Journalist Amanda Lindhout and photographer Nigel Brennan

Yesterday, Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photographer Nigel Brennan were released from captivity. They were held by Somali criminals (or freedom fighters) for fifteen months. Their release was secured by a ransom finally paid by the efforts of their families, friends and neighbours. The money was raised through fundraisers, the selling of family belongings like Brennan’s parent’s car and home and help from professional negotiators. The question was raised many times over the last fifteen months and constantly in the hours since their release: should the Canadian and Australian governments have done more to help?

Of course our governments don’t pay ransoms, nor do they negotiate with terrorists and nobody (or at least I’m not) is suggesting that they should have done those things. However, there are a great many other things the government could have been doing. They didn’t seem to have any interest at all in Lindhout’s case. There was not even an appeal to the Canadian people to come together to help out a fellow national. Most people didn’t know about Amanda’s case until the one year anniversary of her captivity, and many people still don’t know.
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