Organs’ trafficking: how vulnerable migrants are dragged in illegal transplants.

Translated by Irene Cecchi

Every year, thousands of migrants, refugees and vulnerable people are victims of the criminal industry of organ trafficking. Even though it is illegal in almost every country, this trade is still on due to the rising request of organs for transplants, the lack of volunteering donations and the economic disparity that leads poorer people to sell parts of their bodies to survive.

Yonas’ story

An investigative report by the Guardian tells the story of a young Eritrean, Yonas, who sold a kidney to pay off the debts he accumulated trying to flee his country and arrive in Europe. Yonas left Eritrea, a Country known for his indefinite military service and for the systemic human rights violations, characterized by arbitrary detentions, tortures and disappearances. After being conscripted when he was eleven years old in the Sawa military camp, he suffered physical and psychological abuses for years, along with forced labor. The mandatory military service involves about 5% of the population and it led to the escape of more than 500.000 Eritreans in the last few years’ time, many of whom start a dangerous journey headed to Europe. Yonas’ family is one of the numerous ones that paid a lot of money to make him pass the border through human traffickers and then over the Sahara desert until getting to Libya, hoping for Europe. His journey was interrupted by Libic authorities, just like many others.

In Libya, Yonas was arrested by the coast guard and kept in a detention center for refugees funded by the European Union where he was assaulted physically and psychologically. After various attempts to get to Europe, he found himself covered in debts for his liberation from detention centers and he escaped in Egypt. Here, Yonas was approached by an intermediary of organ traffickers in a period of deep vulnerability.

He received an offer to go through surgery to remove a kidney for 10.000 dollars; he accepted and then he was blindfolded, drugged and led to an illegal clinic.

After the surgery, Yonas received only a part of the agreed payment and he is left alone recovering in precarious conditions, without medical assistance and with serious consequences for his health.

Organ trafficking on a global scale

In 2018, The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported more than 700 confirmed cases of organ trafficking on a global scale, but it is thought that the actual number may be way bigger. It is difficult to track and control this crime and this is way it is impossible to have a concrete number; either way, it is thought that this business should create a turnover of about 1.2 billion dollars per year, with tens of thousands of illegal surgeries.

According to some estimates, about 10% of the world’s transplants surgeries are illegal and kidneys are the most trafficked organs. Every year, more than 120.000 transplants are carried out in the world but they only meet a small part of the needed ones.

In detail, kidney’s trafficking is backed by a rising number of chronic diseases in developed countries, like diabetes and hypertension. Considering only the United Kingdom, the number of patients in a kidney waiting list grew by 37% between 2019 and 2022. Because of the lack of available organs, many patients rely on alternative solutions and go to countries like Egypt, Pakistan, Philippines and Turkey where they can find “donated” organs in the black market for thousands of dollars.

Anyways, the organs’ trafficking does not only exist in these countries but actually it also involves European and North American ones, where wealthy patients are willing to have one at any cost. The economic disparity between people who can pay and people who have to sell is a never ending spiral, fostered by impunity and the weaknesses of legal sanitary systems.

The organ trafficking is made possible by an international web of cooperating traffickers, doctors and corrupted officials. These criminals take advantage of migrants, refugees and poor people’s vulnerability by promising them fictional payments. Yonas, for example, agreed to sell a kidney for 10.000 dollars but, just like others, he received way less than that, along with the severe physical and psychological consequences.

According to a 2021 report carried out by the Interpol, the most affected regions are the ones in North and West Africa, where entire populations are displaced due to conflicts and poverty. The illegal organ's trafficking thrive in this area also because there is no adequate legal protection for migrants and refugees that are often considered as “illegal” and invisible people in the eyes of the institutions.

Invisible and silent victims

The victims, who are often “illegal” since they have no documents nor protection, are afraid of reporting the abuses. Organ trafficking is in the hands of organized crime but it is a direct consequence also of the global migration crisis, of the nationalist policies that close the borders and of the lack of safe paths for asylum seekers.

People who escape persecutions, wars and extreme poverty often find themselves trapped in a limbo: unable to legally enter in Europe they end up trying more dangerous ways that can often lead to death.

Organ trafficking is not only a human rights violation but it also reflects a huge global inequality that keeps going on. The international community has to launch more effective measures to stop this illegal trade and to safeguard migrants and refugees’ rights. The solutions should face the origins of the crisis, providing safe and legal alternatives for asylum seekers, reforming the health system to increase legal donations and reduce the need of illegal ones.

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