Essay Example on Organ Trafficking in Egypt: They Locked Me In and Took My Kidney

Introduction

A February 9 article on The Guardian featured a story about the rampant activities of organ trafficking. The article titled: 'Organ trafficking in Egypt': "They locked me in and took my kidney" tells a story of a destitute young man from Eritrea who was lured into the trap of an organ broker. Apart from the poor state of his family which had sunk into debt, Dawitt was at risk of getting forcefully enlisted to the military. He was helped by his family to sneak into Egypt through Sudan. After unsuccessful attempts to find work, he got in contact with a Sudanese organ broker who convinced him of organ trade. He termed it as the safe and most comfortable way to raise the cash (Columb, 2019). He also intended to travel to Europe to seek a better life.

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After agreeing to a $5,000 compensation for his kidney, he was taken for tests then surgery. He woke up a while later on a bed feeling a sharp pain in his side. He became rowdy, prompting the broker to take him away from the location. After the surgery, the broker whose name was Ali promised him a passage to Sicily which would be funded by his dues. He enjoined Dawitt to another man, Isaac who was to smuggle him into Sicily. After two weeks, he had recovered from the surgery, and he sought out Isaac. To his surprise, both Isaac and Ali were nowhere to be found. Upon reporting the matter to the Egyptian authorities, he was threatened with deportation.

Those as mentioned above and described case study contain criminal events. The trading of body organs is illegal. The World Health Organization and a majority of nations consider it a severe crime. Hospitals are prohibited from transplanting organs that have been commercially obtained. Consideration of these statements establishes that the organ trade, as described above, was an illegal act.

Context of Organ Trade and Donation

On the further pursuit of Dawitt's case as earlier described, it invokes the question of whether or not selling or buying of body organs can be justified. Organ trafficking has been increasing worldwide, with many disturbing stories about brokers, doctors, and hospitals engaging in the trade covered by mainstream media (Jafar, 2009).. The demand for these organs has overtaken its supply, leading to illegal acquisitions to meet the shortage (Lundin, 2012). The most dealt with the organ is the kidney, to which many fatalities have attributed. For example, in the United States, about 5,000 Americans died as they waited for kidney transplants.

Organ brokers also traverse the developing countries and regions, where they treacherously obtain the organs from poor individuals. The targeted people by the brokers are majorly those languishing in poverty and uneducated. These individuals readily fall for the financial gains and the promises made about a better future. They consider it an utmost sacrifice for a better good. The initial engagements with the organ brokers are usually diplomatic and convincing. However, halfway into the transactions, especially during the surgical phase, coercion is used. The victims are tortured by the operations and locked up incommunicado for days. The aftermath of the experience with these organ brokers is being duped and left with nothing to show for the cuts and withdrawn body organs.

Organ donations have also facilitated organ transplant. This is where an organ is voluntarily offered by a person who signs a will or agreement that upon death, the organs be given to those in need. Organ exchange, in this case, is not done with the interest of material gain, but that of charity in saving lives.

Criteria for Evaluating the Case Study

The incident from the case study has elements of criminality from both sides: Dawitt the victim and Ali, the organ broker. Both of them engaged in illegality since organ trade is illegal, and it includes both buying and selling of organs. However, the criminal deeds of the two vary in two perspectives. Both inflicted harm intentionally; where Ali was malicious while Dawitt was desperate. Intentional damage is where an individual puts another in danger, knowingly. Malice comes in where one's intentions are to benefit at the expense of another person's predicament. Desperation is a last resort or a state of being resigned after an effort to rescue one's self from a paining situation.

The organ broker undertook a malicious criminal activity, inflicting intentional harm in the process. Ali epitomized the nature of the organ brokers; locking up victims in rooms for days, conducting surgeries in uncouth conditions and later disappearing without paying the subjects. Organ brokers also inflict bodily harm on intent by coercing their victims to submission. In some instances, victims are even drugged using hazardous substances in a bid to get them to cooperate.

On the other hand, Dawitt engaged in criminal activity by agreeing to sell his kidney to get the money to facilitate his move to Europe. In the process, he ended up inflicting bodily harm on himself. On a keen consideration of his situation, one finds out that his intent was not malicious, that he did it just to survive. It was a desperation move, which presented the perfect opportunity for the broker to capitalize on. Dawitt desperately wanted to get out of his destitute situation and also help his family.

