Feral Jundi

Monday, December 3, 2012

Industry Talk: ‘Bahrainisation’ And PMSC’s

Sometimes stories like this pop up that barely get any mention, but are pretty interesting and actually tell a bigger story. In this deal, Bahrain is actually trying to get more Bahrainis to work in private security, and this has become difficult to do for these security companies. It is a wealthy nation, and security guard work is not exactly the most attractive occupation.

That, and these security companies would probably have to pay more in order to attract more Bahrainis. I have written in the past about companies like the Fauji Foundation that have been providing Pakistani security contractors for years in Bahrain. Companies like this would have to now contend with having a certain percentage of Bahrainis in their ranks in order to continue working in the country–and would have to eat the cost of increased salaries. But hey, if this is what the king wants, this is what he will get.

You also see a little bit of this type of thing in South Africa currently. There, they have been trying to push through some legislation requiring that security companies operating there must be a majority owned by South Africans. A ‘South-Africanisation’ of the security industry so to speak.

There is also equal protest against such a move. Here is a quote from the Security Industry Alliance about this legislation.

Security Industry Alliance (SIA), an umbrella group of large security firms, said the proposals could cause many companies to “divest, leaving skills, capability and technical support gaps”.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out in both countries, and to see if similar deals happen elsewhere? –Matt

 

Security firms’ plea to Premier
Sunday, December 02, 2012
An appeal has gone out for His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa to intervene and save private security companies from closing down and dismissing Bahrainis. Owners of 14 such companies called on the Premier to issue directives to the Labour Ministry to this effect. They said the ministry has disregarded their repeated calls for consultations to reach a satisfactory formula for recruitment and a Bahrainisation percentage to suit the nature of security guard work. Bahrainis had turned away from becoming security guards and they said they had requested the ministry to reconsider the Bahrainisation percentage. They presented recommendations to address the shortage of Bahrainis in the field, notably, reducing Bahrainisation in this sector for a temporary period while raising work visa fees for an expatriate security guard to BD300.
Story here.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Bahrain: Saudi Arabia Sends Soldiers To Defend Government In Bahrain, So What Will Iran Do?

 

Wow, this is some news that needs to be put out there.(obviously the disaster in Japan, and uprisings in Libya are taking up the stage right now)  My question here is if most of the protest base is Shia, will they now be justified and inclined to accept help from Iran? Especially since Saudi Arabia (which is mostly  Sunni) has decided it is within their best interest to send troops to Bahrain? I think so…

Or will Iran send advisors and lots of weapons, much like they do elsewhere in the Middle East? And of course, Iran’s little puppets in Iraq are firing up the Shia there, and joining in support of the protesters in Bahrain with their own protests in Iraq. Things are moving fast and this fire burning in Bahrain and elsewhere in the Middle East is in some very dry tinder. Especially if footage of Saudi troops shooting or beating protesters comes out–and I know Iran will be all over that. Interesting times. –Matt

Saudi soldiers sent into Bahrain

March 16, 2011

Hundreds of Saudi troops have entered Bahrain to help protect government facilities there amid escalating protests against the government.

Bahrain television on Monday broadcast images of troops in armoured cars entering the Gulf state via the 26km causeway that connects the kingdom to Saudi Arabia.

(more…)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Bahrain: The Fauji Foundation–Hundreds Of Pakistani Veterans Recruited To Serve In Bahrain’s National Guard

     This just came up on my radar, and I had never heard of the Fauji Foundation before.  I guess what you could call this group is a massive welfare company that was established years ago to take care of Pakistani veterans and their dependents.  They do this by providing jobs for ex-servicemen.

     Which brings us to the story below.  I guess Bahrain has been using the Fauji Foundation’s Overseas Employment Service for awhile now to fill out the ranks of it’s security forces? This really comes into play with the current uprisings in Bahrain and I imagine the anti-riot forces were partially composed of Pakistains.  So chalk up Bahrain and Libya as two countries that are using contracted forces for police/military duties.  Or better yet, they are using private forces as a strategic tool to flex with whatever problem they come up against.(I am not supporting how they are using private industry–just pointing out an observation)

     This first story below talks about a massive recruitment drive to plus up the National Guard in Bahrain. And this is not a new thing here. Supposedly Bahrain and Pakistan have had a long relationship when it came to using these contract forces.  It is also interesting that ever since this story broke out, the OES job portal at the Fauji Foundation has taken down these job ads?  Either they filled them all, or they wanted to minimize any attention by stripping the ad after the story came out about the connection between Pakistan and the anti-riot police in Bahrain. It sounds like they certainly had plenty of folks who applied for the job of doing Bahrain’s bidding–6,000 to 7,000! –Matt

Overseas Employment Services: Fauji Foundation headhunts for Bahrain’s security units

Ex-servicemen ‘export’ mercenaries to the Middle East

Fauji Security Services (Pvt) Limited.  

Profile of a Welfare Organisation for Ex-Servicemen

Overseas Employment Services: Fauji Foundation headhunts for Bahrain’s security units

By Saba Imtiaz

March 11, 2011

The Overseas Employment Services (OES) of the Fauji Foundation is recruiting hundreds of ex-servicemen to serve in the Bahrain National Guard (BNG).

