MIC Youth against hiring ex-Sri Lankan soldiers as guards

PETALING JAYA: The Government should not allow the hiring of former Sri Lankan soldiers as security guards in view of security and human rights concerns, said MIC Youth chief C. Sivarraajh.

He said any move to hire them must take into consideration the sensitivities of the Tamil community in the country.

Deputy Home Minister Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed had been quoted as saying that the Government might lift the ruling of allowing only Nepalis to be hired as security guards.

“We may have to look at other source countries that have a good supply of security guards with military background, such as Sri Lanka,” he was quoted as saying.

Last Saturday, a crackdown on illegal security guards by the Immigration Department gave residents of guarded communities the jitters.

Sivarraajh, in a statement yesterday, said that it was better if the relevant stakeholders could train Malaysians to become security guards instead.

“The lack of professionally-trained security personnel can be overcome by training locals. Former Sri Lankan soldiers are not suitable to be employed as security guards.”

Between 2014 and 2015, the Home Ministry cancelled the licences of 40 security guard companies and issued final warning notices to 49 others for various offences, including hiring untrained illegal immigrants as guards.

A total of 347 enforcement operations were conducted between 2013 and March 1 this year, which saw 1,116 illegal security guards and 26 employers detained.