Bbc
Zeya says the money he received was sufficient to repay his debts and buy land
“I just wanted to own a house and repay my debts – that’s why I decided to sell my kidney,” said Zeya, agricultural worker in Myanmar.
The prices had climbed after a military coup in 2021 sparked a civil war. He could barely feed his young family and was seriously indebted.
They all lived in the house of his mother-in-law, in a village where the thatched houses bordered on earth roads, a few hours away from the largest city in the country, Yangon.
Zeya, whose name was changed to hide his identity, knew the local populations who had sold one of their kidneys. “They seemed healthy,” he said. So he started asking around him.
He is one of the eight people in the region who told the BBC Birm that she had sold a kidney while traveling to India.
Illegal organ trading is a problem through Asia, and Zeya’s story gives an overview of the way it takes place.
Organize
The purchase or sale of human organs is illegal in Myanmar and India, but Zeya says that he quickly found a man whom he describes as a “broker”.
He said that the man organized medical tests and, a few weeks later, told him that a potential beneficiary – a Burmese woman – had been found, and that the two could go to India for surgery.
In India, if the donor and the beneficiary are not close relatives, they must demonstrate that the reason is altruistic and explain the relationship between them.
Zeya says that the broker has forged a document, that each cleaning of myanmar must have, listing the details of family members.
“The broker put my name in the recipient’s family tree,” he explains.
He says that the broker made sure that he was donating to someone to whom he was bound by marriage: “Someone who is not a blood parent, but a distant parent”.
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Refins sales by people living in poverty – like this man in Afghanistan – have been documented in many Asian countries
Then, he said, the broker took him to meet the recipient to Yangon. There, he says that a man who presented himself as a doctor completed more paperwork and warned Zeya that he should pay substantial costs if he dropped.
The BBC contacted this man thereafter, who said that his role was to verify whether a patient was able to undergo the procedure, and not to verify the relationship between the donor and the recipient.
Zeya says he was told that he would receive 7.5 million kyats from Myanmar. This is worth between $ 1,700 and $ 2,700 in the past two years – the unofficial exchange rate has fluctuated since the coup.
He said he flew to northern India for the operation and he took place in a large hospital.
All transplants involving foreign nationals in India must be approved by a panel called the authorization committee, created by the hospital or by the local government.
Zeya says he was interviewed, via a translator, by around four people.
“They asked me if I gladly gave him my kidney, not by force,” he said.
He said he explained that the recipient was a parent and that the transplant was approved.
Zeya remembers doctors administering anesthesia before losing consciousness.
“There were no big problems after surgery, except that I could not move without pain,” he said, adding that he had stayed in the hospital for a week later.
‘Fake mom’
Another donor, Myo Win – not his real name either – told the BBC that he had also pretended to be linked to a stranger.
“The broker gave me a piece of paper, and I had to memorize what was written there,” he said, adding that he was told that the recipient was married to one of his Relatives.
“The person evaluating my case also called my mother, but the broker organized a false mother for the call,” he said. He added that the person who answered the call confirmed that he gave his kidney to a parent with his permission.
Myo Win says he was offered the same amount as Zeya, but that he was described as a “charity gift”, and he had to pay the broker about 10% of the amount.
The two men say they received a third of money in advance. Myo Win says it was in his thoughts when I entered the theater: “I decided that I had to do it because I had already taken their money.”
He adds that he “chose this desperate way” because he had trouble with debts and medical invoices for his wife.
Unemployment rates have climbed to Myanmar since the coup – war has ravaged the economy and sent foreign foreign investors. In 2017, a quarter of the population lived in poverty – but in 2023, this had reached half, according to the UN UNU development agency.
Myo Win says that the broker did not tell him that the sale of kidney was illegal. “I wouldn’t have done him if he did it. I am afraid of ending up in prison,” he said.
The BBC does not appoint any of the organizations or people involved in order to protect the anonymity and safety of those questioned.
However, another man from Myanmar, also speaking anonymously, told BBC that he had helped around 10 people buy or sell kidneys via surgery in India.
He said he had referred people to an “agency” in Mandalay in the center of Myanmar, which, according to him, has made arrangements.
“But don’t worry about donors,” he said. “We have a list of donors who line up to give their kidneys.”
He also said that the documents were traced to qualify foreigners bound by marriage. When asked if he had received money for his help, he did not respond.
Arrests in India
Organ transplants have increased by more than 50% worldwide since 2010, with around 150,000 carried out each year, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But he says that organ supply only meets 10% of global needs.
Trade in human body parts is illegal in almost all countries and is difficult to measure. In 2007, WHO estimated that 5 to 10% of transplanted bodies came from the black market, but the figure can be higher.
Sales of illegal kidneys motivated by poverty have been documented in recent years in Asia, notably in Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh.
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The supply of given organs only meets around 10% of global demand, according to the WHO
India has long been a hub for medical tourism and concerns concerning kidney sales have increased, following accounts in media reports and a recent police investigation.
Last July, Indian police said they had arrested seven people in connection with an alleged kidney racket, including an Indian doctor and assistant.
Police alleys that the group has arranged so that the poor Bangladeshs sell their kidneys, using forged documents to obtain the approval of transplants.
Dr. Vijaya Rajakumari, who worked at the prestigious Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi, would have carried out operations as a guest consultant in another hospital, the Yatharth, a few kilometers away.
His lawyer told the BBC that allegations “are entirely baseless and without evidence”, that she has only carried out surgeries approved by authorization committees and has always acted in accordance with the law. According to her deposit order, she is not accused of preparing forged documents.
The Yatharth Hospital told the BBC all its cases, including those managed by visiting consultants, “are subject to our robust protocols to ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards”.
“We have further improved our processes to prevent such events in the future,” said the hospital.
After his arrest, Apollo hospitals said that Dr. Rajakumari was an independent consultant committed on an act of remuneration for the act and that he had interrupted all clinical commitments with her.
Dr. Rajakumari was not charged to court.
‘No regrets’
Last April, a senior official of the Ministry of Health wrote to the Indian States warning an “push” of transplants involving foreigners and calling for better surveillance.
Under Indian law, foreign nationals who wish to donate or receive organs must have their documents, including those showing the relationship between the donor and the beneficiary, verified by the embassy of their own country in India.
The BBC has contacted the Indian Heath Ministry and the national organization for transplanting organs and tissues, as well as the Military Government of Myanmar to comment, but has received no response.
A public health activist in Myanmar, Dr. Thurein Hlaing Win, said: “The police are not effective.”
He added that potential donors should be aware of the risks, including bleeding during surgery and damage to other organs, adding that appropriate monitoring care is necessary.
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The protests against the coup in 2021 of Myanmar were suppressed and a brutal civil war followed
The BBC heard Zeya for the last time several months after his operation.
“I was able to set my debts and bought land,” he said.
But he said that he could not afford to build a house and had not been able to build one while recovering from surgery. He said he was suffering from back pain.
“I have to restart the work soon. If the side effects strike again, I have to face it. I have no regrets on this subject,” he added.
He said he had stayed in touch with the beneficiary for a while, and she told him that she was healthy with his kidney.
Speaking under the cover of anonymity, she told BBC that she had paid 100 million kyats (between $ 22,000 and $ 35,000 in recent years) in total. She denied that documents were forged, arguing that Zeya was her parent.
Six months after his operation, Myo Win told the BBC that he had paid most of his debts, but not all.
“I have no more work and I am not even a penny,” he said, adding that he had encountered stomach problems since surgery.
He said he had no regrets, but then added: “I told other people not to do it. It’s not good.”
