Organ Theft From Ethiopia and Sudan Refugees Horrifies Authorities
New reports are claiming that African refugees from Ethiopia and Sudan are having their organs stolen by the same people who are taking them across the border to Israel.
The New Foundation for Human Rights and the EveryOne Group have produced evidence that bodies of African refugees have been found in the desert with organs missing.
It has been reported that the route takes the refugees through the Sinai desert.
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The Sawarka Bedouin tribe is one of the largest in the Sinai and has been linked to the organ theft. A leader of the Sawarka has stated he knew of human trafficking and in some instances torture, but insisted that only rogue elements were involved.
According to the human rights groups the refugees are enslaved, tortured and the women raped if they are not able to come up with the money for the Bedouin to smuggle them and their families into Israel.
Photos of the victims taken at a morgue in the Egyptian port town of El Arish show huge scars where the organs were removed. Hamdy Al-Azazy, head of the New Generation Foundation, says the organs are taken from the bodies while they are still alive.
"The organs are not useful if they're dead. They drug them first and remove their organs, then leave them to die and dump them in a deep dry well along with hundreds of bodies.” He said.
Corrupt Egyptian doctors are suspected in performing the organ removal. Using advanced mobile hospital units, the doctor’s travel to the desert to perform the operation and then return to a private hospital in Cairo.
Dr. Fakhry Sakeh, former head of Cairo’s forensic department, saw the photos of the bodies whose organs were removed, "They are good stitches in the area of the liver and the kidney."
Sakeh also happens to be an expert on the illegal organ trade.
"Organ trade is the second most profitable trade behind only weapons trade…it brings in more money than drug dealing and prostitution," he said.
A former Bedouin smuggler said, "The doctors deal directly with the Sawarka family, and they buy the organs starting from $20,000,” on CNN.
Local authorities have yet to find anyone responsible for the organ thefts.
