OXFAM [to 20 February 2016]
http://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases

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16 February 2016
The world’s poorest should not pay for the security and defense of Europe
Governments are considering diverting limited aid funds to security and defense, and may also increase the amount they use to cover refugee costs in rich countries
A large coalition of NGOs is calling for European leaders to protect refugees while ensuring aid budgets are only used for poverty eradication and sustainable development

Governments across Europe are planning to divert scarce development aid budgets to cover security and defense costs, anti-poverty campaigners understand.

Proposals that aid money can be used for ‘preventing violent extremism’, police training and financing security costs are being mooted behind closed doors, and will be formally discussed at the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) in Paris on February 18th and 19th. At the same time, European leaders will be meeting in Brussels to discuss their migration response.

During the OECD DAC meeting, Ministers will also discuss increasing the amount of aid money that they can spend on receiving refugees in their own countries, a move criticised by development charities across Europe.

A coalition of organizations including BOND, Dochas, Global Citizen, Eurodad, ONE, Oxfam and Save the Children are calling on leaders to make sure the choices they make on aid in the coming months do not mean the poorest people lose out on vital public services like education or healthcare.

The coalition strongly urges European leaders to:
:: Ensure that the definition of what can be counted as Official Development Assistance (ODA), does not include any defense and security costs or in-country refugee costs.
:: Include developing countries and non-governmental organizations in the process of modernizing ODA.
:: Ensure that refugees are afforded the protection they need…