According to a study by the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), the UK provided military training to two-thirds of the world’s armies between 2018 and 2020. Among the countries who saw their troops trained on British soil include some with appalling human rights abuse who the UK has previously condemned.
Bahrain, China, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Zimbabwe all enjoyed top-class military training from Britain’s armed forces despite widespread reports that the governments of each state are responsible for horrendous human rights abuses within their borders.
Despite having an arms embargo on Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan the UK government still decided to train the troops of each nation. Between 2018 and 2020 Britain oversaw around 2500 military training courses, many carried out within the UK.
Andrew Smith of Campaign Against the Arms Trade told the Guardian: “This raises very serious questions for the government. Many of these armies are responsible for upholding brutal and repressive laws, and have been accused of torture and other human rights violations. UK forces should not be doing anything to support or strengthen them.”
