LONDON, 11 Feb 2018:
One of the UK’S biggest charities has denied allegations it covered up the use of prostitutes by aid workers in Haiti.
Haiti’s Ambassador to the UK yesterday said there was a “clear” cover-up in the case of Oxfam aid workers who had – according to The Times of London – paid for sex while on a mission to help those affected by the devastating 2010 earthquake in his country.
“The fact that those folks were allowed to leave the country without any punishment, without even informing relevant Haitian authorities about that, it was a cover-up,” Bocchit Edmond told BBC News.
Oxfam denied the cover-up claims, saying it was proactive in reporting misconduct to the Charity Commission and condemned the behaviour of some former staff in Haiti.
“Well, I think at the time, Oxfam took serious and immediate action and it was open. Oxfam was actually proactive in going to the British public – the department for International development, the Charity Commission, to explain that there had been serious misconduct and we had taken action,” said Oxfam chief executive Mark Goldring.
Reuters could not independently verify the allegations contained in The Times report and was unable to immediately reach any of the Oxfam staff who worked in Haiti.
Oxfam neither confirmed nor denied The Times newspaper report but its misconduct findings included “the use of prostitution, but also included other activities, such as bullying and misuse of Oxfam property,” Goldring told BBC yesterday.
The Times quoted one unidentified source as saying that Oxfam workers had invited groups of young prostitutes to their guesthouse in Delmas, near Port-au-Prince, for sex parties with some of the sex workers wearing Oxfam T-shirts.
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti killed 220,000 people and left millions more homeless. Prostitution is illegal in Haiti.
The Charity Commission said such allegations risked undermining public trust in charities.
– Reuters