Press releases

Today, European finance ministers updated the EU tax haven list. They added four countries to the blacklist (British Virgin Islands, Costa Rica, the Marshall Islands and the Russian Federation), three to the greylist (Albania, Aruba and Curacao) and they removed four countries from the greylist (Barbados, Jamaica, North Macedonia and Uruguay).

Oxfam, together with our partners in Turkiye (Turkey) and Syria, is working to reach nearly 2 million people – 10 percent of the population affected by the quake – with aid and support so that they can rebuild their lives.   

In reaction to the 2023 Somalia Humanitarian Response Plan published today, Oxfam Country Director in Somalia, Adil AlMahi, said: “With five failed rain seasons, Somalia is quickly moving towards what may be one of its worst humanitarian crises in recent history. People’s ability to cope has been stretched to a breaking point. They have nothing left to fall back on. 

EU leaders will meet this week to discuss Europe’s response to migration. Ahead of this, Stephanie Pope, Oxfam EU migration expert said “The latest proposal attempts to bully non-EU countries into doing its work and following Europe’s narrow-minded political objectives. EU countries must create a migration policy that works for people, not one built on blackmail, forced returns and fences.”  
 

Oxfam teams in Turkiye and Syria are assessing along with partner organisations the fastest, most appropriate humanitarian efforts to help affected people in the aftermath of Monday’s devastating earthquake – the biggest in Turkiye since 1939. 

Dr Aruna Rao, Chair of the Oxfam International Board, said today: 
“Oxfam International Executive Director Gabriela Bucher has been offered a new leadership challenge in the field of human rights and it is with regret that I share that she will be leaving Oxfam on 30 April 2023. Gabriela will head up the The Fund for Global Human Rights, headquartered in Washington DC.
 

The European Commission has launched an infringement procedure against Greece about how they treat people arriving in Europe to seek asylum and the asylum process. This could result in the Commission taking Greece to court. Oxfam has been advocating for this for years due to Greece's systematic breaches of EU asylum law. This includes launching a joint legal complaint with other human rights groups.

The richest 1 percent grabbed nearly two-thirds of all new wealth worth $42 trillion created since 2020, almost twice as much money as the bottom 99 percent of the world’s population, reveals a new Oxfam report today. During the past decade, the richest 1 percent had captured around half of all new wealth. 

Responding to news that the World Trade Organization (WTO) will push back its deadline to reach a deal on easing intellectual property rules on COVID-19 tests and treatments to support the production of cheaper generic equivalents in developing countries, Max Lawson, Co-Chair of the People’s Vaccine Alliance and Head of Inequality Policy at Oxfam, said: “We are nearly three years into the COVID-19 pandemic. As many as seventeen million people are estimated to have died in the time that the WTO has bickered over intellectual property rules for tests and treatments. To say that more time is needed to consider the issue is utter nonsense.

Amongst the over 20 targets being discussed at the COP15 Biodiversity Summit is to set aside 30 percent of the world's lands and oceans for nature to protect biodiversity by 2030. However, states have so far failed to commit to protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and those of local communities living in these areas.