media release

Oxfam and partners at UNGA79

September 17, 2024

Oxfam leaders, experts, and partners are joining the UN 79th General Assembly, Summit of the Future, and Climate Action week in New York, hosting and attending events focused on UN Security Council Reform, gender, digital rights, inequality, climate action, and humanitarian issues. They will be urging global leaders to take bold decisions and action as they deliberate the pressing issues of our time.

This year’s theme is “leaving no one behind: Acting Together for the Advancement of Peace, Sustainable Development and Human Dignity for Present and Future Generations.”

Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar said: 

“Our global systems have failed to address the unprecedented challenges we face today, leaving millions behind. Conflict is rampant, the climate crisis is at a breaking point, and inequality is soaring. As we gather at this year’s Assembly, leaders cannot squander the opportunity to restore people’s faith in the UN’s role as the flagbearer for global peace, security, and cooperation. They must move beyond mere rhetoric and make bold choices to create a system that serves all of humanity, not just the powerful few.”

An overview of Oxfam’s key events, including a press conference on a report on UN Security Council Reform, media spokespeople, and products:

A FEW HIGHLIGHTS FROM OXFAM’S AGENDA (all times in EST) :

Thursday, September 19: Oxfam will publish a report titled,“Vetoing Humanity,” which highlights how the five UN Security Council Permanent Member States’ (P5) have abused the veto and negotiating powers in their own geopolitical interests; and how they have paralyzed the Council’s ability to maintain international peace and security or mitigate prolonged conflicts and human suffering.

At 8:30am, Oxfam will be hosting a photo call at an art installation in Tudor City outside the UN, featuring a large dove shackled to a “veto” weight, signifying how the Security Council veto has restrained efforts for global peace. Brooklyn-based artist Miles Giordani built the installation with Oxfam.

At 11:00 am, Oxfam will also hold a press conference on the “Vetoing Humanity” report in the UN Correspondents Association briefing room.

At 5:30pm, Oxfam and other civil society organizations will be hosting a media happy hour for a chance for experts and journalists to connect. Media can RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unga-media-civil-society-happy-hour-tickets-1009525918197

Saturday, September 21: Oxfam and partners will host a Summit of the Future Action Days Official Side Event on “Reforming the UN Security Council for an Equal and Sustainable Future” at the UN Headquarters. Speakers will include Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International Executive Director; Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of the New America; Ambassador Lazalous Kapambwe former Zambia Permanent Representative to the UN and 67th President of UN ECOSOC; Wameedh Shakir, Founder and Chairperson of Itar Foundation in Yemen; Augusto Lopez-Claros, Executive Director and Chair – Global Governance Forum and Ishaan Shah co-founded Stolen Dreams. Register to participate or watch the Livestream here: Reforming the UN Security Council for an Equal and Sustainable Future (Side Event, Action Day 2, Summit of the Future) | UN Web TV

Monday, September 23: Oxfam will publish “Multilateralism in an Era of Global Oligarchy: How Extreme Inequality Undermines International Cooperation,” a report highlighting how ultrawealthy individuals — often enabled by the richest countries — exert disproportionate influence over policy decision. The paper proposes the solutions needed for progress and provides new global data prepared for UNGA. On Thursday, September 26, a joint event with the Ford Foundation will outline key aspects the report; the panelists will include: Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar; Ronald Lamola, South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation; and Nanjala Nyabola, Kenyan writer, researcher, and political analyst; moderated by The Washington Post’s Karen Attiah.

Reactive Statements:

Oxfam will be making statements regarding Summit of the Future outcomes, Heads of State Speeches during the High-Level Debate and other developments throughout.

OXFAM SPOKESPEOPLE:

Amitabh Behar, Oxfam International, Executive Director: Sustainable Development Goals, UN Reform, Inequality, Climate, Democracy, Human Rights, war in Gaza

Abby Maxman, Oxfam America President and CEO: Sustainable Development Goals, Inequality, Humanitarian Issues

Lebogang Ramafoko, Oxfam South Africa Executive Director: Summit of the Future, Climate and Inequality

Brenda Mofya, Head of Oxfam New York Office: Sustainable Development Goals, The Summit of the Future, Humanitarian Issues

Dr. Tawanda Mutasah, Oxfam America Vice President of Global Partnerships and Impact: Sustainable Development Goals, UN Reform

