Doctors Without Borders Internal Report Finds 59 Abuse Allegations by Staff in Chad Refugee Camps

A confidential internal report by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), obtained by the Associated Press, documented 59 allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by staff in eastern Chad, where hundreds of thousands of Sudanese refugees have fled a civil war now in its fourth year. The report, completed in July 2024 and first published Saturday, found cases of sex being traded for food, water, and jobs, as well as the prostitution of female refugees including underage girls. In one documented incident, seven refugee girls allegedly hired as daily workers were transported in an MSF vehicle under false pretenses and exposed to sexual abuse. The investigation was triggered by AP's earlier reporting, which MSF credited as playing 'a fundamental role as an external whistleblower,' and found that MSF had been unaware of most cases prior to that reporting. Eighteen staff members — including international staff, local employees, and contractors — were dismissed and barred from future employment, though the report noted no unified database existed to prevent flagged individuals from being rehired at other MSF locations. MSF acknowledged that the findings likely underrepresent the true scale of abuse, as many survivors feared losing access to aid if they spoke out, and the organization admitted that a similar diagnosis and recommendations made after the 2021 Congo Ebola outbreak had led to no significant change.