Myanmar peasants fly to India to sell illegally authorities

“I just wanted to own a house and pay off my debts – so I decided to sell my kidney,” says Zia, a farm worker in Myanmar.

Prices had jumped after Military coup in 2021 caused a civil war. He could barely feed his young family and it was bad in debt.

They all lived in his mother-in-law’s house, in a village where houses with tiny lined black roads, for several hours of driving from the largest city in the country, Yangon.

Zeia, whose name was changed to cover up her identity, knew about locals who sold one of their kidneys. “They looked healthy to me,” he says. So he started asking around.

He is one of the eight people in the area who told the Burmese Burman that they sold a kidney by traveling to India.

Illegal trade in organs is a problem throughout Asia and the history of the soil gives an idea of ​​how it takes.

Buying or selling human authorities is illegal in both Myanmar and India, but Zeia says he has soon found a man he describes as a “broker.”

He says the man organized medical tests and a few weeks later told him a potential recipient – a Burmese woman – was found and that they could both travel to India for the operation.

In India, if the donor and the recipient are not close relatives, they must demonstrate that the motive is altruistic and explains the connection between them.

Saya says the broker has built a document that every household in 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 has done as if he was donating to someone with whom he was associated with marriage: “Someone who is not a relative of the blood but a distant relative.”

Then, he says, the broker took him to meet the recipient in Yangon. There, he says that a person who introduced himself as a doctor has completed more documents and warned that he would have to pay a significant fee if he gave up.

The BBC then contacted that person who said his role was to check that the patient was fit to undergo the procedure and not to check the relationship between the donor and the recipient.

Zaya says he was told he would receive 7.5 million Myanmar Kyatis. It costs somewhere between $ 1,700 and $ 2,700 in the last few years – the unofficial currency course hesitates after the coup.

He says he flew to northern India for the operation and it took place in a large hospital.

All transplants including foreign citizens in India must be approved by a group called a permission committee created either by the hospital or by local authorities.

Zaya says he was interviewed by a translator of about four people.

“They asked me if I readily donated my kidney to her, not with force,” he says.

He says he explained that the recipient is a relative and the transplant has been approved.

Zaya remembers that doctors apply anesthetics before losing consciousness.

“There were no big problems after the surgery, except that I couldn’t move without pain,” he says, adding that he stayed in hospital for a week after.

Another donor, Myo Win – is also not his real name – he told the BBC that he also pretended to be associated with a stranger.

“The broker gave me a piece of paper and I had to remember what was written on him,” he says, adding that he was told to say that the recipient was married to one of his relatives.

“The person who appreciates my case also called my mother, but the broker arranges a fake mom for the call,” he says. He added that the person who responded to the call confirmed that he was donating his kidney to a relative with her permission.

Myo Win says he was offered the same amount as Zeya, but he was described as a “charity donation” and he had to pay the broker about 10% of the amount.

Both men say they were given a third of the money in front. Myo Win says it was in his thoughts when he entered the operating theater: “I decided I had to do it because I had already taken their money.”

He added that he “chose this desperate way” while fighting the debt and medical accounts for his wife.

The unemployment rate rose to Myanmar after the coup – the war devastated the economy and sent foreign investors to flee. In 2017, a quarter of the population lived in poverty – but by 2023 this increased to half, according to the UN Development Agency, Pronon.

Myo Win says the broker has not told him he sells his kidneys illegal. “I wouldn’t do it if he did it. I’m afraid not to end up in prison,” he says.

The BBC does not name any of the organizations or persons involved to protect the anonymity and safety of the respondents.

However, another man in Myanmar, also speaking anonymously, told the BBC that he helped about 10 people buy or sell kidneys through surgery in India.

He said he directed the people at the Mandalay Agency in Central Myanmar, which he said he was arranged.

“But don’t worry about the donors,” he said. “We have a list of donors in line to donate their kidneys.”

He also said the documents were falsified to label strangers related to marriage. Asked if he received money for his help, he did not answer.

Organ transplants have increased by over 50% worldwide since 2010, with about 150,000 being carried out annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But it says that organization of organ meets only about 10% of global needs.

The trade in parts of the human body is illegal in almost all countries and is difficult to measure. In 2007, the WWC considered that 5-10% of the transplanted organs came from the black market, but the figure may be higher.

Illegal sales of poverty -controlled kidneys have been documented in recent years throughout Asia, including in Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh.

India has long been a center for medical tourism and concern for kidney sales, following media reports and a recent police investigation.

Last July, Indian police said they had arrested seven people in connection with an alleged kidney rocket, including an Indian doctor and its assistant.

Police claim that the group has arranged the poor Bangladeshi to sell their kidneys using forged documents to provide transplants approval.

It is alleged that D -L -Vajaya Rajakumari, who worked at the prestigious hospital Indrapprasha Apollo in Delhi, performed surgeries as a visiting consultant at another hospital, Yatharm, a few kilometers.

Her lawyer told the BBC that the allegations “are completely unfounded and without evidence” that she performs only operations approved by authorization committees and has always acted in accordance with the law. According to her guarantee order, she was not charged with preparing for forged documents.

Yatharm Hospital told the BBC all its cases, including those managed by visiting consultants, “are subject to our stable protocols to ensure that legal and ethical standards are complied with.”

“We have further improved our processes to prevent such events in the future,” the hospital said.

After his arrest, Apollo’s hospitals said Dr. Rajakumari was a freelance consultant engaged on a service fee and terminated all clinical commitments with her.

Dr. Rajakumari is not charged with court.

Last April, a senior health ministry employee wrote until the Indian state warning about a “jump” in transplants involving foreigners and calling for better monitoring.

According to Indian legislation, foreign citizens wishing to donate or receive authorities must have their documents, including those who show the connection between the donor and the recipient, checked by the Embassy of their own country in India.

The BBC has contacted the Ministry of Heath in India and the National Organization for Organ and Tissue Transplantation, as well as with Myanmar’s military government for comment, but did not receive an answer.

Myanmar Public Health Campaign, Dr. Thurein Hlaing Win, said: “The law enforcement agencies 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 proper follow -up care is needed.

The BBC was last heard from Zeia a few months after its surgery.

“I was able to arrange my debts and bought a plot,” he said.

But he said he could not afford to build a house and failed to build one while recovering from the operation. He said he was suffering from back pain.

“I have to restart the work soon. If the side effects are hit again, I have to deal with it. I do not regret it,” he added.

He said he had kept in touch with the recipient for a while and she told him she was in good health with his kidney.

Speaking of anonymity, she told the BBC that she had paid 100 million Kyats (between about $ 22,000 and $ 35,000 in recent years). She denied that the documents were forged, maintaining that Zeia was her relative.

Six months after his surgery, Myo Win told the BBC that he had paid most of his debts, but not all.

“I have no job and didn’t even stay a penny,” he said, adding that he had experienced some stomach problems after surgery.

He said he had no regret, but then he added, “I tell other people not to do it. It’s not good.”