Ashfaq Khalfan, Oxfam America Director of Climate Justice: U.S. position and context on climate issues in UN agenda, Climate and Inequality, Future Generations

Nabil Ahmed, Oxfam America Director of Economic and Racial Justice: Economic/Wealth Inequality, Progressive Taxation, Corporate Power, Multilateralism

Pauline Chetcuti, Oxfam International Head of Humanitarian Advocacy and Campaigns; Humanitarian and Climate Financing, Humanitarian Issues

Neal McCarthy, Oxfam America Associate Director of Digital in Program: Summit of the Future Digital Compact

Rebecca Shadwick, Oxfam International Gender Rights & Justice Policy & Advocacy Lead: Gender Justice and Rights in the Summit of the Future

Abdulwasea Mohammed, Oxfam in Yemen Advocacy, Policy, and Campaigns Lead; Yemen, Inclusive Peace and Security

Partners:

Marinel Ubaldo, Climate Activist from the Philippines; Climate and Youth Activism

Hilda Nakabuye, Climate Activist from Uganda: Climate and Youth Activism

Wameedh Shakir, Chairwoman of Itar Foundation for Social Development in Yemen; Yemen, Gender, UN Reform

FULL LIST OF EVENTS AND MEDIA PRODUCTS:

Wednesday, September 18:

YEMEN JOINT NGO BRIEFING NOTE: Humanitarian Situation and Funding in Yemen on the Occasion of the 79th United Nations General Assembly

Thursday, September 19:

OXFAM REPORT + PRESS CONFERENCE + PHOTO CALL: Oxfam is publishing the report “Vetoing Humanity: How a few powerful nations hijacked global peace and why reform is needed at the UN Security Council.”

Embargoed press release and report

Public press release and report (links will go live at 00:01 EST)

As detailed above, Oxfam will be presenting the report at a press conference and presenting a temporary art installation featuring a dove of peace shackled by the weight of the veto by Brooklyn-based artist Miles Giordani.

OXFAM JOINT CIVIL SOCIETY MEDIA HAPPY HOUR: Oxfam and civil society partners are hosting a happy hour to connect policy experts with media. Media RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unga-media-civil-society-happy-hour-tickets-1009525918197
TIME: 5:30-8:30pm
LOCATION: The Stag’s Head, 252 E 51st Street (at 2nd Avenue)

Friday, September 20:

FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE + OXFAM EVENT: Youth Climate Strike: Tear Down the Pillars of Fossil Fuels. Oxfam staff and partners will take part; Climate activist Hilda Nakabuye will speak at the rally
TIME: 2:00-4:00pm
LOCATION: Meet at Foley Square, RSVP at https://actionnetwork.org/events/youth-climate-strike-tear-down-the-pillars-of-fossil-fuels-2

OXFAM + TRUST AFRICA EVENT: African Civil Society Dialogue on the Summit of the Future
LOCATION: Jay Suites – Fifth Avenue, 15 W 38th Street
Note: This event continues to September 21. For more information contact Gail Smith (gail.smith@oxfam.org.za).

Saturday, September 21:

OXFAM SIDE EVENT: Summit of the Future – “Transforming Economies beyond GDP: towards a caring and feminist future with people, wellbeing and planet at the center.”
TIME: 9:00-10:45am
LOCATION: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pmurQXRqTlqJFa4Ysp_AFA

OXFAM EVENT: “Connecting the Global North and South in fulfilling existing legal obligations on climate finance, including loss and damage”
TIME: 11:00am-12:30pm
LOCATION: Oxfam NY Office, 369 Lexington Avenue
Note: For more information contact Karelia Pallan (karelia.pallan@oxfam.org)

OXFAM + IMPACT COALITION ON AI EVENT: Oxfam’s Neal McCarthy will be speaking on the Panel on AI & Technology Governance”
TIME: 4:00-5:15pm
LOCATION: UNHQ – CR12

Monday, September 23:

OXFAM REPORT: “Multilateralism in an Era of Global Oligarchy” will outline how extreme economic inequality undermines multilateral efforts to effectively respond to critical global challenges like global taxation, health, and debt and proposes the solutions needed for progress. The paper provides new global data prepared for UNGA.

