Escaping Eritrea: Organ Harvesting
Abstract
Organ harvesting is a massive problem amongst many countries. One country in Africa, known as Eritrea, is a victim of organ harvesting due to kidnapping while fleeing the country. Eritrea is a country full of poverty and is so impoverished that the citizens are willing to risk their own life to escape. If captured, Eritreans risk torture, starvation, and even losing their organs either by force or by volunteering. They are forced to pay a ransom that is so expensive that they have to contact all of their family members to raise the money. Families are forced to listen to their loved ones being tortured to death to get them to pay. Organ harvesting is a massive problem in Sudan and among the Sinai mountains. This article details what the refugees endure. Additionally, the lack of actions that the U.N. has taken to protect people like Eritreans.
Keywords: Organ Trafficking, Eritrea, Africa, Organ Harvesting, Traffickers, Human Trafficking
Escaping Eritrea: Organ Harvesting
Every country, old and new, has its political challenges, be it economic or political. However, some countries are so dangerous that their people do everything to escape despite the risk. Eritrea (pronounced E.H. r- ih -r ai- uh) (pronounce names, n.d.) is one of those countries. Located in North-East Africa, bordering Ethiopia and Sudan. Eritrea is in such poverty and oppression that its citizens risk kidnapping, rape, and organ harvesting to escape the daily horror and extreme poverty they are living. Eritreans either decide to migrate to Israel or Europe to obtain asylum. However, whichever direction they chose is dangerous, and the risk of becoming a victim of human trafficking or death is even greater (Fisseha, 2015).
Once part of Ethiopia, Eritrea gained its independence and was recognized by the U.N. (United Nations) beginning in 1991. There have been conflicts between Ethiopia and Eritrea's borders, which has caused more unspeakable violence and oppression for the Eritrean people, which has undoubtedly caused many of them to attempt to flee the country. As a result, the trend of human trafficking began to climb, reaching a high in 2010 (Mekonnen & Estefanos, 2012). Eritrea, before 1991 was known as Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front (EPLF). After the split from Ethiopia, Isailas Afwerki, a gorilla leader, became president renaming the EPLF to Peoples Front of Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) (Laub, 2016). As one can imagine, with a guerilla warfare leader in leadership, the country became more about control, poverty, and oppression to the extent that Eritrea is now known as the "North Korea of the middle east" (Mekonnen & Estefanos, 2012).
The journey to escape Eritrea is quite arduous, enduring the desert heat with only the clothes on their back and hardly any food or water. However, the fear of being without food or water is not the biggest worry. Along the way, there is a high probability that the refugees will be kidnapped, tortured, raped, or used for organ harvesting by their smugglers. Moreover, there is a chance that the price quoted to them will not be enough to make it to their final destination as the price usually inflates, and they will be held hostage until they can pay their full debt (Kemp, 2016).
The refugees that are kidnapped during this journey are taken to camps where they are held with other refugees. Unfortunately, the refugees being held for ransom ($20,000 - $30,000) is a high probability. Over half of the refugees fleeing have been held for ransom, 90 % of the refugees have stated that they have seen fellow refugees be tortured, killed, or die during their journey through the desert (Kemp, 2016). Depending on their route, this could be in Sudan or the Saini mountains (Mekonnen & Estefanos, 2012). Refugees are allowed to call their families in order to collect money. Often, they are tortured while talking to the family to convince the family to pay the debt. Those who cannot pay the debt are used as organ donors (Reisen & Estefanos, 2017). Some kidnapped and deemed healthy people will automatically be told that they will become an organ donor. They are told they can willfully give their organs, or they will be taken by force. One survivor told SBS news (2014), "They told us that they would sell one kidney for $25,000 and two for $50,000, Then all of us decided to die. We were blindfolded; we could not see each other. We could not discuss anything; you could not know who is dying or alive." There is an entire team involved in this process, including doctors, recruiters, and transporters. Often, the donor is blindfolded and has no idea what is happening or who is going to die during this process (Fisseha, 2015).
Though Eritrea has laws against these atrocities, such as the 1997 Constitution, which states that people have a right not to be forced slaves for labor and women cannot be trafficked for sexual prostitution. None of these laws are enforced because though Eritrea has a large army due to mandated military service, it has a low law enforcement (Makonnen, & Estefanos, 2012). Africans are now calling that Eritrea ends the isolation and create a truce with Ethiopia to ease the tensions and create a better living environment for the Eritreans (Laub, 2016).
Consequently, human trafficking and refugees fleeing the country remain problematic throughout the country. Moreover, the international community has not done much for Eritrea's people as the U.N. has stated that they shall not interfere within a country's border unless survival becomes critical to its nation's citizens. The reason behind this is because the individual government is responsible for the nation's citizens and not the international community, and they have the responsibility to protect their people from genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. One can indeed argue that the Eritrean government is not protecting its people from war crimes and crimes against humanity (Fisseha, 2015). However, the argument is, is the mass exodus due to poverty, or are the Eritrean people's lives indeed in danger (Fisseha, 2015)? The U.N. has gotten involved with the Eritrean government because of these accusations. Though it was recommended that the U.N. get involved with the Eritrean government, they took advice from human rights activists and only launched an investigation. Nothing came from the investigation, and the cruelty continued (Laub, 2016). The E.U. has sent a significant amount of money to African countries such as Eritrea to reduce immigration. Additionally, the United States has taken in many refugees to help them avoid prosecution (Laub, 2016). Though these are friendly gestures, it is not stopping the issue of organ harvesting and human trafficking.
Organ trafficking is a massive problem amongst the middle east, and it is evident that the people of Eritrea are suffering. The U.N. and international communities should be getting more involved with preventing such acts as it is not only a war crime but a crime against humanity. Though the subject of the matter is grim, people must become cognizant of this problem. Hospitals should vet the organs that come through the doors and ensure that they are entirely legal internationally and more significant consequences to those who harvest organs. Until the international community gets involved, organ harvesting and human trafficking will continue to flourish, and Eritreans, amongst others, will continue to die.
References:
Fisseha, M. (2015, May 23). Organ Trafficking of Eritreans in the Sinai: Perpetration or Provision of Service? Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2609329
Kemp, R. (Director). (2016). Libya's Migrant Hell [Video file]. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7lCbzHGnBQ
Laub, Z. (2016, September 16). Authoritarianism in Eritrea and the Migrant Crisis. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/authoritarianism-eritrea-and-migrant-crisis
Mekonnen, D. R., & Estefanos, M. (2012, May 23). From Sawa to the Sinai Desert: The Eritrean Tragedy of Human Traffi... Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://asmarino.com/articles/1411-from-sawa-to-the-sinai-desert-the-eritrean-tragedy-of-human-trafficking6
Pronounce Names. (n.d.). Pronunciation of Eritrea. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from https://www.pronouncenames.com/pronounce/Eritrea
Reisen, M. V., & Estefanos, M. (2017). Human Trafficking and Trauma in the Digital Era: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Trade in Refugees from Eritrea. Mankon, Bamenda: Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group.
SBS News. (2014, August 26). Surviving the terror of the organ-harvesting trade. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://www.sbs.com.au/news/surviving-the-terror-of-the-organ-harvesting-trade
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