Two Somali children traveling the high seas with pirates are being sent back to Somalia.

The two pre-teens - ages 12 and 11 - were captured in January with 12 other Somalis on suspicion of piracy. The 11-year-old was acquitted because of his age. The 12-year-old was sentenced to a provisional release upon being sent back to Somalia.

The Seychelles police said Monday that the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime was helping to fly the two back to northern Somalia to be reunited with their families.

A recent report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea said the international community is investing big resources to pursue pirates at the bottom of the chain - such as illiterate youth - instead of going after piracy's powerbrokers.