Media Releases

Two months on: Rohingya refugee crisis

November 2, 2017

Two months into the crisis, more than 603,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed over into southern Bangladesh, while thousands are still trapped in the border. According to the UN, the pace of new arrivals made this crisis the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world, and the concentration of refugees in Cox’s Bazar is now amongst the densest in the world.

In the early hours of 25 August 2017, violence broke out in the Northern Rakhine State of Myanmar and has driven more than 603, 000 people across the border into Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban Districts, southern Bangladesh. The people who have fled join the more than 300,000 others already living in cramped and makeshift camps since the 1990s, bringing the total refugee population to 815,200, as of 23 October, according to the United Nations.

Overall situation

The extent and implications of the large influx have resulted in a critical humanitarian emergency. The Rohingya refugees have faced a treacherous journey across the border fleeing the violence in Northern Rakhine.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights reports of women and girls, as young as five years old, being raped by men in army uniforms as they fled their homes. High numbers of gender-based violence and trauma survivors require appropriate specialized services, including clinical management of rape, surgical intervention and mental health and psychosocial support.

They are in urgent need of lifesaving assistance in food, water, sanitation, shelter, health, and strong support in place to ensure their safety, dignity and respect for individual rights.

The large number of people initially started taking shelter under the open sky in the forest areas, by the roadside, and in surrounding villages. The population movements within Cox’s Bazar remain highly fluid, with an increasing concentration in Ukhia, where the government has recently allocated 3,000 acres for a new camp.

More than half of the refugees are women and 60 percent of these are girls under the age of 18. There are more than 120,000 pregnant women and mothers with new babies who are among those struggling to survive in cramped camps and settlements that are ill-equipped to deal with their needs.

“There is no toilet or bathroom here. The latrines are far away. The women take a shower at night, we are unable to do it in the daytime.”

Sumaya, 44, lives in Thengkhali Camp with her husband and eight children. They live high on a hilltop and use makeshift latrines or holes in the ground. Two months into the crisis, there is still an estimated 300,000 people with no access to basic sanitation facilities.

Refugees carry Oxfam food parcels in Thengkali Camp, southern Bangladesh. Each food parcel contained three kilograms of rice, fortified biscuits, sugar and soaps. A total of 23,458 parcels have been distributed and benefitted over 140,000 individuals. Photo: Tommy Trenchard/Oxfam

We are there

Oxfam is responding now and has reached more than 185,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh by providing clean drinking water, portable toilets and sanitation facilities, plastic sheets, and other essential supplies. We aim to help more than 200,000 people during the first phase our response.

We are also supporting the government and humanitarian partners to ensure that newly established refugee camps will meet the necessary humanitarian standards.

Our collaboration with partner national organizations, such as the NGO Forum for Public Health and Coast Trust, have brought rich insight into the response as they bring in local knowledge and cultural sensitivity in delivering aid to the affected people.

In the recent weeks, we started working in Rubber Garden, a newly established transit site situated at about six kilometers from Ukhia, near Balukhali refugee camp. An estimated 1,200 individuals have transited over the past week, with some families who have journeyed for more than 15 days before finally crossing the border. We immediately provided a water tank with a total capacity of five cubic meters and delivered 10,000 litres of safe drinking water. We have also built 31 emergency latrines with separate units for men and women.

In Unchiprang, where water is scarce, we have finished installing a surface water treatment system with production of an estimated 45,000 litres of clean drinking water per day. This has benefitted more than 15,000 individuals.

Going forward, our programmes will include clean water and sanitation, hygiene materials and promotion, gender integrated into WASH, and safe spaces for women.

Five women on the front lines of the fight against hunger

October 16, 2017

Women bear the brunt of the battle against hunger, but they’re also a powerful force capable of feeding their communities.

World Food Day is dedicated to raising awareness of hunger and working to ensure food security for all. This year, we’re shining a light on the women on the front lines of the battle against hunger in places like South Sudan and Ethiopia, where millions are at risk of starvation.

When hunger strikes, women are more likely to be affected. But women also have the power to overcome hunger and provide food for their families and communities. In fact, in sub-Saharan Africa, women are responsible for 50-75 percent of agricultural labour. They’re growing the food — but they’re often not getting the resources they need to really put an end to hunger.

Meet five women fighting hunger in their communities. Whether they’re growing food so their kids can eat or forming cooperative to bolster food production, they’re not backing down.

LINA, South Sudanese refugee

Lina is one of the one million refugees who have fled conflict and hunger in South Sudan and settled in Uganda. While she has found relative safety there, food has been hard to come by.

Lina lives at the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, which opened in August 2016. Like many of her neighbours, she’s started to cultivate some land to grow food. Something has been pestering her corn patch, so she’s had to get innovative, sprinkling ash from her cooking fire to fight off the bugs. The corn will be an important supplement for her family of six, since food rations at the last distribution were cut in half.

