Organ Trafficking - Its Everyone's Problem

We’ve all heard stories of people who go out on a date in a strange city, only to wake up in a bathtub full of ice with a big scar across their body, at which point they quickly realize that their kidney has been stolen. While stories like these have undoubtedly happened, they come nowhere near to capturing the true horror of organ trafficking.

Illegal organ transplantation is more ubiquitous, more lucrative, and more predatory than you might think. Traffickers are rarely brought to justice. On top of all that, this illegal trade can be the only option for people who would otherwise die before receiving an organ legally.

Many traffickers convince themselves that organ trafficking is often a victimless crime: The sick get healthy, the poor get money, and the middleman earns a living by connecting them. Normal people will usually see the unwilling donors as victims, and many times, the recipients are being given substandard organs that could put their lives at risk. In truth, the black market for organs is a problem that affects us all.

In the US, there are about 120,000 waiting for an organ transplant, with one more being added to the list every ten minutes. 22 people a day die while on this list, and yet, a single organ donor can save eight people. By donating tissues in addition to organs, that same donor could end up helping an unbelievable 75 people.  So in a country of over 320 million people, is finding an extra three per day really so difficult?

The answer is clearly no. But only 42 percent of Americans are registered as organ donors, despite the vast majority being eligible. The reality is that the black market for organs exists because both governments and citizens continuously fail to take any significant action to address this issue.

In 2015, Wales changed their laws to adopt an opt-out system, where everyone is assumed to be an organ donor unless they specify otherwise. This allows doctors to take the organs without having to jump through hoops, during which time the organs may become unusable. In the following year, they saw a ten-percent rise in organ donations (versus four percent in the rest of the UK), and only six percent of people have chosen to opt out. Over 24 countries now have some form of presumed consent laws, and these generally see donation levels up to 30 percent higher than countries with an opt-in system. So while the organ traffickers are indisputably carrying out horrifying crimes, we must ask ourselves two questions: When will our governments take back control of this market, and until then, where do I sign up?


War Crimes

Traffickers usually target the poorest and most vulnerable people in society for two very clear reasons: They will be willing to part with their organs for less money, and the police will be less likely to take notice or step in. Still, there comes a point when so many people in a region have fallen victim to organ trafficking that the public outrage will simply cause the traffickers to move onto the next area. But in situations where huge numbers of poor, vulnerable people are dying or going missing en masse, the trail is much easier to cover up—such as in wars or refugee crises.

In 2015, the bodies on nine Somali citizens were found on a beach in Egypt. While they initially may have looked like refugees who drowned at sea, the scars on their bodies made it clear that their organs had been harvested. After the tsunami in 2004, a slum in India became known as “Kidneyville,” as doctors there would refuse to treat people who couldn’t pay without getting something in return, namely healthy organs.

Another example is that of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who were accused of harvesting organs from Serbian rivals after the end of the Kosovo War.[9] After journalists leveled the accusations and the EU investigated, a new court was established as a direct response. The new court will look into allegations of war crimes where defendants are accused of “subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to medical or scientific experiments of any kind which are neither justified by medical, dental or hospital treatment.”

Article by ListVerse