Haiti demands Oxfam identify staff who paid sex workers

Haiti demands Oxfam identify staff who paid sex workers

State says it wants aid workers prosecuted and is considering legal action against the charity

Robert Booth and Kevin Rawlinson

Mon 12 Feb 2018 13.48 GMT First published on Mon 12 Feb 2018 12.21 GMT

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An Oxfam flag with a volunteer in the background

Haiti said it was ‘appalled’ that Oxfam let the aid workers leave the country without reporting them. Photograph: Jason Alden/Rex/Shutterstock

Haiti is demanding Oxfam identify its aid workers who paid possibly underage sex workers in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake, so they can be prosecuted, and has said it is considering legal action against the charity.

Bocchit Edmond, Haiti’s ambassador to the UK, said on Monday the country was “shocked and appalled” by the way Oxfam allowed the senior workers in question to leave the country without reporting them to the Haitian authorities.

“For the executive to know these crimes were committed and to allow those people to leave without informing the authorities is wrong,” he told the Guardian.

“We might be dealing with a paedophile ring. It was a crime. Prostitution is illegal and we believe they may have been underage kids.”

Haiti called on Oxfam and the British government to identify the people involved so they could be prosecuted “in the international system”.