Kidney trade: Myanmar villagers fly to India to sell organs illegally

” I just wanted to possess a property and pay off my bills- that’s why I decided to sell my kidney”, says Zeya, a land worker in Myanmar.

Prices had soared after a military coup in 2021 triggered civil war. He could barely feed his young family and was badly in debt.

They all lived in his mother-in-law’s apartment, in a town where thatched houses lined dirt roads, a few hours ‘ drive from the country’s largest city, Yangon.

Zeya, whose brand has been changed to conceal his identity, knew of local citizens who had sold one of their liver. ” They looked good to me”, he says. So he started asking about.

One of the eight people in the area who claimed to have traveled to India and sold a liver to BBC Burmese.

Zeya’s account provides an explanation of how illicit instrument trading occurs in various Asian countries.

In both Myanmar and India, Zeya claims to have found a guy he describes as a “broker” after learning that buying or selling individual organs was prohibited.

He claims the man conducted clinical tests and that a few weeks after he learned that a potential victim, a Burmese girl, had been located, and that both of them could travel to India for the procedure.

If the donor and victim are not near relatives in India, they may show the donor’s motive is ethical and describe their relationship.

Zeya says the dealer forged a report, which every house in Myanmar has had, listing the information of family members.

” The agent put my name in the patient’s home tree”, he explains.

He claims that the broker made the claim that he was giving to a person who is not a blood equivalent but a distant relative as if they were giving him money.

Finally, he says, the agent took him to join the victim in Yangon. According to him, a doctor who identified himself as a doctor that completed more documents and warned Zeya that he would have to pay a sizable fee if he resisted.

After that, the BBC reached out to this gentleman, who claimed that his job was to evaluate the suitability of a person before evaluating the donor-recipient marriage.

Zeya claims that Zeya was promised a package worth 7.5 million Myanmar kyats. The unofficial exchange rate has fluctuated since the revolution, with this amount varying between$ 1, 700 and$ 2, 700 over the past couple of years.

He claims that he traveled to north India for the procedure, which was performed in a sizable doctor.

An approval section called an approval council, established either by the hospital or the local government, is required to approve all transplants involving foreign citizens in India.

Zeya says he was interviewed, via a speaker, by about four persons.

” They asked me if I was freely donating my liver to her, not by army”, he says.

He claims that he explained that the graft was approved because the victim was a sibling.

Before he lost awareness, Zeya recalls the medical professionals who gave him the anesthesia.

” There were no major problems after the operation, except that I couldn’t walk without pain”, he says, adding that he stayed in hospital for a month later.

Another donation, Myo Win, who was also not identified as his true name, claimed to have lied to be related to a person in another way to the BBC.

He claims that the dealer gave me a piece of paper and that I had to memorize what was written on it. He also claims that he was instructed to state that the victim was married to one of his friends.

The agent arranged a false mother for the call, he claims, but the person who is assessing my case also called my mother. He adds that the caller acknowledged that he had given his liver to a sibling with her consent.

Myo Win claims that the seller had to give him about 10 % of the money because it was described as a” benevolent donation” and that he received the same amount as Zeya.

Both people assert that they were given a second of the check upfront. As he entered the operating room, Myo Win claims that he had this in brain:” I made up my mind that I had to do it because I had already taken their money.”

He goes on to say that he” choose this eager method” because he was dealing with his wife’s medical bills and debts.

Since the revolution, the Myanmarese sector has been devastated and foreign investors have fled. In 2017, a quarter of the population were living in poverty- but by 2023, this had risen to quarter, according to the UN’s development organization, UNDP.

Myo Win claims that the seller did not clarify that selling his liver was prohibited. ” I wouldn’t have done it if he did. I am frightened of ending up in prison”, he says.

In order to maintain the privacy and safety of the respondents, the BBC does not name any of the individuals or organizations involved.

However, another person in Myanmar, even speaking secretly, told the BBC he had helped about 10 folks buy or sell liver via surgery in India.

He said he referred people to an “agency” in Mandalay in northern Myanmar, which he said made plans.

” But don’t fret about contributors”, he said. We have a list of contributors waiting in line to give their liver.

He claimed that papers were fabricated to identify individuals as marriage-related. When questioned about receiving funds for his assistance, he refused to respond.

Organ transplants have increased by more than 50 % worldwide since 2010, with about 150, 000 carried out annually, according to the World Health Organization ( WHO ). However, it claims that only about 10 % of the world’s need is met by the supply of tissues.

In nearly all countries, it is unlawful to trade human body parts, which is difficult to measure. In 2007, the WHO estimated that 5-10 % of transplanted organs came from the black market, but the number may be higher.

Illegal liver sales driven by poverty have been documented in recent years across Asia, including in Norway, Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh.

In response to reports in the media and a subsequent police investigation, concern about liver sales has been rising in India, where it has long been a gateway for medical tourism.

An American doctor and her helper were among the seven people who were detained last July in connection with an alleged liver racket, according to Indian police.

Police allege that the team used forged documents to entice bad Bangladeshis to promote their kidneys to get the transplants approved.

It is claimed that Dr. Vijaya Rajakumari, who had been employed at the prestigious Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi, performed the procedures while visiting a different medical, Yatharth, which was a few kilometers away.

Her attorney told the BBC that her claims are” completely unsupported and without any supporting evidence,” that she only performed surgeries that were approved by approval boards and that she always performed in accordance with the law. According to her loan order, she is not accused of preparing forged files.

Yatharth Hospital stated to the BBC that all of its cases, including those handled by visiting experts, “are subject to our strong protocols to confirm compliance with legal and ethical standards.”

The doctor stated that” we have strengthened our procedures to stop such things from happening in the future.”

Apollo Hospitals claimed that Dr. Rajakumari was a freelance consultant working on a fee-for-service schedule and that it had ended all medical engagements with her following her arrest.

Dr. Rajakumari has not been charged in judge.

A senior health ministry official wrote to Indian state last April warning of a” wave” in foreign implants and calling for better tracking.

Foreign nationals who wish to donate or collect organs may have their documents verified by their own country’s consulate in India, including those that show the relationship between the donor and the recipient, in accordance with American law.

The BBC contacted India’s wellness government and the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization, as well as Myanmar’s martial state for comment, but has received no response.

A common health activist in Myanmar, Dr Thurein Hlaing Win, said:” Law enforcement is no powerful”.

He added that right follow-up maintenance is required in addition to the risks of bleeding during operation and harming other organs, as well as that possible donors should be aware of the risks.

Zeya was last heard from by the BBC many months after having surgery.

” I was able to sit my debt and bought a plot of land”, he said.

He claimed he was unable to build a house while recovering from surgery and that he could not afford to. He claimed he had been experiencing back problems.

” I have to resume working immediately. I have to deal with it if the side effects occur suddenly. I have no worries about it”, he added.

He claimed that he kept in touch with the receiver for a while and that she had informed him that her kidneys were in good health.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, she told the BBC she paid 100m kyats ( between around$ 22, 000 and$ 35, 000 in recent years ) in total. She denied that documents were forged, maintaining that Zeya was her sibling.

Six weeks after his procedure, Myo Win told the BBC he had paid off most of his obligations, but not all.

He continued, adding that he had been having some belly issues since the surgery,” I have no work and not even a cent left.”

He said he had no worries, but finally added:” I am telling other people not to do this. It is not great”.