Mjanmar locals fly to India to illegally sell organs

“I just wanted to own a house and repay my debts – that’s why I decided to sell my kidney,” says Zeya, a farmer in Mjanmar.

Prices rose after Military coup 2021. launched a civil war. He could barely feed his young family and was bad in debt.

They all lived in the house of his mother -in -law, in a village where strawous houses lined earthen roads, a few hours drive from the largest city in the country, Yangon.

Zeya, whose name was changed to conceal his identity, knew about local people who sold one of their kidneys. “They looked healthy to me,” he says. So he started to ask around.

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

Illegal organs trafficking the problem is in the whole of Asia, and Zeya’s story gives insight into how it goes.

The purchase or sale of the human organs is illegal and in Mjanmar and India, but Zeya says he soon found a man he describes as “broker”.

He says that the man agreed with medical tests and, a few weeks later, told him that a potential recipient had been found – a Burmese woman – and that they both could travel to India for surgery.

In India, if the donor and the recipient are not close relatives, they must show that the motive is altruistic and explain the relationship between them.

Zeya says a broker created a document that must have every household in Mjanmar, citing details of family members.

“The broker put my name in the recipient’s family tree,” he explains.

He says the broker seemed to donate to someone he was in a relationship with marriage: “Someone who is not a blood relative, but a distant relative.”

Then, he says, he took him to meet the recipient in Yangon. There, he says that the man who introduced himself as a doctor ended up more paperwork and warned Zeya that he would have to pay a significant fee if he quit.

The BBC then contacted this man, who said that his role was to check that the patient was suitable for the procedure, not to check the relationship between the provider and the recipient.

Zeya says he was told he would get 7.5 million Mjanmar Kyats. This is worth somewhere between $ 1,700 and $ 2,700 in the last few years – the unofficial course varied from a coup.

He says he flew to North India for surgery and this happened at a great hospital.

All transplants involving foreign nationals in India must be approved by the Council entitled Committee on Authorization, founded by a hospital or local administration.

Zeya says about four people interviewed him through the translator.

“They asked me if I was willingly donated her kidney, not force,” he says.

He says he explained that the recipient was a cousin and that the transplant had been approved.

Zeya remembers a doctor who managed anesthetic before losing consciousness.

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

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

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

“The person who assessed my case also called my mom, but the broker agreed to a false mom for a call,” he says. He adds that the person who responded to the invitation confirmed that he donated his kidney to his cousin with his permission.

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

They both say they gave them a third of the money in advance. Myo Win says it was in his thoughts as he walked into the operating theater: “I decided I had to do it because I had already taken their money.”

He adds that he “chose this desperate path” while fighting with debt accounts and medicine for his wife.

The unemployment rates climbed in a state strike – the war devastated the economy and sent foreign investors who were running away. In 2017, a quarter of the population lived in poverty – but by 2023 it increased to half, according to the UN UNP UNDP.

Myo Win says the broker did not tell him that the sale of the kidney was illegal. “I wouldn’t do it if he was. I’m afraid to end up in prison,” he says.

BBC does not appoint any of the organizations or individuals involved in protecting the anonymity and safety of the respondents.

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

He said he referred people to the “agency” in Mandalay, Central Mjanmar, who he said had agreed.

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

And he said the documents were fake to designate the strangers as connected by marriage. When asked if he received money for his help, he did not answer.

The organ transplant has increased by more than 50% around the world since 2010, and around 150,000 annually, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). But he says that the organ supply is only met with only about 10% of global needs.

Trafficking in parts of the human body is illegal in almost all countries and is difficult to measure. In 2007, WHO estimated that 5-10% of the transplant organs were coming from the black market, but the figure could be higher.

Illegal kidney sales have been documented by poverty in recent years throughout Asia, including Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Afghanistan, India and Bangladesh.

India has been the center of medical tourism for a long time and there is concern about the sale of kidney, after a report in media reports and a recent police investigation.

Last July Indian police said seven people were arrested in connection with the alleged kidney racket, including an Indian doctor and her assistant.

Police state that the group agreed to poor Banglades to sell kidneys using counterfeit documents to ensure a transplant approval.

Dr Vijaya Rajakumari, who worked at the prestigious IndraPrastha Hospital Apollo in Delhi, allegedly performed operations as a visiting advisor at another hospital, Yatharth, several kilometers.

Her lawyer told the BBC that the charges were “fully unfounded and without evidence” that she carried out only operations approved by the Committees for Authorization and always acted in accordance with the Law. According to a warranty order, she was not charged with preparing forged documents.

The Yatharth Hospital told the BBC in all its cases, including those managed by advisers, “are subject to our robust protocols to ensure respect of legal and ethical standards.”

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

After his arrest, the Apollo Hospital said that Dr. Rajakumari is a free advisor hired on the basis of a service fee and that he abolished all clinical engagement with her.

Dr. Rajakumari was not charged in court.

Last April, a senior official of the Ministry of Health wrote to Indian countries, warning of a “rush” in the transplantation involved in foreigners and inviting better control.

According to Indian law, foreign nationals who want to donate or receive organs must have their documents, including those showing the relationship between donors and recipients, confirmed at the Embassy of their own country in India.

The BBC contacted the Indian Ministry of Heath -Ai National Organization for Organ and Tissue Transplantation, as well as the Myanmar Military Government to comment, but did not receive an answer.

Public health in Mjanmar, Dr. Thurein Hlaing Win, said: “The implementation of the law is not effective.”

He added that potential donors must be aware of the risk, including bleeding during surgery and damage to other organs, adding that appropriate monitoring is required.

The BBC last heard from Zey a few months after his surgery.

“I managed to settle my debts and bought the land,” he said.

But he said he couldn’t afford to build a house and could not construct it while recovering from surgery. He said he suffered from back pain.

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

He said that he had stayed in contact with the recipient for a while, and she told him that he was in good health with his kidney.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, she told the BBC that she had paid 100 m Kyats (between about $ 22,000 and $ 35,000 in recent years). She denied that the documents were forged, claiming that Zeya was her cousin.

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

“I have no business, not even a penny,” he said, adding that he had a stomach problem with surgery.

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