Doctors Without Borders Releases Grim Report on Own Staff

The international aid group Doctors Without Borders found a pattern of abuse and sexual exploitation by some local and foreign staff working in Chad along the Sudanese border, in some cases targeting underage girls or trading food or jobs for sex with refugees, according to a confidential internal memo obtained by the AP. The Doctors Without Borders report—completed in July and first reported Saturday by the AP—found 59 allegations of abuse and said 18 staff members were dismissed and barred from future employment. In some cases, the group told the AP, the allegations couldn't be verified or the perpetrators IDed. The report also said some of the repeated exploitation suggested potentially organized "sexual trafficking."

The organization said it launched the monthslong investigation in response to AP reporting that women had accused staff of sexually exploiting them in displacement sites in Chad, where hundreds of thousands fled from Sudan's devastating civil war, now in its fourth year. The report credited the AP as playing "a fundamental role as an external whistleblower." The findings by Doctors Without Borders—one of the largest employers and biggest aid organizations in the refugee camps in eastern Chad—indicate the abuse was more widespread than previously reported.

Sexual exploitation has repeatedly surfaced during humanitarian crises, despite years of efforts by aid organizations to prevent abuse. In the cases the AP found in Chad in 2024, women said people meant to protect them—humanitarians, local security forces—offered money, easier access to assistance, and jobs in exchange for sex. Such sexual exploitation in Chad is a crime. In its report, Doctors Without Borders also noted that the cases found in Chad stand out because it had allocated extra resources to combat and prevent abuse. The memo also said the findings likely only scratch the surface, as many women were hesitant to speak openly.

In response to questions about the memo, Doctors Without Borders—also known under its French acronym, MSF—called it "a candid internal analysis" that laid out where systems failed. The 59 allegations of misconduct ranged from sexual harassment to exploitation and abuse and "represent a serious breach of MSF's values and responsibilities, and we deeply regret the harm caused," MSF said in its written response. Prior to the AP's reporting, MSF was unaware of most of the cases of abuse, according to the report. More here.