Outsourcing and Oversight: How Market Regulation Failure and the Culture of Laissez Faire Led to the Exploitation of Those Who Guard Our Embassies Abroad
Since 1990 there has been both a large reduction in the numbers of personnel serving in the British military and a significant increase in the outsourcing of government services. In the early 2000s these phenomena intersected when the UK was at war in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Faced with an increased threat to its diplomatic missions in frontier locations and a lack of military resources to support them, the government turned to the private security market for help to guard its embassies. However, it did so without implementing any meaningful oversight mechanisms for its contractors. The result was widespread labour exploitation amongst the Nepalese and Indian citizens hired to protect British Embassies from attack.

In this talk, James Sinclair (FSI Worldwide) describes the legal, political, economic, cultural and policy paradigm that has developed in the outsourcing of diplomatic security services over the last 20 years. He explores the market regulation failure that left so many ‘third country nationals’ exposed to exploitation at the hands of British private security companies and asks whether enough has been done to ensure that it cannot happen again. James will be joined by Elise Groulx Diggs (Doughty Street Chambers); Mustafa Qadri (Equidem); Lucas Roorda (Utrecht University).
Date: 9 June 2021, 12:30 (Wednesday, 7th week, Trinity 2021)
Venue: This event will take place via Zoom.
Speakers: James Sinclair (FSI Worldwide), Elise Groulx Diggs (Doughty Street Chambers), Mustafa Qadri (Equidem), Lucas Roorda (Utrecht University)
Organising department: Faculty of Law
Organiser: Bonavero Institute of Human Rights (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address: bonavero-events@law.ox.ac.uk
Part of: Bonavero Network Series
Booking required?: Required
Booking url: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_QGAPP0OnR4CT-a5Txos0kw
Audience: Public
Editors: Gayathree Kalliyat Thazhathuveetil, Rosie Stuart