"Doctors Without Borders" Dismisses 18 Employees for Sexual Exploitation of Sudanese Refugees

SadaNews - The organization "Doctors Without Borders" announced the dismissal of 18 employees after their involvement in "serious misconduct" was proven following internal investigations related to accusations of exploitation and sexual abuses against Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.

The organization clarified to the French press agency that it had opened extensive investigations over the past months concerning serious suspicions related to exploitation and sexual assault, following reports filed by Sudanese refugees in late 2024 within the refugee camps in the area.

Preliminary results of the investigations revealed a number of cases of "serious misconduct", with the organization expressing its deep regret for the harm inflicted on the victims, while investigators were unable to fully verify some allegations due to the difficulty in identifying some of the involved parties.

"Doctors Without Borders" confirmed that upon proving the violations, immediate disciplinary actions were taken, including the dismissal of 18 employees and barring them from future work with the organization, noting that the involved individuals belong to different categories of workers, contractors, and suppliers.

In this context, the organization emphasized that these violations contradict its values and humanitarian standards, affirming its efforts to enhance prevention and monitoring mechanisms and to facilitate safe reporting of any transgressions within work environments and camps.

This comes amid the ongoing consequences of the war in Sudan since April 2023, which has led to tens of thousands of fatalities and displaced over 12 million people, including about one million who fled to Chad, according to United Nations estimates.