Dutch ex-soldiers are increasingly offering their services as private security guards in hazardous regions overseas. There are Dutch firms protecting ships against pirates in the Gulf of Aden. But campaigners are concerned that the private companies are getting round the law and using guns.

The number of private security firms is mushrooming, and increasingly they’re dodging the law, according to a report published this week by the Dutch Campaign Against the Arms Trade, Campagne tegen Wapenhandel (CtW). In the Netherlands and on board Dutch ships it’s illegal for private security guards to use arms. But overseas and for ships sailing under other flags, it's a different matter, says CtW's Mark Akkerman, who investigated the companies:

“As far as we’ve been able to find out, it’s not illegal. The fact that this sort of thing can happen is down to a legal vacuum. In the Netherlands there are clear guidelines on what security guards are and aren’t allowed to do. For one thing, they’re not allowed to be armed. But there are few checks on what these companies do abroad.”

CtW would like to see a clampdown on Dutch Rambos carrying arms in other countries and at sea too.

Trick
When pirates are around, “If you’re not armed it’s highly dangerous,” says Marco van Hees, head of Specops, a security firm with 65 employees. His company guards ships against pirates, but sticks strictly to the rules on arms, he says. However, because it’s not legal to carry guns on Dutch vessels, the company uses a trick to get round the law:

“You have to use patrol boats sailing under a different flag. They can sail close to the Dutch ship to ensure a safe passage through the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.”

Mushrooming
Mr Van Hees was once a UN soldier in Srebrenica (though he wasn’t there when the enclave fell into Serbian hands and the Dutchbat troops failed to prevent the murder of 8000 Muslim men). He acknowledges that Dutch marine security firms are mushrooming. In particular, ex-soldiers see there’s money to be made.

“There are people who think, ‘That’s big business, why don’t I set up a firm like that.’ They’ve been in the marines and they think ‘ships, I can do that’. They dine out on the name ‘marine’. They’ve got a few friends who want to work for them, and they think ‘let’s do it’.”

Other security guards offering protection against pirates, such as Schütz&Swart, also say they stick to the law. Director Jeroen Schütz stresses that his company has a supervising board, which checks whether the employees are following rules on the use of force set by a team of experts.

Combat training
Campaign group CtW is also concerned about firms run by ex-soldiers which give combat training using live ammunition. The courses take place overseas, often in Israel. Participants are usually people who want to work in private security. Mark Akkerman: “In the Netherlands these courses are against the law. We’d like to see it made illegal for Dutch companies to offer them in other countries too.”