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Munu

(297 posts)
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 08:21 AM Monday

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

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

The international aid group Doctors Without Borders found a pattern of abuse and sexual exploitation by some local and foreign staff working in Chad along the Sudanese border, in some cases targeting underage girls or trading food or jobs for sex with refugees, according to a confidential internal memo obtained by The Associated Press.

The Doctors Without Borders report — completed in July and first reported Saturday by The Associated Press — found 59 allegations of abuse and said 18 staff members were dismissed and barred from future employment. In some cases, the group told AP, the allegations couldn’t be verified or the perpetrators identified. The report also said some of the repeated exploitation suggested potentially organized “sexual trafficking.”

The organization said it launched the months long investigation in response to AP reporting that women had accused staff of sexually exploiting them in displacement sites in Chad, where hundreds of thousands fled from Sudan’s devastating civil war, now in its fourth year. The report credited AP as playing “a fundamental role as an external whistleblower.”

The findings by Doctors Without Borders — one of the largest employers and biggest aid organizations in the refugee camps in eastern Chad — indicate the abuse was more widespread than previously reported.

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AP exclusive: Doctors Without Borders report found cases of abuse and exploitation by staff in Chad (Original Post) Munu Monday OP
Doctors Without Borders engaging in human trafficking Sympthsical Monday #1
I am not surprised. yardwork Monday #4
I have an evangelical cousin who went on mission to Africa Sympthsical Monday #9
Your cousin has had more than his fair share of heartbreak! yardwork Monday #10
That is incredible food for thought Sympthsical Monday #19
Thanks. Read about the years RFK, Jr. spent spreading vaccine fear in SSA. yardwork 14 hrs ago #21
Somehow I doubt that they first heard of this through the AP article RockCreek Monday #2
Who is the "they" in your title? (nt) muriel_volestrangler Monday #3
Doctors without Borders personnel operating in Chad RockCreek Monday #5
DWB Sympthsical Monday #6
Ah, OK - I'd missed that AP first reported on this in Nov 2024 (nt) muriel_volestrangler Monday #8
Well, yeah. The world's do-gooders are focused on Israel. yardwork Monday #11
If what's going on in Africa were going on in Europe ... Munu Monday #15
It would be called a genocide. yardwork Monday #16
The conflict deaths in Ukraine/Russia in 2025 were reckoned to be slightly more than in Sudan muriel_volestrangler Monday #17
... Solly Mack Monday #7
At least they're making efforts to self police harumph Monday #12
At the VERY least TheProle Monday #13
DWB has done very good work in the past. harumph Monday #14
Hopefully. I'd never heard bad things about them electric_blue68 Monday #18
I have family members in the medical community and yes, harumph 14 hrs ago #20
TY for the info from your people. electric_blue68 13 hrs ago #22

Sympthsical

(11,257 posts)
1. Doctors Without Borders engaging in human trafficking
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 08:24 AM
Monday

Was not on my bingo card this year.

What even is this world.

If I see an article that Chef Andres uses puppies in his World Kitchen, I'm tapping out.

yardwork

(69,858 posts)
4. I am not surprised.
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 08:36 AM
Monday

I stopped donating to this group years ago because of concerning issues.

While all the public relations focus is on Gaza, the scale of human suffering in sub-Saharan Africa is overlooked. Trump and Musk destroying USAID left hundreds of millions of people starving, without medical care, left to the mercy of Russia, China, and local evil-doers empowered by the chaos.

NGOs can't stop this sheer volume of evil. And they have their own problems.

Sympthsical

(11,257 posts)
9. I have an evangelical cousin who went on mission to Africa
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 08:47 AM
Monday

Really nice guy actually. Super Christ-y, but not in that hates minorities sort of way (look, I know it's a low bar).

Anyway, he went to Africa to help build homes and work on water distribution. Tapped out after a few months, because while there were a lot of people who were there to genuinely help, he didn't like how exploiters were allowed to creep in. People who behaved like assholes because they had power over the underprivileged around them. Savior complex, and since I'm a good person, I can do whatever I want. Always justifying shitty behavior.