OXFAM STATEMENT: Oxfam will issue a media reaction to the Pact of the Future and Summit of the Future outcomes

OXFAM STATEMENT: Oxfam will issue a statement ahead of President Biden’s address at the General Debate

Tuesday, September 24:

OXFAM EVENT: “Building Global Consensus for Justice in Mining for the Energy Transition: Can the UN Critical Energy Transition Minerals (CETM) Panel lead the way?” RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/un-panel-on-critical-energy-transition-minerals-toward-the-change-we-need-tickets-999360422927
TIME: 3:00-4:30pm
LOCATION: Oxfam NY Office – Sinatra Room (2nd Floor), 15 W 38th Street

Wednesday, September 25:

OXFAM SPEAKING ON DEVEX PANEL: “Food as a weapon in the new age of starvation.” Oxfam in Yemen’s Abdulwasea Mohammed, Advocacy, Policy and Media Lead, will speak about the food security crisis in Yemen
TIME: 10:25-11:00am
LOCATION: In-person in New York and online at https://pages.devex.com/devex-at-unga-79.html

Thursday, September 26:

OXFAM + FORD FOUNDATION EVENT: “Multilateralism in an Era of Oligarchy” will explore how extreme economic inequality undermines multilateral efforts to effectively respond to critical global challenges like global taxation, health, and debt; Oxfam panelists will be moderated by The Washington Post’s Karen Attiah.
TIME: 12:30-2:30pm
LOCATION: Ford Foundation, 320 E 43rd Street
Note: Please contact Shelby Bolen (shelby.bolen@oxfam.org) to be added to the RSVP list.

ABOUT OXFAM

Oxfam is a global organization that fights inequality to end poverty and injustice and will highlight the urgent need in tackling the intersections of rising inequality, humanitarian emergencies, and the climate crisis.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For any media requests or for more information on anything below, please reach out to Lauren Hartnett at lauren.hartnett@oxfam.org and +1 203-247-3920 or Nesrine Aly at nesrine.aly@oxfam.org or +44 750 398 9838 (WhatsApp only).

To keep up with the Oxfam delegation’s activities, follow @Oxfam

Risk of disease outbreak as Bangladesh floods

September 5, 2024

The risk of waterborne disease outbreak is rising as the water and sanitation systems across 11 districts in Bangladesh have been submerged or disrupted by recent floods, said Oxfam today.

Oxfam’s recent needs assessment survey across Fulgazi, Feni Sadar, Senbag, and Kobirhat areas in Feni and Noakhali, the hardest-hit districts, showed that nearly all shelters were submerged and 48% were destroyed. All of the sanitation facilities in the areas studied have been entirely damaged.

Oxfam’s Country Director in Bangladesh Ashish Damle said:

“We are looking at a health ticking bomb. The water and sanitation infrastructure in those districts have almost entirely collapsed. Floods have washed away agricultural and industrial chemicals as well as people’s waste, which have severely contaminated the water, putting millions of people already struggling at a very high risk of waterborne disease outbreak.”

The Bangladesh floods which started last week and are the worst in recent history, have affected around 5.8 million people. With sanitation facilities, infrastructures, homes, and agricultural lands extensively damaged, communities need immediate and sustained support.

Enamul Hoque, Oxfam’s Water and Sanitation Specialist said: “When we visited households in both urban and rural areas of Feni, we saw entire families suffering from acute watery diarrhea and vomiting. We need a large-scale coordinated response to prevent and mitigate an imminent disease outbreak.”

According to the UN, water and sanitation facilities in 10 districts have been severely impacted. Most have been flooded, washed away or damaged, posing major risks to the water quality and health, adding burden onto already struggling health facilities. Nearly 300,000 latrines have also been damaged, according to the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE).

Hosne Ara Begum, a 38-year-old Feni district resident, recounted her harrowing experience: “We spent days on the roof, with no food or clean water. The toilets were underwater, and we had no privacy. We had to use a saree (cloth) to cover and defecate on the roof. We’ve been sick, but there’s no other option. This flood has taken everything from us.”

 People urgently need clean drinking water, cash, food, and hygiene kits. In the mid-term, they will also need support to repair their homes, restore water and sanitation infrastructure, and provide agricultural inputs to restart food production. In the long term, sustainable solutions such as building resilient water and sanitation facilities, shelters, and promoting income-generating activities are essential to ensure these vulnerable communities’ recovery and future resilience.

