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Sexual misconduct by staff of British charity Oxfam is only the tip of an "iceberg", according to Haiti's President who has called for investigations into Doctors Without Borders and other aid organisations that came to the country after its 2010 earthquake.
Key points:
- Jovenel Moise called for investigations into NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders
- He said NGOs that had worked in Haiti were hiding information internally
- It was reported that some Oxfam staff in Haiti paid for sex with prostitutes
Oxfam is battling the fallout from allegations some of its staff engaged sex workers while delivering aid in the country after the disaster.
"The Oxfam case is the visible part of the iceberg," Haitian President Jovenel Moise said on Friday.
"It is not only Oxfam — there are other NGOs [non-governmental organisations] in the same situation, but they hide the information internally."
The scandal has already shaken the aid sector, with Britain and the European Union reviewing Oxfam's funding.
Oxfam, one of the world's biggest disaster relief charities, apologised this week for unspecified sexual misconduct uncovered in a 2011 internal investigation.
It has neither confirmed nor denied that some of its staff paid for sex with prostitutes.
"There should be an investigation into other organisations that have been working here since 2010," Mr Moise said.
"For example, Doctors Without Borders had to repatriate about 17 people for misconduct which was not explained," he added.
It was not clear what cases Mr Moise was referring to.
Doctors Without Borders reveals sexual harassment cases
Geneva-based Doctors Without Borders, known as Medecins Sans Frontieres in non-English speaking countries, is looking into Mr Moise's comments and welcomes scrutiny on the aid sector, spokeswoman Analia Lorenzo said.
She added that the organisation had zero tolerance of sexual misconduct.
On Wednesday, Doctors Without Borders, which sends medical staff around the world to regions stricken with war and disease, said it had dealt with 24 cases of sexual harassment or abuse among its 40,000 staff last year, and dismissed 19 people as a result.
It did not provide details of where the harassment or abuse took place, who was dismissed or whether the complaints were also registered with local law enforcement.
Haiti seeks legal action against former Oxfam official
Roland Van Hauwermeiren, the former Oxfam official at the centre of the sex abuse scandal, said on Thursday he made mistakes by having a sexual relationship with the sister of a recipient of aid while he was working in Haiti but he denied paying for sex with prostitutes or abusing minors.
In an open letter to a broadcaster in his native Belgium, he said he feared that Oxfam, other aid workers and those they help would suffer from false accusations.
"We call on the Belgian and UK government to assume their responsibility, and we call on the whole international community to help make sure those guilty of such misconduct are punished, whether they are Belgian or of another nationality," Mr Moise said.
"The dignity of the Haitian people has been trampled on."
Haitian Justice Minister Heidi Fortune said on Wednesday he had asked Belgium for help in starting legal action against Mr Van Hauwermeiren.
He did not say which laws he believed were broken.
Belgium's Justice Ministry said on Thursday it had received no such request and prosecutors said they were not aware of any investigation into Mr Van Hauwermeiren.
Belgium does not extradite its citizens to countries outside the European Union.
Prostitution is a crime in Haiti, but it was not clear what other crimes the Oxfam officials may have committed.
Reuters/ABC
Topics: world-politics, sexual-offences, relief-and-aid-organisations, foreign-aid, haiti, united-kingdom, belgium, switzerland
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