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Introduction	Many of us who are involved in anti-racist politics in Hamburg have met people from Somalia before - usually as refugees, who are hidden away in camps where their voices aren't heard. Their plight, like that of most refugees, goes unreported. Now we've come across Somali people in a different context - as defendants in a high profile 'piracy' trial that is reported widely in the mainstream media as the first trial of its kind in 400 years. But the reasons why the second group are on trial have a lot to do with the reasons why the first group flee their country. Still, despite all the attention, the media aren't interested in hearing from the accused. The reporting does not look beyond the events in the court room. The interest of English speaking media has ceased entirely. With this blog we are aiming to scratch the surface and provide more background about why fishermen become pirates, why a group of people from one of the poorest countries in the world are on trial in one of the most powerful countries for things they are accused of having done in the Indian Ocean. We want to report things that the mainstream media don't and to help make the voices of the accused heard.

Introduction

Many of us who are involved in anti-racist politics in Hamburg have met people from Somalia before - usually as refugees, who are hidden away in camps where their voices aren't heard. Their plight, like that of most refugees, goes unreported. Now we've come across Somali people in a different context - as defendants in a high profile 'piracy' trial that is reported widely in the mainstream media as the first trial of its kind in 400 years. But the reasons why the second group are on trial have a lot to do with the reasons why the first group flee their country. Still, despite all the attention, the media aren't interested in hearing from the accused. The reporting does not look beyond the events in the court room. The interest of English speaking media has ceased entirely. With this blog we are aiming to scratch the surface and provide more background about why fishermen become pirates, why a group of people from one of the poorest countries in the world are on trial in one of the most powerful countries for things they are accused of having done in the Indian Ocean. We want to report things that the mainstream media don't and to help make the voices of the accused heard.