Oxfam in Bangladesh has been on the ground since the floods, providing immediate emergency support, including clean water, dry food, water purifications, and mobile charging stations.

Oxfam is providing the most affected communities with shelter, sanitation facilities, cash, hygiene kits, and food. Together with its partners, Oxfam is also planning long-term rehabilitation of critical water and sanitation networks, as well as supporting people to rebuild their lives.

However, the scale of the disaster demands more substantial resources to address immediate and long-term needs.

Note to the editors:

According to the UN, Bangladesh Water, 520 unions of 77 Upazilas of 10 districts have been severely impacted. Source: UN Situation Report, 30 August 2024

According to the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) report, as of 31 August 2024, 295,689 latrines have been damaged.

Contact information:

Rachel Schaevitz, Rachel.schaevitz@oxfam.org.nz

Pandemic creates new billionaire every 30 hours — now a million people could fall into extreme poverty at same rate in 2022

May 24, 2022

As the cost of essential goods rises faster than it has in decades, billionaires in the food and energy sectors are increasing their fortunes by US$1 billion dollars every two days.

For every new billionaire created during the pandemic — one every 30 hours — nearly a million people could be pushed into extreme poverty in 2022 at nearly the same rate, reveals a new Oxfam brief today. “Profiting from Pain” is published as the World Economic Forum — the exclusive get-together of the global elite in Davos — takes place for the first time face-to-face since COVID-19, a period during which billionaires have enjoyed a huge boost to their fortunes.

“Billionaires are arriving in Davos to celebrate an incredible surge in their fortunes. The pandemic and now the steep increases in food and energy prices have, simply put, been a bonanza for them. Meanwhile, decades of progress on extreme poverty are now in reverse and millions of people are facing impossible rises in the cost of simply staying alive,” said Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director of Oxfam International.

The brief shows that 573 people became new billionaires during the pandemic, at the rate of one every 30 hours. We expect this year that 263 million more people will crash into extreme poverty, at a rate of a million people every 33 hours.

Billionaires’ wealth has risen more in the first 24 months of COVID-19 than in 23 years combined. The total wealth of the world’s billionaires is now equivalent to 13.9 percent of global GDP. This is a three-fold increase (up from 4.4 percent) in 2000.

“Billionaires’ fortunes have not increased because they are now smarter or working harder. Workers are working harder, for less pay and in worse conditions. The super-rich have rigged the system with impunity for decades and they are now reaping the benefits. They have seized a shocking amount of the world’s wealth as a result of privatization and monopolies, gutting regulation and workers’ rights while stashing their cash in tax havens — all with the complicity of governments,” said Bucher.

“Meanwhile, millions of others are skipping meals, turning off the heating, falling behind on bills and wondering what they can possibly do next to survive. Across East Africa, one person is likely dying every minute from hunger. This grotesque inequality is breaking the bonds that hold us together as humanity. It is divisive, corrosive and dangerous. This is inequality that literally kills.”

Oxfam’s new research also reveals that corporations in the energy, food and pharmaceutical sectors —where monopolies are especially common— are posting record-high profits, even as wages have barely budged and workers struggle with decades-high prices amid COVID-19. The fortunes of food and energy billionaires have risen by US$453 billion in the last two years, equivalent to US$1 billion every two days. Five of the largest energy companies (BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, Exxon and Chevron) are together making US$2,600 profit every second, and there are now 62 new food billionaires.

Together with just three other companies, the Cargill family controls 70 percent of the global agricultural market. Last year Cargill made the biggest profit in its history (US$5 billion in net income) and the company is expected to beat its record profit again in 2022. The Cargill family alone now has 12 billionaires, up from eight before the pandemic.

From Sri Lanka to Sudan, record-high global food prices are sparking social and political upheaval. 60 percent of low-income countries are on the brink of debt distress. While inflation is rising everywhere, price hikes are particularly devastating for low-wage workers whose health and livelihoods were already most vulnerable to COVID-19, particularly women, racialized and marginalized people. People in poorer countries spend more than twice as much of their income on food than those in rich countries.

