They were joined by local town crier of Wellington Lord Percy Simmonds, at the foot of the Wrekin, who sent the marchers on their way before they ‘land grabbed’ and placed ‘SOLD’ signs and banners on the hill.
The ‘land grabbers’ also met with early morning walkers, joggers, dog walkers and cyclists en-route during the live ‘land grab’ leaving local people shocked and surprised to see and hear what was happening on the iconic Shropshire landmark. The live ‘land grab’ was set up by Oxfam as they brought their campaign to stop land grabs in developing countries into the hearts of Shropshire residents.
The local ‘land grab deal’ of the Wrekin echoes global land grabs in areas such as Africa, Asia and Latin America which leave poor people homeless with no access to the land they rely on for food to eat, their education and livelihoods.
Matthew Rickard, Oxfam’s Activism Coordinator in the Midlands who was one of the group of campaigners to march up the Wrekin as a ‘land grabber said: “By ‘selling off’ such an iconic landmark in Shropshire that is part of everyday life in the county, we hope to show residents the reality of an actual land grab.
“Imagine if some of our most iconic and treasured landmarks were auctioned off and sold to foreign investors and we had no choice in the matter? In a real land grab people would be evicted by force losing all of their worldly possessions in one fell swoop.
“Walkers on the Wrekin were genuinely shocked and surprised to see the ‘land grab’ in action and it brought home to them what these land grabs are like and the devastating impact on victims.”
The recent rush for land has involved an area of land the size of a football pitch being sold to foreign investors every second, that’s an area the size of the Telford & Wrekin every 11 hours. An area the size of Shropshire is sold every hour and 20 minutes. Few of these deals have been adequately regulated or policed to prevent land grabs, meaning poor people are being evicted, often violently, without consultation or compensation.
The land grab of the Wrekin echoes global land grabs in areas such as Africa, Asia and Latin America which leave poor people homeless with no access to the land they rely on for food to eat, their education and livelihoods.
The UK is the third biggest base for land investors, according to the latest verified data on land deals (3). Oxfam believes that the UK government has a responsibility to act and lead the way on the introduction of more robust international standards to improve transparency and to protect the rights of poor people affected by land grabs.
Oxfam is pressing the government to ensure land grabs are addressed at the next G8 summit, which Britain is hosting next June, and at the prevailing hunger summit hosted by David Cameron in 2013.
The development agency also wants the UK government to push the World Bank – with a remit to tackle global poverty and as both an investor in land and an adviser to developing countries – to temporarily freeze its agricultural investments in land. This would give the World Bank time to review its own advice to developing countries, help set standards for investors and introduce more robust policies to help stop land grabs.
Oxfam’s Weekend of Action takes place between 06 – 09 December 2012, as part of their land grab campaign. For more information go to http://www.oxfam.org.uk/get-involved/campaign-with-us/find-an-action/land-freeze
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