Farce of Army drive to sign up more ethnic minorities
AN ARMY recruitment drive to sign up more soldiers from ethnic minorities fell flat when the only person interested was told he could be banned from signing up – because he is foreign.
Military chiefs spent over two hours wooing a multi-racial audience who were given free transport to the event in Scarborough, North Yorks.
Yet, despite promises of winter sports, world travel and vast career opportunities, only one person was keen to sign up.
Iranian-born chef Mahdi Hafezpol, 31, said he was warned his dual nationality could be a problem and result in intelligence officers “having a little chat” every time he wanted to see family in the Middle East.
As the lack of volunteers became apparent, one community group leader suggested gunfire be edited out of the army’s recruitment DVD, claiming it could be upsetting for asylum seekers who had fled to Britain from their war-torn homelands.
Last night critics slammed the event a “ridiculous waste of public cash”.
Scarborough Conservative MP Robert Goodwill said: “If they were recruiting for the politically correct brigade, their ranks would be full. If you are going to be frightened by gunfire on a video you are not cut out for the Army.”
Singling out potential recruits in this way could even do more harm than good
Emma Boon, campaign director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Spending taxpayers’ money on recruitment for ethnic minorities is box-ticking of the worse kind.
“Singling out potential recruits in this way could even do more harm than good.”
The event was staged in the seaside town for an invited audience of more than 20 men and women.
They included a Polish woman who was ineligible as she was not from a Commonwealth country and did not have UK citizenship.
The recruiting drive came after Army top brass said Muslim troops would be especially useful in areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan to enable them to engage better with local communities. Marketing expert Simon Armstrong said: “We are keen to give Muslims the opportunity of joining the Army and look on it as a career option.
“They are more in tune with the culture of the places we operate in.
“In terms of language and customs they have more insight than non-Muslim recruits.”
But Francis Ahiakpa, finance officer for Humber All Nations Alliance, asked for gunshots on the recruitment DVD to be muted before it is shown at a similar event in Hull.
He said: “I work with asylum-seekers and some are so traumatised that the slightest noise makes them jump.”
The Army has no shortage of applicants but out of 101,000 troops just 5,000 are black, 655 Hindu, 550 Muslim, 350 Buddhist, and only 80 Sikhs.
The new drive was also about spreading the word of job opportunities to all sectors of the community, said recruiting officer Major Hamish MacCunn.