The evaluation of the two subjects in the case study accurately presents the two sides of the divide in this debate. In organ trade, there are people who fit the description of brutal opportunists and those doing it out of pure necessity. To begin with, the majority of the people in many areas around the globe live below the poverty line. Such people lack entrepreneurial skills and the basic facilitation to be stable in their lives. The situation in the majority of these places is a desperate one, which has reduced them to begging societies. At some point, the World Health Organization called for more protection of the vulnerable people who had a high likelihood of selling a kidney for as low as 1,000 US Dollars (Nullis-Kapp, 2004). It is because of poverty that many of these people cannot make enough consideration when given a chance to quick money at the expense of their body organs.

The dealers of body organs, on the other hand, are opportunistic individuals who have no regard for ethics and morals. The high-profit returns of the organ trade business cloud their judgment on basic morality. The selfish nature of humanity causes the sadistic tendencies exhibited by the brokers and extractors. The current generation of the world is increasingly adopting the capitalist ideology of economic survival where approaches of wealth accumulation do not count; what matters is the result. It is a societal disorder that people have lost touch of morality and ethics. Individuals take the chances of destroying others to gain wealth without considering that they may harm others in the process. Forceful retrieval of the organs, the breach of health safety protocol during extraction are some of the indicators of gross disregard of other people's welfare by the organ traffickers.

A case in point is similar to other incidents which have happened around the world, other than in Egypt. In Islamabad Pakistan, for instance, The Washington Post reported that a police operation in 2016 saved twenty-four people who were detained in an apartment (Efrat, 2016). The individuals had been lured to forceful kidney extractions through the same ways; deception and treachery. Further details relayed by the BBC indicated that the people were promised job opportunities (Evans, 2017). One from the group called Mr. Ahmed disclosed that he was subjected to beating and banned from going outside. Organ trade was banned in 2010 in Pakistan; however, the trade continues. Transplant tourism is prevalent where transplant facilities in destination countries have been promoting the selling of organs to vacationers from shopper nations (Budiani-Saberi& Delmonico, 2008). Foreign clients are usually wealthy people.

The Pakistan rescue incident reinforces the criminal perspective of the organ trade. In both events, kidney merchants forcefully steal body parts from their owners. They not only take body organs but also rob families of their breadwinners and detaining them incommunicado. On the same note, the affected parties in both cases are lured into the trap by their economic situations. This prompts them to get into unstructured agreements with cunning organ brokers. Because of their helplessness and the illegality of the trade, they cannot get support from the authorities once they get duped.

Organ transplant is a necessity in the medical discipline, where lives have been saved from it. However, it poses an enormous threat both to the healthy and the sick. The healthy people may suffer contracting infections due to the negligence of safety protocol, especially during the forceful retrieval procedures. On the other hand, the patients in need of the organs may have challenges, especially with compatibility. This is where the transplanted organ does not suit the patient, and complications arise from the disparity.

To reconcile both sides of the debate, governments in the countries where the organ trade is prevalent should educate their people and empower them with skills and jobs to support themselves economically. This will reduce the desperateness of the people, which draws them into the fraudsters' traps. The Istanbul declaration from the Istanbul Summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism, advocates for authorized and professional structure in each nation to regulate organ transplant, prohibits unethical practices as well as oversight of donor and recipient safety (Delmonico, 2009). The declaration assists in formulating comprehensive laws on the trading, and donation of body organs.

References

Columb, S. (2019, February 9). Organ trafficking in Egypt: 'They locked me in and took my kidney.' The Guardian.

Efrat, A. (2016, December 7). Organ traffickers lock up people to harvest their kidneys. Here are the politics behind the organ trade.

Evans, R. (2017, January 24). Pakistani police rescue 24 from organ trafficking gang. BBC NEWS.

BudianiSaberi, D. A., & Delmonico, F. L. (2008). Organ trafficking and transplant tourism: a commentary on the global realities. American Journal of Transplantation, 8(5), 925-929.

Lundin, S. (2012). Organ economy: Organ trafficking in Moldova and Israel. Public Understanding of Science, 21(2), 226-241.

Nullis-Kapp, C. (2004). Organ trafficking and transplantation pose new challenges. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 82, 715-715.

Delmonico, F. L. (2009). The implications of the Istanbul Declaration on organ trafficking and transplant tourism. Current Opinion in Organ Transplantation, 14(2), 116-119.