Students storm city in land grab protest

Oxford Students’ Oxfam Group stormed the city on Saturday in a mock land grab to protest against land grabbing by multinational companies in developing countries.

The group, all Oxford students, took over some of the city’s landmarks including Hertford Bridge of Sighs and High Bridge in University Parks, in a bid to gain people’s attention about what many consider to be one of the major causes of world hunger.

Oxonians, hold on to your homes

Bearing placards which read ‘Sold To Greedy Investors’, ‘Get Out – Land Grab’, with orange tape and clad in boiler suits and high visibility jackets, the protestors certainly stood out from the crowd.

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Through a megaphone, one protestor announced to the surrounding people: “This is a land grab – we are seizing your land.” She then reeled off some statistics about the practice of land grabbing.

Jack Owen, Campaign Officer for Oxford Oxfam Student Groups and a First Year reading History at Lincoln, said of the mock land grab: “I think it’s an interesting way of addressing a serious issue because it seems bizarre in the context of Oxford yet these things are actually happening in third world countries.”

Nathaniel Rees, President of the student group

The term ‘land grabbing’ is used to describe the act of large-scale land acquisition by governments, banks or private investors.

Although this type of investment can be helpful to local communities when it is done responsibly and on a small scale, often it is said to have negative impacts on the local community, leading to decreases in jobs and homelessness.

Oxfam and other protesting bodies argue that local people in developing countries are not being properly consulted or protected by their governments, and that their homes can disappear without warning.

Protesters plotting, before they were exiled from the Pitt

The group attempted to wrap tape around the Pitt Rivers Museum, but its proprietors were having none of it, and they were forced to move on to a new location.

James Hutton, a student at Hertford, watched the protest at his college. He said: “It’s good they’re raising awareness on this matter as I’m sure it’s an important issue.”

All taped up at Hertford

Nathaniel Rees, president of the group, told The Tab: “These agricultural investors are receiving funding from the World Bank. More protests like this by the If campaign, which has been launched in the run-up to the G8 summit in Belfast this June, will hopefully take place in London and Belfast. Other problems causing world hunger include taxes and trade and food barriers.”

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Meanwhile, Henry Baker, Vice President of the group, said: “Oxfam – grabbing land, grabbing attention since (insert date here) – could you look up the founding date for me and put it in?”

Catherine Avery, a 4th year reading English and French urged the public to protest with the group and sign the petition.

Some changes have already been made, with Tanzania restricting the amount of land that can be leased to investors for agricultural use from this month onwards.

Click here for Oxfam’s online petition.

The Oxford Students’ Oxfam Group meets at the Oxford Hub between 4-5pm on Fridays. For more information, click here.