Advertisements in an Urdu language daily and on the OES website state that the BNG “immediately” requires people with experience and qualifications as anti-riot instructors and security guards.

While an official at the Fauji Foundation said there were 800 vacancies and 6,000-7,000 applications had been received, another at the OES said there were 200 to 300 vacancies and a number of people had been selected.

The advertisement states that a BNG delegation is visiting Pakistan from March 7 to March 14 to recruit people from the following categories: officers (majors), Pakistan Military Academy drill instructors, anti-riot instructors, security guards, and military police as well as cooks and mess waiters. Civilians were required as security guards, while the rest of the categories required experience in the military or security forces. The requirement for anti-riot instructors was NCOs (non-commissioned officers) from the Sindh Rangers or officers of an equivalent rank from the Elite Police Force.

The official at the OES also said that Bahrain’s army had recently recruited ex-servicemen from Pakistan. In December, the OES advertised positions for retired Pakistan Army doctors to serve in the King’s Guard.

The Fauji Foundation was set up in 1954 and serves as a trust for ex-servicemen and their families. It is believed to be among the largest industrial conglomerates in the country.

Bahrain tensions

Pakistanis serving in Bahrain’s security forces were reportedly involved in a crackdown on protestors in Manama in February in which seven people were killed and hundreds injured. Some injured protestors told the media that the police who beat them up spoke Urdu.

(more…)

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Cool Stuff: Predictions On Mideast Revolution–Economist Vs. Paddy Power

     Well, according to the Shoe-Thrower’s index Yemen is high on the list.  Of course this is not as current as the Paddy Power prediction, which indicates Bahrain as the next to go.  But Yemen is still a close second.

    Also, if guys have radically different odds from a different source, please feel free to post those with a link in the comments section. –Matt

Edit: 02/20/2010- It looks like Paddy Power took it down.  Although I will leave up the odds from that date, just for reference.

Edit: 02/22/2011- Intrade now offers contracts on who will fall next. Check it out here. Libya and Bahrain are very active.

The Shoe-Thrower’s index

Feb 9th 2011

An index of unrest in the Arab world

IN THIS week’s print edition we ran a table showing a number of indicators for members of the Arab League. By adding a few more and ascribing different weights to them we have come up with the Shoe-Thrower’s index, which aims to predict where the scent of jasmine may spread next. Some factors are hard to put a number on and are therefore discounted. For instance, dissent is harder in countries with a very repressive secret police (like Libya). The data on unemployment were too spotty to be comparable and so this important factor is discounted too. We took out the Comoros and Djibouti, which do not have a great deal in common with the rest of the group, and removed the Palestinian territories, Sudan and Somalia for lack of data. The chart below is the result of ascribing a weighting of 35% for the share of the population that is under 25; 15% for the number of years the government has been in power; 15% for both corruption and lack of democracy as measured by existing indices; 10% for GDP per person; 5% for an index of censorship and 5% for the absolute number of people younger than 25. Jordan comes out surprisingly low on the chart, which suggests the weighting might need to be tweaked. Post suggestions in the comments below and we will refine it.

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Paddy Power odds (as of Feb 17, 2011)

Next Leader To Step Down

Applies to the next country from the below list to have a prime minister/president/monarch/state leader step down due to public protests,

Must be reported by Sky News,

PP decision is final in settlement. (amount won if you bet $2)

Bahrain 3/1               $8

Yemen 7/2                   9

Jordan 7/2                   9

Morocco 5/1               12

Algeria 6/1                 14

Libya 7/1                    16

Iran 12/1                    26

Iraq 16/1                    34

Sudan 16/1                 34

Saudi Arabia 20/1    42

Syria 20/1                  42

(more…)

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Industry Talk: AGNA Awarded $8m for Bahrain and UAE Security Guard Services

     More AGNA news.  I am not the recruiter for this contract(s) and please do not send me a resume in reference to this story.

     I hope AGNA realizes, along with their owners, that we are all watching and we are all demanding excellence out of your management.  Your performance in Afghanistan was dismal and because you did not care about what was going on with that contract, all of us paid a price.  And whomever is the COR on this contract, please do your job and make sure this contract is carried out properly. That means getting out from behind your desk, actually checking on operations, and getting some shared reality about what is happening.  Then you can actually make an assessment as to how things are going.  Most of all, be a man (or woman) and have the courage to do things right when it comes to evaluating the performance of this company.  It’s not hard and all it takes is self-discipline and attention to detail to be effective.

     Or you guys can be ‘marshmallow eaters‘, and take the easy way out on managing these contracts. Thanks to Bill over at Dangerzonejobs for getting this one out there. –Matt

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United States DoD contracts for September 29, 2009

Armor Group North America Inc., McLean, Va., is being awarded an $8,073,841 modification under a previously awarded firm-fixed price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N33191-07-D-1357) to exercise option 2 for provision of security guard services at Naval Support Activity Bahrain.

(more…)

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