My cousin's been through some shit. Stepfather murdered his mother shortly after his father died young, lost his only sibling to a heroin overdose, etc. etc. He does not countenance treating people poorly.

He couldn't stand to be around the people he was with anymore. He said they wanted to look like good people without actually being good people.

It's a shame, because there are a lot of people who really do want to help and do amazing work. But many of these organizations just don't police themselves enough to prevent predatory types from latching on while hiding under their moral authority. And then the institutional rot sets in and the cover ups begin. We see it again and again.

yardwork

(69,858 posts)
10. Your cousin has had more than his fair share of heartbreak!
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 09:32 AM
Monday

I have some limited experience traveling and working in sub-Saharan Africa. The scale of the problem is huge. I know people have written many, many books about the causes. What I saw, personally and in my very limited experience, is a cautionary tale for us all.

In the absence of a strong democratic government, predators move in. SSA has a lot of natural resources and greedy people want it all.

I am certain that destroying USAID was a deliberate tactic to allow Musk and his evil buddies a clear field. Russia has pretty much taken over the countries in the belt below the gulf. China is buying up everything in sight.

Sympthsical

(11,257 posts)
19. That is incredible food for thought
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 05:40 PM
Monday

You're right, he did go for USAID right out of the gate, but my brain didn't really connect those two ideas.

Hrm. Well now I want to go do some reading about this. Thanks!

yardwork

(69,858 posts)
21. Thanks. Read about the years RFK, Jr. spent spreading vaccine fear in SSA.
Tue Jun 16, 2026, 11:30 AM
14 hrs ago

Before joining Trump, RFK, Jr. spent decades undermining trust for NGOs in the region. Somehow I doubt he spent his own money on the effort.

Sympthsical

(11,257 posts)
6. DWB
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 08:38 AM
Monday

From the article:

The organization said it launched the monthslong investigation in response to AP reporting that women had accused staff of sexually exploiting them in displacement sites in Chad


Agree with the poster. I doubt they had zero idea until a reporter asked them about it. Sounds more like the rug sweeping wasn't going to work anymore.

yardwork

(69,858 posts)
11. Well, yeah. The world's do-gooders are focused on Israel.
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 09:36 AM
Monday

Step back and there's a much larger scale of evil going on. Not excusing Israel's actions at all, but there are horrific things going on all over the world that are mostly ignored.

It's very convenient for the evil-doers that every progressive has been laser-focused on Israel.

It was very convenient for the evil-doers to get Trump and his buddies back in the White House. Very convenient.

Munu

(297 posts)
15. If what's going on in Africa were going on in Europe ...
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 12:59 PM
Monday

... it would be called a "world war".

harumph

(3,491 posts)
14. DWB has done very good work in the past.
Mon Jun 15, 2026, 10:55 AM
Monday

I don't know of any organization operating in the conditions they typically do, and with such a vulnerable demographic, is not going to be an attractive target for these types of criminals. If it were the Trump admin, they'd just ignore it and make efforts to recruit more sex abusers. Although the story is appalling, I'm confident that DWB is highly motivated to clean up its act. Things fall apart and good people have to put them back together.

harumph

(3,491 posts)
20. I have family members in the medical community and yes,
Tue Jun 16, 2026, 11:06 AM
14 hrs ago

DWB has definitely done good work all over the world. Despite the appalling nature of this particular
unit, it isn't typical. I'm constantly amazed how when upon hearing of a scandal of a NPO or long standing humanitarian
organization, people are like "Well, fuck them - they're dead to me." You don't toss a largely effective organization in the garbage when it encounters scandal and you don't burn a house down in the case of termites. In either case you fix it, unless one is a virtue signalling naif that believes that such organizations with a mature network and willing volunteers can just be "sprouted" from the soil when needed.

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