Refugees sell kidneys to pay for flight

This AFP video says about itself:

Wealth and poverty propping up Pakistan’s illegal kidney trade

26 June 2017

Pakistan has long been an international hub for the illegal kidney trade, but medical and local authorities complain they have been unable to act against the practice, frustrated by ineffective enforcement policies and what they perceive as a lack of political will to crack down.

Translated from Dutch NOS TV:

‘Refugees sold kidneys to pay for the crossing’

Today, 05:59

Refugees sell their kidneys in Egypt to pay for the crossing to Europe. According to a organ trader in Cairo, who spoke to the Dutch television program Zembla, they are dozens of people. …

This proves for the first time that refugees sell their organs for their journeys, says Frederike Ambagtsheer, who recently wrote her PhD thesis at Erasmus University about international organ trafficking. …

The merchants work on behalf of Egyptian transplant doctors. Zembla spoke to a trader who recruits Sudanese and Eritrean refugees. He gets about 20,000 dollars per kidney from the doctor. He determines how much he gives to the victims. The organs are said to be intended for rich patients from the Middle East.

Traders talk to potential victims about their bad living conditions, says Zembla journalist Simone Tangelder. “I spoke to a Sudanese refugee who lived on the streets and was always addressed with: “You can not live like that?” At one point he went over to the hospital, where he sold his kidney.”

The refugees are promised up to $ 13,000, but in many cases they only see a fraction of that money or even nothing at all. The Sudanese received only 2000 dollars. …

The man now wants to sell a piece of his liver to get the money for the journey after all. For Ambagtsheer, it’s the first time she hears that someone wants to sell multiple organs. She calls that painful. …

An Egyptian aid worker says that nearly three-quarters of transplant doctors in Egypt are involved in illegal organ trafficking. Human rights activist Hamdy Alazazi, who collects data on trade in organs, says refugees are also being summoned to hospitals under false pretenses, for example for a medical check. When a woman from Eritrea came out of the anesthesia, it turned out that her kidney had been stolen.

Tonight, 21:20 on Dutch NPO 2 TV, there will be more on this.

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