The House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee has published its Tenth Report of Session 2010-12, entitled “Piracy off the coast of Somalia”.

The report includes findings and recommendations dealing with several key aspects of piracy, including private armed security guards, the naval response in the Indian Ocean, the UK’s response to piracy, bringing pirates to justice, ransoms and support for victims and families.

The report concludes that decisive action is needed in order to contain the problem in the short to medium term, so that long term solutions can be found. Reference is made to the international conference on piracy to be held in the UK in February 2012, which it is recommended be given high priority by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

A full copy of the report is available on the UK Parliament website.