On 3 September 2025, the Scottish Government announced that new public money would be paused for defence companies whose products or services are provided to countries where there is plausible evidence of genocide, including Israel. The announcement also instructed bodies including Scottish Enterprise, where possible, not to support trade between Scotland and Israel.
A year on, Scottish Enterprise has not published its revised human rights due diligence policy or provided sufficient information about how the safeguards are being applied in practice.
Amnesty International Scotland has also been calling for greater transparency, including information about which companies are affected and how decisions are being made.
The lack of transparency comes as people in Gaza continue to face violence, while much of the civilian infrastructure they depend on lies in ruins. Oxfam’s recent analysis with Palestinian organisations estimates that $71.4 billion will be needed to rebuild Gaza over the next decade, a process that must be led by Palestinians themselves.
Katherine May, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “Gaza’s horror has not ended. At least 73,000 people have been killed, almost the entire population has been driven from their homes, and countless bodies remain buried beneath the rubble, including children who should have had their whole lives ahead of them.
“Against this backdrop, the Scottish Government promised that Scottish taxpayers’ money would not bankroll arms companies linked to these atrocities. Yet a year on, Scottish Enterprise still refuses to publish its human rights due diligence policy or show how it is making sure that promise is being kept.
“If there is nothing to hide, the Economy Secretary should instruct Scottish Enterprise to publish the information and show the Scottish public that these safeguards are actually being enforced.”
/ENDS
For more information and interviews, please contact: Rebecca Lozza, Media and Communications Adviser, Oxfam Scotland: rlozza1@oxfam.org.uk / 07917738450
