A/HRC/15/48 killed by this group which also aided pirates and was involved in human trafficking and weapons smuggling to Yemen. 46. On the forcible deportation of 900 IDPs to the south, the President underlined that only young men had been deported. He stated that his Government had found, after investigation, that many of these young IDPs had been kidnapped, brainwashed and trained by Al–Shabaab prior to being sent to Puntland with specific tasks. He noted that his Government had the responsibility to make sure that IDPs were not used to harm his people. He further underlined that following the deportations, his administration was liaising with the United Nations agencies to ensure humanitarian needs and respect for human rights of the IDPs in Puntland. 47. On piracy, President Farole mentioned that as a result of his administration’s efforts, piracy–related activities had reduced by 70 per cent and most of the pirates had shifted from Puntland to the Central regions, north of Mogadishu and Kismayo. There were 400 pirates in Puntland prisons, including some listed by United States intelligence, which exceeded the capacity of the prisons. Clan elders had done a commendable job of sensitizing the youth to abandoning piracy. He was saddened to learn that despite the efforts of his administration, the International Maritime Organization had characterized Puntland, in a report, as a criminal state and a hub for piracy. 48. President Farole reiterated his displeasure that Puntland was not fully involved in the Djibouti peace process. He added, however, that he had written to the new Special Representative of the Secretary–General for Somalia to welcome his appointment and was looking forward to meeting and working with him. He welcomed UNPOS decision to open permanent offices in Puntland. 49. In his meetings with United Nations agencies in Garowe, the independent expert was informed about measures undertaken by the United Nations to deal with the IDP and refugee situation in Puntland, in particular to lessen the tension between the latter and the local population and the Puntland administration. The independent expert was particularly impressed by the useful work being done by the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Rule of Law and Security Programme (ROLS) as well as the work of UNHCR to build upon existing UNDP interventions, which included support to local police administration in improving its capacity and infrastructure to deal with the situation on ground. The independent expert believed these measures were likely to promote a greater spirit of cooperation between the United Nations and Puntland authorities. He also believed that relations were likely to improve if some of the basic assistance needs of Puntland, which was genuinely faced with a serious security threat on its territory and did not have enough resources to deal with it, were properly met. He sincerely hoped that such cooperation would lead to the adoption and implementation of a national IDP policy which the Puntland Government was in the process of elaborating with support of the United Nations. 50. Following his meeting with the Government, the independent expert visited IDP settlements in Garowe and the new site where those IDPs would be relocated. He hoped that the new site would provide better amenities to the IDPs. The independent expert wished to underline that he was terribly pained to see the extremely poor living conditions of the IDPs at their present location in Garowe. He told the United Nations that while he could understand the quick airing of their concern about the deportation of IDPs referred to above, he could not appreciate their seeming lack of concern about the terrible living conditions of the IDPs. 12