Doctors Without Borders research finds abuse by workers in Chad | Stories of humanitarian problems

The agency employs thousands of staff, domestic and foreign, to deal with problems in several countries.

An internal report by the aid group Doctors Without Borders, known for its French origins MSF, has found that local and foreign workers exploit Chadian refugees, sometimes targeting young girls and sometimes selling food and sex services.

The report was completed last July but was first reported by The Associated Press on Saturday.

The agency acknowledged 59 cases of abuse, although it said there may be more because survivors do not want to talk. As a result, 18 local and foreign workers were fired and banned from working in the future.

The internal investigation followed an AP investigation published in November 2024, which revealed that Sudanese women who fled to Chad were offered jobs and aid in exchange for sex with aid workers and local security forces.

Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have been displaced to eastern Chad amid a devastating civil war in its fourth year. Thousands of people have been killed in the war.

In the refugee camps in Chad, MSF is one of the main organizations involved in the crisis. The agency said in an internal report that it has provided additional funds to Chad to protect and fight violence, including training staff, but said these measures have not always been effective.

‘candidate analysis’

MSF told the AP that what it found was an “internal audit” where its practices had failed.

The 59 cases of misconduct ranged from sexual abuse to exploitation and torture and “represent a serious breach of MSF’s ethics and responsibility, and we deeply regret the harm caused,” it said.

MSF said it began an investigation in 2024 and found that Sudanese refugees, as well as several Chadian MSF workers, were exploited and tortured.

The agency said it found cases where migrant women, including underage girls, were involved in prostitution.

On one occasion, seven refugee girls, who were registered as daily workers, were put in an MSF vehicle and told they were going to a water distribution and construction site. However, the girls were taken to another place and were “exposed” to being raped and asked to sleep with them, according to the report.

During the investigation, some survivors chose to remain silent for fear of disrupting access to help. Those who spoke out did not receive treatment afterward in some cases, the report found.

MSF, which employs thousands of workers in many countries, said the report was unable to track everyone affected due to the high number of refugees and displaced people.

The agency said it is improving its anti-bullying and detection systems, including confidential reporting systems.

The same has been reported in the past, MSF said, including during the 2021 Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.