Tribune – news, features and comment from Britain's left-wing magazine

by Terry Moore in Suva

THE British Army, which purports to fight for democratic values and human rights in Afghanistan and Iraq, is actively co-operating with Fiji’s military rulers even though the country was suspended from the Commonwealth last year after a military coup.

While some Fijians have, historically, always travelled to Britain in order to join the British Army, the Ministry of Defence has now stepped up its activity with a campaign on the main island of Viti Levu to recruit young men to the colours with the full co-operation of the military junta.

And on the back of the burgeoning relationship between the British Army and the Fijian military junta, British security firms are also actively recruiting retired soldiers on the islands to take up “security and bodyguard” duties in Iraq.

Some of these firms are little more than fronts for mercenary organisations taking up the slack of the United States military.

Like the British Army, they are taking advantage of the disparity in wages between Fiji and Britain to turn a profit from the war in Iraq.

While not practising a draconian rule in Fiji, its army overthrew a democratically elected government which was struggling to resolve ethnic tensions that have riven the country for decades.

The military seized power in order to underpin a policy of racial discrimination conducted against Fijian citizens of Indian descent by the indigenous Fijian majority.

For Britain to get diplomatic permission to recruit in Fiji indicates a high degree of co-operation between the MoD, senior British Army figures and the military dictatorship in Fiji.

The junta likes to maintain links with what its members see as “old friends”, while adding credibility to their military rule.

The temptation of a career in the British Army is high for many young Fijian men, who see it as a route out of abject poverty in a low wage economy. This economic driver is shamelessly exploited by the British Army which regards Fiji as a fertile territory for finding high calibre troops as they struggle to find suitable recruits at home.

The British Army has just finished its latest five week recruitment drive at the five star Sheraton Denarau Resort Hotel. Seven officers signed up 200 young recruits. This was the second such exercise this year and takes the total to just over 400.

They will be taken to Britain for six months’ basic training. Many will then be posted to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Seven Fijian soldiers were killed in 2006 while serving with the British Army and four have been killed so far this year.

There are now more than 2,000 Fijians serving in the British Army – second only to the Ghurkhas of Nepal as the largest contingent of foreign nationals.

Many are driven to join solely for economic reasons. Basic wages on Fiji are barely more than £1 an hour, with weekly wages rarely in excess of £40.

But women in the country are bitterly opposed to the recruitment of young Fijian men. Mothers and sisters worry about the safety of the young men who have signed up and say Britain is conducting an exploitative relationship with the South Pacific islands.