Today, 2,668 billionaires — 573 more than in 2020 — own US$12.7 trillion, an increase of US$3.78 trillion.
The world’s ten richest men own more wealth than the bottom 40 percent of humanity, 3.1 billion people.
The richest 20 billionaires are worth more than the entire GDP of Sub-Saharan Africa.
A worker in the bottom 50 percent would have to work for 112 years to earn what a person in the top 1 percent gets in a single year.
High informality and overload due to care tasks have kept 4 million women in Latin America and the Caribbean out of the workforce. Half of working women of color in the US earn less than US$15 an hour.

The pandemic has created 40 new pharma billionaires. Pharmaceutical corporations like Moderna and Pfizer are making US$1,000 profit every second just from their monopoly control of the COVID-19 vaccine, despite its development having been supported by billions of dollars in public investments. They are charging governments up to 24 times more than the potential cost of generic production. 87 percent of people in low-income countries have still not been fully vaccinated.

“The extremely rich and powerful are profiting from pain and suffering. This is unconscionable. Some have grown rich by denying billions of people access to vaccines, others by exploiting rising food and energy prices. They are paying out massive bonuses and dividends while paying as little tax as possible. This rising wealth and rising poverty are two sides of the same coin, proof that our economic system is functioning exactly how the rich and powerful designed it to do,” said Bucher.

“Over two years since the pandemic began, after more than 20 million estimated deaths from COVID-19 and widespread economic destruction, government leaders in Davos face a choice: act as proxies for the billionaire class who plunder their economies, or take bold steps to act in the interests of their great majorities. One common economic sense measure above all will put this to the test: whether governments will finally tax billionaire wealth”.

Oxfam recommends that governments urgently:

Introduce one-off solidarity taxes on billionaires’ pandemic windfalls to fund support for people facing rising food and energy costs and a fair and sustainable recovery from COVID-19. Argentina adopted a one-off special levy dubbed the ‘millionaire’s tax’ and is now considering introducing a windfall tax on energy profits as well as a tax on undeclared assets held overseas to repay IMF debt. The super-rich have stashed nearly US$8 trillion in tax havens.
End crisis profiteering by introducing a temporary excess profit tax of 90 percent to capture the windfall profits of big corporations across all industries. Oxfam estimated that such a tax on just 32 super-profitable multinational companies could have generated US$104 billion in revenue in 2020.
Introduce permanent wealth taxes to rein in extreme wealth and monopoly power, as well as the outsized carbon emissions of the super-rich. An annual wealth tax on millionaires starting at just 2 percent, and 5 percent on billionaires, could generate US$2.52 trillion a year —enough to lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty, make enough vaccines for the world, and deliver universal healthcare and social protection for everyone living in low- and lower middle-income countries.

“Before we feared dying of war, now we fear dying of hunger”: Ukraine crisis propelling hunger in Syria

March 15, 2022

Eleven years after the Syrian conflict began, six in ten Syrians do not know where their next meal is coming from, said Oxfam today. It warned that reliance on imports from Russia means the current crisis in Europe could ripple into Syria, exacerbating food shortages and causing food prices to soar. In the last year, food prices in Syria have doubled.

Oxfam spoke to 300 Syrians in government-held areas of the country. Nearly 90 percent said they could only afford to eat bread, rice and, occasionally, some vegetables. After ten years of conflict, the shockwaves of Covid-19, and the Lebanese banking crisis coupled with the Ukrainian crisis are having serious repercussions for the floundering economy, disrupting food and fuel imports and causing the Syrian pound to plummet at breakneck speed.

Moutaz Adham, Country Director for Oxfam in Syria, said: “People have been pushed to the brink by a collapsing economy. Around Damascus, people queue for hours to get subsidised bread at state bakeries, while young children rifle through garbage trying to find scraps of food. Struggling to put food on the table means many families are turning to extreme ways to cope: going into debt to buy food, taking children out of school to work and reducing the number of meals each day. Marrying off young daughters has become another negative coping strategy as it is one less mouth to feed. This is against a backdrop of 90 percent of Syrians living in poverty, unemployment rate at 60 percent and a monthly minimum wage in the public sector of approximately 26 US dollars.”

He added: “Syria relies heavily on Russia for imports of wheat. The crisis in Ukraine has seen the Syrian government starting to ration food reserves, including wheat, sugar, oil, and rice amid fears of shortages and price surges, and this could be just the beginning.”

