Monday, April 02, 2007
quarter of U.K. Iraq aid budget spent on private security companeis
Security, Finance
(BI-ME) - The UK authorities have spent US$330 million on hiring private security companies in Iraq in the past four years, the equivalent to around a quarter of the entire Iraq aid budget, it has emerged. A further US$80 million has been spent on private guards in Afghanistan since 2004. The security costs, mainly for guards for British staff and facilities, were revealed in a parliamentary answer from the Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells. They reflect the huge quantities of money that the UK and the US have had to divert from humanitarian and reconstruction resources to deal with the deteriorating security environment in both countries.
In Iraq, a total of £145 million (US$290 million) has been spent on security guards to protect UK assets, with a further £20 million (US$40 million) going on police training and security advisers to the Iraqi government. The UK Iraqi aid budget over the same period was £644 million (US$1,288 million). The big beneficiaries have been the New York-based risk consulting company Kroll and the UK companies ArmorGroup and Control Risks. ArmorGroup, which is headed by the Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind, earned 50% of its revenues from Iraq last year.
Five years ago the UK government published a Green Paper on regulating private security companies but political action has not been forthcoming. John Hilary, Campaigns Director of War on Want, which has been pressing for legislation, says there is political resistance at the top. "As the pressure mounts on Blair and Brown to withdraw troops from Iraq, there is a growing possibility that their role will be increasingly taken up by these private military companies," he said. "It's easier for the government to allow this privatisation of war and turn a blind eye to regulation. It may be politically expedient but this flies in the face of a more ethical approach to actions of British companies overseas."
The rising cost of security at the expense of development aid reflects the American experience. According to the latest audit of US spending, 34% of the US$21 billion allocated for Iraqi reconstruction has been diverted to security, an increase from US$4.56 billion to US$6.31 billlion. For private contractors, the cost of security is now running at an average of 12% for each contract.
Chunks of the UK's Department for International Development's aid budget have also been diverted, according to latest figures from officials in Baghdad. In the last financial year more than £6 milllion (US$12 million) has been spent on private security companies. Over the four-year period, almost US$100 million has been allocated to the Foreign Office-led programme aimed at reforming the Iraqi police and prison service. The programme has yet to achieve its main objective of cleaning up the militia-infiltrated police in Basra, the UK policed area in the South of Iraq.
In Iraq, a total of £145 million (US$290 million) has been spent on security guards to protect UK assets, with a further £20 million (US$40 million) going on police training and security advisers to the Iraqi government. The UK Iraqi aid budget over the same period was £644 million (US$1,288 million). The big beneficiaries have been the New York-based risk consulting company Kroll and the UK companies ArmorGroup and Control Risks. ArmorGroup, which is headed by the Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind, earned 50% of its revenues from Iraq last year.
Five years ago the UK government published a Green Paper on regulating private security companies but political action has not been forthcoming. John Hilary, Campaigns Director of War on Want, which has been pressing for legislation, says there is political resistance at the top. "As the pressure mounts on Blair and Brown to withdraw troops from Iraq, there is a growing possibility that their role will be increasingly taken up by these private military companies," he said. "It's easier for the government to allow this privatisation of war and turn a blind eye to regulation. It may be politically expedient but this flies in the face of a more ethical approach to actions of British companies overseas."
The rising cost of security at the expense of development aid reflects the American experience. According to the latest audit of US spending, 34% of the US$21 billion allocated for Iraqi reconstruction has been diverted to security, an increase from US$4.56 billion to US$6.31 billlion. For private contractors, the cost of security is now running at an average of 12% for each contract.
Chunks of the UK's Department for International Development's aid budget have also been diverted, according to latest figures from officials in Baghdad. In the last financial year more than £6 milllion (US$12 million) has been spent on private security companies. Over the four-year period, almost US$100 million has been allocated to the Foreign Office-led programme aimed at reforming the Iraqi police and prison service. The programme has yet to achieve its main objective of cleaning up the militia-infiltrated police in Basra, the UK policed area in the South of Iraq.
Labels: Armorgroup, Control Risks, Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells, Kroll, private security companies, Sir Malcolm Rifkind