KITABE, Ethiopia

Kitabe is a member of a cooperative organized by Oxfam and partners in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. Through the project, she received a loan to improve her onion farm. She was scared and reluctant to join the project at first — because as a poor woman, her status in the community was low.

Now, she says, “The biggest thing I have learned is to be fearless, and I fear nothing now.”

“It’s much easier for men. They get up early, eat, and go to farm. They spend all day working on the farm or supervising. For me, it is double the job. I have to work on the farm and look after my family.”

Kitabe meets with other women in the community regularly to help deal with these issues. “We discuss our challenges, our work. We work together in groups. When I struggle to read all the women come to support me.”

ESTHER, South Sudanese refugee

Esther, a widowed mother of six, isn’t a farmer by profession. But she has to grow her own food to feed her family.

She fled from South Sudan to Uganda to escape conflict. Now in Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, she’s planted cucumbers, corn, pumpkins, peas, and herbs. “I planted because of hunger,” she says. “It’s not really enough.”

THERESIE, Rwanda

Theresie sells pineapples from her farm to Tuzamurane pineapple cooperative, which sits in a small village at the top of a hill in Kirehe, Rwanda. Fittingly, the name literally translates to “lift up one another.”

Since joining the cooperative, Theresie makes more money and is able to grow more food. She also feels like she has more of a voice in her own home.

“I would tell other women to come and join the co-operative and become pineapple farmers, that they shouldn’t be cultivating on their own, that they should work together with others in order to increase their production,” she says.

“What makes me proud is collaborating with my husband. In my point of view, happiness means feeling comfortable at home, getting advice from your husband and vice versa, understanding each other, and fairly enjoying your income.”

FLONIRA, Rwanda

Flonira lives in Musanze District, Northern Rwanda, where she is part of a tamarillo (tree tomato) cooperative.

“Women had no voice in this community,” explains Flonira. “They had no right to join other women.”

But that changed when the cooperative formed. “They [men] saw us being self-reliant – bringing home money, bringing sugar for porridge, they have really changed their mindset on women. The coop has changed women’s lives in this community.”

Delighted to have the support of 13-year-old Sophie!

October 5, 2017

Our Humanitarian Specialist, Darren Brunk, went along to Sophie’s school to receive her donation.

We are incredibly grateful to have the support of one of the coolest 13-year-olds out – Sophie Guerin. She sold hot drinks at her school in Wellington and raised a massive $627 which she chose to give to Oxfam. We can’t thank her enough for her support of those people who need it most.

Our Humanitarian Specialist, Darren Brunk, went along to Sophie’s school to receive the donation, and to have a chat with her:

How did you raise so much money?

I started fundraising at school every Wednesday at lunchtime, selling hot drinks. I was selling cordial for $1.50 and hot chocolate for $2. All the money was to go to Oxfam. I got my friends to help me. It was all student involvement.

Why did you choose to donate it to Oxfam?

I wanted a charity that would help lots of places around the world, and also one I could trust. I was looking at charities on the internet, and I found Oxfam and had heard of it before. I knew it was safe and it was what I wanted and so I decided to go with them.

What do you like about Oxfam?

I think it’s good because they focus on everything, they don’t just focus on one thing. They help lots of people in lots of places. They also help people start businesses.

What kind of change would you like your money to make in people’s lives?

I would want it to help people. When people have had troubles, such as becoming sick because they have had bad water, I want them now to have fresh water and food and to have business opportunities so that their lives can be better.

If you could change one thing about the world, what would you change?

I think I’d change… selfishness, so there wouldn’t be any selfishness so that everybody would always be looking out for each other. There wouldn’t be things like poverty and wars because people would care about each other.

Amazon’s prime tax deal: Luxembourg offered retailer massive unfair discount

October 5, 2017

Online retailer Amazon has received 250 million euros in illegal state aid from Luxembourg, the European Commission said today. This is the fifth high-profile decision on tax deals, like the one between the Irish government and Apple.

In response, Aurore Chardonnet, Oxfam EU policy advisor on inequality and tax, said:

“Governments are letting big business off the hook when it comes to paying the billions they owe in tax. This is unsustainable and unfair as taxes are required to fund public services like education and healthcare. When large companies, such as Amazon, don’t pay their fair share of tax, small businesses and citizens end up unjustly footing their bill.

“Some EU governments have secretive tax deals with multinationals and this needs to stop. Governments are meant to represent the interests of their citizens and not only those of corporations. It is also disappointing to see that the Irish government continues to delay collecting the billions in unpaid tax from Apple after their tax deal was exposed last year.

“Only tax transparency will allow citizens to hold decision-makers to account, expose companies’ potential wrong-doing and fix the tax system. In July, the European Parliament voted for rules for multinationals to automatically disclose where they generate their profits and where they pay their taxes. These should now swiftly be adopted.”

