Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on Monday (June 15th) announced the dismissal of 18 of its staff following investigations into "serious allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse" reported by Sudanese refugee women in eastern Chad.

"When investigations established serious misconduct, immediate disciplinary action was taken. As a result, 18 staff members have been dismissed and are now banned from working with MSF."

An extensive investigation into reports by the Associated Press, which began in the fall of 2024 and was completed in July 2025, revealed 59 potential violations ranging from harassment to sexual abuse, prompting the organization to fire 18 staff members and barred them from working with the organization in the future.

The investigation confirmed repeated cases of sexual exploitation of refugee women in exchange for food, water and infant formula, as well as the exchange of jobs for sex, and the exploitation of minors in prostitution, suggesting the existence of organized and protected sex trafficking networks by individuals who were supposed to provide humanitarian protection to refugees.

The investigation showed that these behaviors prompted local community leaders to impose a curfew and prevent girls from approaching the organization's headquarters, in addition to monitoring the incident of transporting 7 refugee girls in a vehicle belonging to the organization under the pretext of employing them for daily wages at water sites, and later taking them to an isolated site and exposing them to sexual abuse.

Administrative Gaps and Official Recognition of Shortcomings

The investigation found that these findings reveal only a small part of the truth, as many women refused to speak out for fear of cutting off aid and scarce medical care, noting that Chadian female employees were threatened with dismissal if they refused to comply with supervisors' wishes.

The investigation acknowledged that there was an administrative flaw represented by the absence of CV reviews and forensic audits of employees prior to their appointment due to emergency pressure and the urgent need for staff, which allowed the recruitment of people with a history of misconduct.

MSF expressed deep regret for the severe damage caused to the victims, pledging to modernize monitoring systems and build a unified database that would prevent the reemployment of these people in any other country or branch of the organization around the world.

900,000 Sudanese flee to Chad

According to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), more than 900,000 Sudanese have sought refuge in Chad since the beginning of the conflict, representing a third of the population of Chad's eastern provinces, areas already suffering from resource scarcity and poor infrastructure, which has led thousands of families to rely entirely on international aid to survive and opened the door to dangerous exploitative practices such as bartering food and shelter for sexual services

These statements are the clearest mirror of the scale of human fragility exploited by networks of corruption and extortion within the camps in eastern Chad, where immense population pressure and harsh living conditions have turned refugees – especially women and girls – into the weakest link to any abuses.

UNHCR warned that the expansion of the camps into large concentrations such as Adri, Varchana and Arkunum had made administrative oversight almost impossible, while the geographical isolation made it more difficult for victims to access safe reporting channels, amid fears of reprisals or the loss of limited assistance.

This has prompted UNHCR and international agencies to take action to restructure protection systems within the camps, by strengthening protection teams, separating aid distribution from individual authority, and activating independent and confidential reporting lines that allow women and girls to report without fear.

Who is MSF?

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an independent international humanitarian medical organization, working on the front lines and major crises to provide emergency care to those affected by wars, epidemics and disasters, without any discrimination on the basis of race, religion or political affiliation.

It was founded in 1971 in Paris by a group of French doctors and journalists who wanted to combine medical field work with the duty to "publicly testify" about the abuses they witnessed, far from the diplomatic silence that prevailed in humanitarian work at the time.

The organization relies on private donations that exceed 90% of its budget, giving it broad autonomy and the ability to move in conflict zones without succumbing to state agendas or political pressures, making it one of the most accessible organizations in besieged or forgotten areas, intervening only according to the needs of the population.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999 for its role in providing emergency medical care and highlighting forgotten crises around the world. Today, MSF operates in more than 70 countries, employs tens of thousands of doctors, nurses, paramedics and logisticians, and operates across five main hubs in Geneva, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and Barcelona.