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.