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World’s five richest men doubled their fortunes since 2020, Oxfam says

EU

The world’s wealthiest five men have more than doubled their fortune since 2020 from $405 billion to $869 billion last year, the charity Oxfam said Monday in a report published as the global elite hobnob at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. Yet since 2020, nearly five billion people worldwide have grown poorer, Oxfam said. Pointing to the level of “staggering, obscene inequality”, Oxfam International Interim Director Amitabh Behar told FRANCE 24’s Yuka Royer that the world is “entering into an era of billionaire supremacy”.

‘I call on member states to combat social dumping’: EU jobs commissioner Nicolas Schmit

EU

Talking Europe interviews the EU commissioner in charge of jobs and social rights, Nicolas Schmit. He speaks to the importance of protecting workers, particularly the “gig” or “platform” workers, whose status is at the core of a dispute between the European Commission and several EU member states. He also addresses the issue of “social dumping” – people being paid below their level of skills – an issue of relevance not only to EU workers, but also to Ukrainian refugees that have been granted permission to live and work in the EU. Plus, he explains the implementation of the EU Directive on adequate minimum wages, as economic conditions in Europe threaten people’s purchasing power; especially that of poorer members of society.

‘They had to flee their own country’: The lives of migrants at the Franco-Italian border

EU

Two renowned anthropologists have spent the past five years documenting the lives of migrants in one specific place. Didier Fassin and Anne-Claire Defossez chose to assist aid workers at a reception centre in the French Alpine town of Briançon, close to the Italian border. They looked at how the migrants were living, what support they received, as well as how they were treated by police. The pair were even arrested while carrying out their research, simply for helping the migrants. They spoke to FRANCE 24’s Gavin Lee in Perspective.