Hala from Deir-ez-Zor told Oxfam: “It makes no sense for us to think about tomorrow, if we cannot even figure out what to put on our table today to feed our children.”

Majed from Rural Damascus told Oxfam: “I work 13 hours a day to feed my children, but it doesn’t seem to be enough. Sometimes I wish there is more than 24 hours a day, so I can do more work. I’m exhausted and don’t know how I will survive this harsh life with my family.”

Moutaz Adham added: “An average income only covers half of basic expenses.”

Notes:

Oxfam has been working in Syria since 2013 to provide humanitarian assistance to those affected by the conflict. In the last year, Oxfam’s work reached 1.2 million people. We provide clean drinking water to people, emergency cash assistance, and soap, hygiene and other materials. We help farmers get back to farming, and bakers back to baking. We run Covid-19 awareness raising campaigns. Oxfam is calling on international donors to focus on funding early recovery and social protection while also keep focusing on emergency needs and responses, including hunger response activities to save lives now.

12.4 million people in Syria are food insecure, child labour occurs in 84% of communities and child marriage for adolescent girls in 71% of communities, according to the latest figures from the Humanitarian Needs Overview.

The price of the World Food Program (WFP) standard food basket (a group of essential food items) has increased by 97% in the past year.

Last year, the Syrian government reportedly had to import 1.5 million tons of wheat, mainly from Russia.

As part of its Emergency and Food Security response, Oxfam interviewed 300 beneficiaries in government held areas of Aleppo, Deir-ez-Zor and Rural Damascus governorates, 100 beneficiaries in each governorate and found that 88 percent eat only bread, rice and occasionally vegetables. Additionally, 60 percent of people Oxfam spoke to say they earn less than what they need to cover their food needs. 10 percent said they rely only on bread and tea to survive. Since subsidised bread provides approximately 840 kcal per day, this amounts to only 40 percent of calories needed to survive (an average family of 5 can buy 12 bundles of subsidised bread, each consisting of 7 loaves, this leaves 2.4 loaves per person per day, having no more than 350 kcal). Strikingly, only 1.5 percent said they can afford to buy meat and only on rare occasions.

Contact details:

David Bull | Oxfam Aotearoa | David.bull@oxfam.org.nz | mobile +64 274179724

New Oxfam report uncovers stories from “prison-like” EU funded refugee center

March 7, 2022

New report from the Greek Council for Refugees (GCR) and Oxfam sheds light on the inside of the new 43-million-euro migration center on the Greek island of Samos. The report comes ahead of the 6-year anniversary of the EU-Turkey deal, and in the midst of already more than a million people fleeing conflict in Ukraine to seek asylum in EU countries. If ever there was a time to learn from the failures made in Greece, it is now.

The report found:

Approximately 1 in 5 people have been in de facto detention for two months. This is despite a Greek court finding this practice illegal in the ruling on a case of an Afghan resident in the Samos center last December. The Greek administration continues to deny this illegal practice. Yet, testimonies gathered by the Greek Council for Refugees and Oxfam show this practice remains very much a reality.
The use of “revenge tactics” in response to NGO reports, media coverage, and legal action by asylum seekers on illegal detention measures. This has included early morning raids, unexplained transfers to the police station, and oral eviction notices to residents appealing a negative asylum decision.
The excessive use of security. There is constant CCTV monitoring of all residents and an 8pm curfew. To exit and enter the camp, residents need an “asylum applicant” card. Some people – like the newly arrived, those who can’t afford the second subsequent asylum application fee, or those waiting for the Greek authorities to examine their subsequent asylum application – do not have this card. In the future, not having these cards may keep people from getting food and clothes.

Testimony from T., a young Afghan man, trapped on Samos since 2019:

“I just want to go outside. They don’t let me. They are keeping me here as a prisoner. If I had to choose, I would say that I would prefer the previous camp – at least, there, I was free. I was not living in a cage. At least, I had my freedom to go somewhere.”

This reception center in Samos will serve as the blueprint for the EU’s rollout of centers across the Greek islands. Costing the EU 276 million euros, they are a “new chapter in migration management” according to EU officials, and have the explicit aim to “discourage them from coming in the first place” according to the Greek Minister for Migration and Asylum. The EU has already invested in building two new centers on the islands of Kos and Leros and has plans to build two new centers on Chios and Lesvos.

