Government reviews Oxfam relationship amid claims it covered up Haiti aid workers paying ‘underage’ prostitutes
Department for International Development bosses treatened to axe the scandal-hit charity after fresh claims about the conduct of disaster relief workers emerged
GOVERNMENT aid chiefs are reviewing their relationship with scandal-hit Oxfam amid claims they covered up sex allegations against senior staff.
Department for International Development bosses threatened to axe the scandal-hit charity after fresh claims about the conduct of disaster relief workers emerged.
Shamed charity boss Roland van Hauwermeiren, 68, resigned from his lucrative post as Haiti country director in 2011 after his 'Caligula-style' romps were flagged up to Oxfam executives.
But new reports claim the charity stood by as he left to head up the Action Against Hunger operation in Bangladesh for another two years.
Last it was revealed by The Times that Mr van Hauwermeiren and six other men left the charity after getting caught using prostitutes, downloading “pornographic and illegal material”.
A damning internal report concluded: “It cannot be ruled out that any of the prostitutes were under-aged.”
Mercy Corps - which handed a job to one of the culprits - said it had received a positive reference from Oxfam in 2015.
A DfID spokesman said: "We often work with organisations in chaotic and difficult circumstances.
";If wrongdoing, abuse, fraud, or criminal activity occur we need to know about it immediately, in full.
"The way this appalling abuse of vulnerable people was dealt with raises serious questions that Oxfam must answer.
"We acknowledge that hundreds of Oxfam staff have done no wrong and work tirelessly for the people they serve, but the handling by the senior team about this investigation and their openness with us and the Charity Commission showed a lack of judgment.
"We have a zero tolerance policy for the type of activity that took place in this instance, and we expect our partners to as well.
"The Secretary of State is reviewing our current work with Oxfam and has requested a meeting with the senior team at the earliest opportunity."
An Oxfam spokesman added: "The behaviour of some members of Oxfam staff uncovered in Haiti in 2011 was totally unacceptable, contrary to our values and the high standards we expect of our staff.
"As soon as we became aware of the allegations, we immediately launched an internal investigation.
"Our primary aim was always to root out and take action against those involved, and we publicly announced, including to media, both the investigation and the action we took as a result."
Last night former aid Secretary Priti Patel demanded police prosecute the seven Oxfam aid workers in a blistering attack on the “woeful” charity.
The ex-Cabinet minister said it was "disgraceful" Oxfam had allowed three workers to resign and had merely sacked four others for gross misconduct after the allegations.
She blasted: “We have sex tourism laws that apply overseas and those laws should be applied.
"As for Oxfam their actions were and are woeful.
"Their hypocrisy on aid has once again been exposed.”
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