A leaked internal report has confirmed that multiple staff members of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) stand accused of exchanging food rations for sexual favours from Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad. The allegations, which have been quietly circulating for months, were finally made public after a whistleblower handed documents to this newsroom. The UN, which coordinates the humanitarian response in the region, now faces a reckoning over its failure to act.
Sources confirm that at least seven MSF employees, including senior field officers, have been suspended pending investigation. But the timeline raises questions. Why did it take so long?
The report, dated November 2023, was buried until now. One refugee, speaking on condition of anonymity, described how aid workers demanded sex in exchange for bags of rice and cooking oil. 'They said it was the only way,' she said.
'My children were starving.' The accusations span two MSF-run clinics near the Sudanese border, where aid agencies have struggled to feed 300,000 refugees who fled the civil war. MSF has promised a 'zero tolerance' approach, but insiders say the culture of impunity runs deep.
'The UN knew. They turned a blind eye,' a former MSF logistician told me. 'Because if they acted, it would trigger a funding crisis.
' The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) denies any prior knowledge, but internal memos suggest otherwise. A memo dated February 2024, obtained by this newspaper, shows UNHCR officials discussing 'reputational risks' and the need to 'manage disclosures carefully.' This is not an isolated incident.
Similar allegations have surfaced against other NGOs in South Sudan and Yemen. The pattern is clear: when food becomes a weapon, the vulnerable pay the price. The question now is whether the UN can enforce its own safeguarding rules, or whether it will let this scandal be buried like the survivors' voices.