Notes to editors:

The European Commission launched its investigation into the tax schemes operated by Amazon in Luxembourg in October 2014. The company received significant tax reductions by the way of ‘tax rulings’ issued by Luxembourg authorities since 2003. The European Commission has also opened investigations into Luxembourg’s tax dealings with McDonald’s in December 2015, and with ENGIE in September 2016.
The decision on Amazon follows earlier Commission decisions on tax deals of by Ireland with Apple in September 2016 as well as the Netherlands with Starbucks and Luxembourg with Fiat in October 2015. In January 2016, the European Commission has also declared illegal selective tax advantages granted by Belgium under its “excess profit” tax scheme, which has benefitted at least 35 multinational companies.
According to the European Commission, tax rulings may involve state aid within the meaning of EU rules if they are used to provide selective advantages to a specific company or group of companies.
In December 2015, the EU adopted a directive aimed at improving the exchange of information on tax rulings given by member states to companies on advance cross-border tax rulings, as well as advance pricing arrangements. However, the public will not be allowed to access this information.
In July 2017, the European Parliament adopted legislation for so-called public country-by-country reporting, obliging companies to disclose information on profits made and taxes paid for each country they operate in. The Parliament and EU member states have now to agree on a final version of the legislation.
Oxfam America has published the report “Rigged Reform” in April, which exposes how the US’s 50 largest corporations relied on an opaque and secretive network of subsidiaries in tax havens to avoid paying their fair share of taxes.

We’re still fighting for a Zero Carbon New Zealand

October 4, 2017

This was far from being the ‘boring election’ many thought it was going to be – and almost two weeks after the last vote was cast, its result is still uncertain.

We knew Oxfam’s election story was also going to be far from boring when we led a coalition of 15 aid agencies to campaign for all political parties to commit New Zealand to legally binding pollution reduction targets.

All these agencies have witnessed the number of climate-related humanitarian disasters more than double since 1980. This means that climate change has the potential to wind back development progress made over the last 60 years, creating havoc in developed and developing countries alike. After many years working in long-term development solutions and responding to humanitarian disasters in over 90 countries, all of us agree that this is one of the biggest development challenges of the 21st century.

You Backed the Plan

From secular to faith-based agencies, from Dargaville to Dunedin, the agencies – representing hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders with a variety of political views, but who are all equally concerned about the many problems our children will face in the near future due to climate change – all knew it wouldn’t be easy to bring climate change to the top of the political agenda. But with your help, we did it.

During the months leading up to the election, more than 5,000 New Zealanders got behind our campaign Back the Plan – Back to Zero and demanded a real climate commitment from all political parties. This led to a huge success as we secured a commitment from Labour, Greens and NZ First on legislation to reduce New Zealand’s pollution. But our work is far from finished.

Whatever the final election result is, we will continue to fight for a fairer, more just New Zealand.

Climate change is happening now and is affecting us all – our Pacific neighbours, our communities, our businesses and people living in poverty. We will continue to work with the newly elected government and hold it to account as we advocate for a cross-party agreement that puts the future of our children first: a Zero Carbon Act.

As the Electoral Commission is still counting the 380,000 special votes remaining, whatever the result, we will continue to call for our MPs to legislate a Zero Carbon Act and make New Zealand carbon-neutral by 2050.

Watch this space.

Oxfam’s reaction to the new US tax plan

September 27, 2017

In response to the tax plan outline proposed jointly by President Trump and Congressional leaders, Paul O’Brien, Oxfam America’s Vice-President for Policy and Advocacy, made the following statement:

“The tax plan introduced today is a blueprint for increased inequality. There is no doubt that the biggest winners in our global economy are those at the top, and this proposal will skew that even further.

“Instead of the real reform the President promised on the campaign trail, this plan offers more tax cuts for the rich and budget cuts for the poor. While President Trump was elected on his promise to fix the rigged political and economic system, these proposals will only further rig the rules in favor of the rich and powerful while harming poor families in the US and in developing countries worldwide.

“Every year corporate tax dodging costs Americans approximately $135 billion. The same tricks, schemes, and offshore tax havens sap an estimated $100 billion from poor countries – revenue that should go towards building schools, bridges and hospitals. The plans released today do nothing to solve these problems.

“Worse yet, the ideas offered today perversely reward the very companies that dodge the most taxes. This plan will incentivize further use of offshore tax havens that harm America and poor countries alike. Huge tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations will have to be paid for by cuts in anti-poverty programs at a time when need for global engagement and solutions to inequality is only growing. If anything the plans will incentivize companies to offshore more jobs and profits.

“The President and Congress should go back to the drawing board and start over with a plan that works with our allies around the world to stem tax haven abuse. Only through cooperation can we avoid a global race to the bottom where everyone but the richest will suffer.”

-ends-