boys and young men from the refugee camps.
0:52:26 > 0:52:28Today, she was taking Mohammed
0:52:28 > 0:52:31and other young refugee lads on an outing.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35We're going to the coast! This is exciting!
0:52:38 > 0:52:41What's "we're going to the seaside" in Somali?
0:52:41 > 0:52:47FATIMA SAYS IN SOMALI AND SIMON REPEATS
0:52:47 > 0:52:50SIMON REPEATS AND CHEERS
0:52:56 > 0:52:59We were heading back to the Indian Ocean.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06Fatima, why are you doing this? Why are you taking them to the coast?
0:53:06 > 0:53:10For children who have actually witnessed murders
0:53:10 > 0:53:11and people being killed in front of them,
0:53:11 > 0:53:13so they have no childhood,
0:53:13 > 0:53:16there's no sense of what childhood should be like.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21You're drawing them away from potentially bad things that they could be doing -
0:53:21 > 0:53:24things like piracy, joining gangs or joining militias.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29All right, I'll tell you what, put your hands up if you haven't seen the sea before.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31FATIMA TRANSLATES
0:53:31 > 0:53:33Whoa! This is very exciting!
0:53:33 > 0:53:36Mohammed, you've not...never seen the sea?
0:53:36 > 0:53:37Never?
0:53:37 > 0:53:39Whoa!
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Can you see the ship out there, Mohammed?
0:53:49 > 0:53:52We're here! Come on, let's get off!
0:53:52 > 0:53:54OK, let's go to the sea.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01My goodness.
0:54:04 > 0:54:05It's beautiful.
0:54:05 > 0:54:07Beautiful!
0:54:10 > 0:54:12I suppose I've become a bit blase,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16travelling alongside the ocean for a few months now.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19Coming here with them and they're seeing it for the first time...
0:54:20 > 0:54:22cos I see it through their eyes.
0:54:26 > 0:54:29For the first time!
0:54:29 > 0:54:31I think it's quite a privilege for me to be here with you.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33Look, feel it!
0:54:34 > 0:54:37The Indian Ocean, Mohammed!
0:54:37 > 0:54:39- Yes!- The Indian Ocean!
0:54:39 > 0:54:41Indian Ocean.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06There you go. A tiny crab, look.
0:55:09 > 0:55:11HE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:55:17 > 0:55:19Tell us what you think.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21It's the first time you've seen the sea.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24What thoughts go through your mind? What are you thinking now?
0:55:25 > 0:55:28- TRANSLATION: - I'm happy. I'm very happy.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32It's been a good trip.
0:55:32 > 0:55:33It's good for my eyes,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36because I haven't left Hargeisa since we got there.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40Well, Mohammed, it's a real...
0:55:40 > 0:55:44it's a real privilege for us to have been allowed
0:55:44 > 0:55:48and able to accompany you on your...
0:55:48 > 0:55:51on your first visit to the ocean!
0:55:56 > 0:55:59This is a major milestone for me,
0:55:59 > 0:56:06because this is the end of my journey up Africa's Indian Ocean coast.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09I'm halfway round the Indian Ocean now.
0:56:09 > 0:56:12I've still got a long, long way to go,
0:56:12 > 0:56:16a lot to see, a lot to do and many more people to meet.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20I've got time for a paddle first.
0:56:20 > 0:56:24- Come on, let's get back in the sea! - OK!
0:56:30 > 0:56:34It's warm, it's beautiful -
0:56:34 > 0:56:36it's the Indian Ocean!
0:56:47 > 0:56:52Next time, I travel to the biggest city in the Indian Ocean.
0:56:52 > 0:56:56It feels like the whole of Mumbai is out on the beach.
0:56:58 > 0:57:01And in the tropical paradise of the Maldives,
0:57:01 > 0:57:04I go fishing the old-fashioned way.
0:57:04 > 0:57:07HE CHEERS
0:57:07 > 0:57:10I caught a tuna in the Indian Ocean!
0:57:10 > 0:57:12Sustainably!