MSF reveals sex cases as Oxfam scandal widens

PARIS: A scandal over sexual abuse in the foreign aid industry that began with Oxfam spread as French group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) revealed it had fired 19 staff last year for harassment or abuse.

The Paris-based group said it had received 146 complaints or alerts last year, of which 40 were found to be allegations of harassment or sexual assault.

It said in a statement that it had acted on 24 of these cases, firing 19 employees as a result.

With 40,000 staff around the world, MSF is one of the world’s largest aid groups, best known for its work offering medical aid in conflict zones.

“Even though reports of abuse have steadily increased, MSF is aware that abuse goes under-reported,” the charity said.

The revelations came as Oxfam grapples with allegations that it was not transparent about a scandal involving some of its staff for using prostitutes in Haiti following a devastating 2010 earthquake.

The scandal has led to the resignation of Oxfam’s deputy head and has thrown into question British government funding for the charity, which amounted to around £32 million last year.

Britain warned on Wednesday it would cut ties with foreign aid charities that cover up sex scandals.

The allegations revolve around Oxfam’s then-head of mission in Haiti, Belgian national Roland van Hauwermeiren, whose behaviour had already led to complaints when he worked for the charity in Chad.

After resigning from Oxfam, he went on to work for French charity Action Against Hunger in Bangladesh.

There were reports on Wednesday that there had already been complaints about Mr Van Hauwermeiren and his use of prostitutes when he was working for the British medical charity Merlin in Liberia before joining Oxfam.

Swedish former aid worker Amira Malik Miller told the humanitarian news agency Irin that she had lodged an official complaint about him in 2004 when she was working alongside him in Liberia.

When she saw an initial report about Mr Van Hauwermeiren in The Times newspaper last week, she remembered thinking: “Oh my God, he’s been doing this for 14 years.”

“He just goes around the system... from Liberia to Chad, to Haiti, to Bangladesh. Someone should have checked properly,” Ms Malik Miller was quoted as saying.