Doctors Without Borders report found cases of abuse and exploitation by staff in Chad

international aid group Doctors Without Borders A pattern of abuse and sexual abuse by some local and foreign staff was identified. Chad on the border with SudanIn some cases, they target underage girls or exchange food or jobs for sex with refugees, according to a confidential internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The Médecins Sans Frontières report, completed in July and first reported by The Associated Press on Saturday, found 59 allegations of harassment and said 18 staff were fired and banned from future employment. The group told the AP that in some cases, allegations could not be verified or perpetrators could not be identified. The report also said some of the repeated abuses potentially pointed to organized “sex trafficking.”

The organization said it launched the months-long investigation in response. AP reporting He said women accused staff in displaced areas in Chad, where hundreds of thousands of people have fled, of sexually abusing them. Sudan’s devastating civil warinside her now fourth year. The AP played “a fundamental role as an outside whistleblower,” the report said.

Findings from Médecins Sans Frontières, one of the largest employers and largest aid organizations in refugee camps in eastern Chad, show that abuse is more widespread than previously reported.

sexual exploitation to have It has emerged repeatedly during humanitarian crises Despite years of efforts by aid agencies abuse.

In cases the AP found in Chad in 2024, women said people seeking to protect them — humanitarian workers, local security forces — offered money, easier access to aid and jobs in exchange for sex. In Chad, this type of sexual abuse is a crime.

Doctors Without Borders also noted in its report that the cases detected in Chad stood out because it allocated extra resources to combat and prevent abuse. The memo also noted that the findings likely only scratch the surface, as many women are reluctant to talk openly.

In response to questions about the memo, Médecins Sans Frontières, also known by its French acronym MSF, described it as a “candid internal analysis” that reveals where systems are failing.

In its written response, MSF said the 59 allegations of misconduct, ranging from sexual harassment to exploitation and abuse, “represent a serious breach of MSF’s values ​​and responsibilities, and we deeply regret the harm caused.”

MSF operates in contexts where people are vulnerable and dependent on humanitarian assistance, creating power imbalances and risks of abuse that need to be addressed, MSF said in its statement. It was stated that the investigations were carried out with the aim of proactively confronting abuse.

In some cases investigated, it was stated that it was not possible to trace the people involved due to the size of the emergency and the movement of people.

He told the AP that since the report was published, MSF has strengthened its recruitment efforts, reference checks and complaints systems.

Still, the group said in its statement that it recognizes that significant work needs to be done to achieve lasting change.

Report details various types of abuse and exploitation at Médecins Sans Frontières

In an investigation launched in the autumn of 2024, MSF found allegations of abuse and mistreatment of Chadians, Sudanese refugees, MSF staff and contractors.

The report states that the group investigated several cases of sexual exploitation of female refugees in exchange for food, water and milk. Cases of sex in exchange for work and prostitution of female refugees, including underage girls, were also identified. The report describes a block in a refugee camp where staff were seen searching for the girls, and says community leaders imposed a curfew to prevent young girls from “visiting” MSF staff.

In one case covered in the report, seven refugee girls who were allegedly working as day laborers were put into an MSF vehicle and told that they would go to water distribution and construction sites. However, according to the report, the girls were taken to a different location and “exposed” to sexual abuse and demands for sex.

Additionally, the investigation found that some Chadian female staff were threatened with loss of their jobs if they refused to have sex with their superiors or colleagues.

In focus groups conducted by researchers, women said they often chose to remain silent out of concern that it would jeopardize access to care. Some said they didn’t know they had the right to speak out or share feedback, according to the report.

MSF staff and community leaders told investigators they were afraid to report abuse for fear of losing their jobs or benefits. Half a dozen community leaders said they chose not to report to MSF even though their daughters or sisters were victims of abuse, the report said.

The report also stated that some of those who spoke did not receive help and some warnings were not followed at all.

Some feedback mechanisms, such as boxes where people can submit complaints, were largely ineffective, the memo said.

MSF employs tens of thousands of people in dozens of countries, in jobs ranging from doctors, nurses, midwives and epidemiologists to human resources, logistics, construction and cleaning experts. The report did not specify the jobs of those accused of abuse. MSF said in an email to the AP that it would not provide details such as employment category due to privacy and security concerns.

MSF’s email emphasized that it had implemented improved reporting methods and integrated prevention and detection interventions across its operations; for example, its current response to the Ebola outbreak in Congo included confidential reporting channels.

Médecins Sans Frontières was unaware of most abuse cases before AP’s report

Before the AP report, MSF was unaware of most cases of abuse, according to the report.

MSF is conducting weeks of training on prevention with staff and community leaders in 2023, the report said. However, the efforts did not have a lasting impact and were undermined by high staff turnover.

The urgent need for staff and the lack of reference checks resulted in the hiring of individuals with a history of misconduct or misconduct, the memo said.

The report stated that as a result of the investigation, 18 personnel, including international, local and contractors, were classified or were about to be classified as “Do Not Hire”. However, the report noted that there was no system in place, especially for local staff, to share the names of people marked in this way, meaning they could find work at another MSF location.

The report included several recommendations: clearly communicating expected behavior to staff, implementing “serious reference checks” and creating an effective database of “Do Not Hire” staff.

Yet MSF acknowledged in its report that it had faced similar allegations before – the 2021 Ebola outbreak in the Congo and reports of widespread exploitation and abuse by aid workers and peacekeepers in many West African countries in 2002 – but overall little had changed.

“As a reminder, a very similar diagnosis and recommendations were made in 2021,” the memo said. “But this did not lead to any significant change.”