Doctors Without Borders staff fired over sex abuse – report

An internal probe by the medical charity found 59 allegations, including claims that water, milk, and jobs were exchanged for sex

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has fired 18 staff members after an internal investigation found allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation involving Sudanese refugees in Chad, AP reported on Saturday, citing a confidential internal memo.

The medical charity said the dismissed workers have been barred from future employment. The report by the non-profit organization found 59 allegations involving local and foreign staff in camps along Chad’s border with Sudan, where hundreds of thousands of people have fled the ongoing war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Some cases reportedly involved underage girls; others included allegations that staff exchanged food, water, milk, and jobs for sex. It described the findings as evidence of “sexual abuse and exploitation” and said repeated exploitation in some cases suggested possible organized sex trafficking.

MSF told AP that the findings amounted to “a candid internal analysis” of failures in its safeguards. The group said it has strengthened recruitment checks, complaint systems, and reporting channels since the probe. It added that some allegations could not be verified because victims and alleged perpetrators could not be traced.

The investigation followed earlier AP reporting in 2024, when Sudanese women in displacement camps in Chad accused aid workers and local security personnel of offering money, jobs, and easier access to assistance in exchange for sex.

The case adds to years of controversy over abuse in the aid sector. The MSF memo reportedly acknowledged similar concerns during the 2021 Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and sex-for-aid scandals involving aid agencies in refugee camps in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone that came to light in the early 2002.

An independent commission also found in 2021 that 83 aid workers, including 21 World Health Organization employees, were involved in sexual abuse and exploitation during the 2018-2020 Ebola response in the DR Congo.

The allegations come as Sudan faces what the UN calls the world’s largest displacement and protection crisis. Chad has become one of the main destinations for people fleeing the conflict, with more than a million Sudanese refugees crossing into the neighboring country since the fighting began, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

On Monday, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said “the horrific conflict” in Sudan has “expanded and escalated,” with a “sharp increase” in drone warfare, as well as rape and sexual violence. He said his office has documented the killing of more than 1,000 civilians by drone strikes from January to May alone.