Oxfam has congratulated Best & Less, Country Road, David Jones and Hanes (Bonds) on their progress towards ensuring payment of living wages to garment workers in their supply chains after the brands this week publicly committed to separate out – or ringfence – labour costs in price negotiations with their suppliers. In committing to this […]
Cyclone Amphan has left a trail of devastation throughout north-east India and the Bangladesh coast, with over 80 deaths reported so far, destroying homes, embankments and crops, and compounding the suffering in many communities already hit by coronavirus and the impact of the lockdown. The low-lying coastal communities in both countries are amongst the worst hit by the strongest […]
Almost one million Rohingya people in the world’s largest refugee camp are facing the added threat of a cyclone as the first cases of Covid-19 are confirmed, Oxfam warned today. The cyclone, which looks likely to form off the coast over the weekend, could bring further suffering and destruction to the camps on top of a […]
Deadly floods and landslides in South Asia have already killed 300 people and forced over 12 million more from their homes, as the disaster continues to escalate. During the past few days, India, Nepal and Bangladesh have experienced some of the largest floods in years, threatening millions more people. Oxfam staff in the three countries say […]
Heavy rainfall and flooding has affected more than 7 million people in two Indian states of Assam and Bihar. Oxfam is responding and providing clean drinking water, emergency shelter and hygiene kits to affected people in several districts of Assam and Bihar. The flooding has caused massive destruction in 30 districts of Assam and 12 […]
This year’s inward-looking Federal Budget does little to tackle growing inequality in Australia or the world, Oxfam Australia said tonight. “This is an extremely disappointing Budget. There’s been no improvement in Australia’s policies to tackle climate change, we’ve seen a continuation of cuts to Australian aid, and aid funds are being diverted from Asia to […]
In a statement issued today, Oxfam, Save the Children and World Vision called on international governments to generously fund the 2019 Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis. While the agencies applaud the ambitious new JRP—an appeal for US$ 920.5 million to assist 1.25 million people, including 909,000 Rohingya refugees and 336,000 host community members—they […]
Commenting on reports today that the repatriation of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar will begin in mid-November, Oxfam’s head of regional advocacy for the Rohingya crisis, Rachael Reilly said from Yangon, Myanmar: “It is deeply concerning that Rohingya people may be sent back to Myanmar to face the same persecution they fled. “Refugees in […]
The monsoon rains falling on the Rohingya refugee camps near Cox’s Bazar, southern Bangladesh, have caused over 130 landslides, damaged 3,300 shelters and affected 28,000 refugees, Oxfam said today. A survey of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh carried out by Oxfam before the start of the monsoon season found that more than half were almost completely […]
First published in The Herald Sun newspaper on 21 May 2018 The impending monsoon rains are bearing down on the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and there’s no getting around it – it’s going to be a really tough time. I’ve just returned to Melbourne from three weeks working for Oxfam’s Rohingya crisis response team. […]