Alkistis Agrafioti, Advocacy Officer at the Greek Council for Refugees:

“Going to the center, you have only one question: how is this suitable for people? It feels like visiting a prison located in the middle of nowhere. To enter and exit, people must go through a whole array of security measures with turnstiles, magnetic gates, x-rays, scanning cards and fingerprints. Body and bag searches as well. According to testimonies, even children going to school do not escape this daily procedure.

“What we saw when visiting the new Samos center and what people told us is that their previous degrading living conditions at the old Vathy camp just turned into prison like conditions in the new facility. The security guards are all over and you feel followed at every step. One resident we talked to told us how it felt like there were three security guards to one person. We met with an Afghan young man, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, that has turned to self-harm several times as he is trapped on the island for the last 3 years. For two months, he could not even exit the new facility due to an illegal exit ban. Many asked ‘what are we being punished for, when all we want is to rebuild our lives and be safe in Europe?’”

Evelien van Roemburg, Head of Oxfam EU Office:

“Over half a million people have already crossed Ukraine’s border fleeing a conflict that, according to the UN, could displace 4 million Ukrainians. Now more than ever, the EU must show their lessons learned from its migration response in Greece. As countries bordering Ukraine are receiving most asylum seekers, we cannot risk a repetition of another scraped together European response. The EU and all governments must come together and share collective responsibility to ensure the right of all people, no matter the country they came from, to find a safe refuge.

“This month marks six years since the EU-Turkey deal. And yet, what has the EU done? There is no agreement on migration and asylum rules. The decisions the EU does take, such as this one on closed centers, are taken with little thought to the people they will affect. The EU is hellbent on following its policy of deterrence, a policy that promotes ‘prison’ like conditions, de facto detention and human rights violations. This is not normal, nor is it necessary.

“Alternatives exist. The EU should invest in accommodation that fosters integration and allows people to prosper. It should not be located on the fringes of society, but instead allow people to take part in daily life and have access to basic services like going to the doctor.”

Notes:

Read the Lesbos Bulletin and our Stories from Samos publication.

Names of persons in testimonies changes to protect anonymity.

In December 2021, a GCR and Oxfam delegation visited the Samos CCAC and met with residents, the administration, and civil society organisations operating on the island which provide legal, medical and psychosocial aid to migrants.

In September 2021, the Greek government opened the first Closed Controlled Access Center (CCAC) on the island of Samos built with 43 million euro in EU funds.

In March 2016, EU and Turkish leaders struck a deal which stated that people arriving to the Greek islands irregularly will be returned to Turkey. In exchange, the EU promised 6 billion euros in EU funding to Turkey to support refugee integration and agreed to resettle one Syrian refugee from Turkey for every Syrian returned.

Asylum seekers submitting a second subsequent asylum application must pay a fee of 100 euros. This means that a couple with two children must pay 400 euros. This Greek provision is against EU (Asylum Procedures Directive) and international law. Asylum seekers whose circumstances may have changed since their initial application and now have a much higher chance of receiving a positive asylum decision, still are required to pay this fee e.g. people from Afghanistan. Yet many cannot afford it.

In December, the number of people banned from exiting the camp was around 100, out of the 450 residents.

Οn 17 December 2021, the Administrative Court of Syros, ruling in the case of an Afghan resident of the facility and represented by GCR, confirmed that the prohibition of exit from the Samos CCAC imposed by the Greek state was unlawful.

Residents in Samos CCAC have limited access to healthcare. There is no doctor or medical staff based inside the camp, and residents must rely on the sporadic visits of a military doctor.

For updates, please follow @OxfamEU.

Gavi launches COVID vaccine initiative for developing countries

June 5, 2020

Responding to the launch of a new initiative to help developing countries access a coronavirus vaccine at the Global Vaccine Summit today, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager, Anna Marriott, said:

“Gavi, and the governments behind it, recognise that high prices could prevent millions of people across the developing world being vaccinated against the coronavirus. Their response to this problem must avoid repeating the costly mistakes of the past, where they sought to subsidise the price charged by the pharmaceutical industry rather than seeking to bring them down, and ignored the needs of middle-income countries.

“Governments must stand up to wealthy pharmaceutical companies and insist that taxpayer’s money is only invested in vaccines that are patent free and available for all.”