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Paris (AFP)

Aid group Doctors Without Borders on Wednesday said it had acted on 24 cases of harassment or sexual abuse last year as British charity Oxfam faces a storm over its handling of a sex scandal.

The Paris-based group, known by its French acronym MSF, said it had received 146 complaints or alerts last year, of which 40 were found to be allegations of harassment or sexual assault.

It said in a statement that it had acted on 24 of these cases, firing 19 employees as a result.

With 40,000 staff around the world, MSF is one of the world's largest aid groups, best known for its work offering medical aid in conflict zones.

The revelations from the French group came as Oxfam grapples with allegations that some of its staff used prostitutes in Haiti following a devastating 2010 earthquake.

The scandal has led to the resignation of Oxfam's deputy head and has thrown into question British government funding for the charity, which amounted to around £32 million (36 million euros, $44 million) last year.

Oxfam has denied covering up the scandal but admitted it should have been more transparent.

© 2018 AFP