(The Guardian) – As a legal academic, I have been investigating the global trade in organs since 2014. Over the past 10 years, I have spoken to 43 people from Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea who sold a kidney out of economic necessity. In most cases, people were targeted by criminal groups because of their precarious status as asylum seekers, refugees or undocumented migrants. Most were not paid what they were promised. Some were paid nothing. Doubly criminalised, as illegal migrants and organ sellers, they were in no position to negotiate a price, or to ensure they got paid the agreed amount. Because of their precarious legal status they were also less likely to report abuse to the authorities.

In the absence of legal pathways to migration, many had sold their kidneys after they had been arrested, detained and in some cases deported back to countries where their lives were under threat. Most had opted to avoid refugee camps, describing them as “prisons” and “death camps” where people go to die. They were disillusioned with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). (Read More)