In the poverty-stricken village of Baiguni, Kalai Upazila, Bangladesh, kidney donations have become disturbingly common, so much so that locals call it the “village of one kidney.”
Driven by desperation and deceived by promises of money and opportunity, impoverished Bangladeshis are lured into a booming cross-border organ trade that feeds the demand for transplants in India, News.Az reports, citing foreign sources.
Traffickers exploit legal loopholes, forging documents to present unrelated donors as family members of recipients. Victims, like 45-year-old Safiruddin, are taken to India on medical visas and operated on under false identities. He received 3.5 lakh taka ($2,900) for his kidney, now gone, along with his passport and health. “They took everything,” he said.
A 2023 study revealed that one in 35 adults in Kalai has sold a kidney, with 83% citing poverty as the primary reason. Some are deceived with fake job offers, coerced into surgery, and left without follow-up care.
Brokers coordinate with doctors, hospitals, and document forgers across both countries. In some cases, donors become traffickers themselves. Mohammad Sajal, a victim-turned-broker, said, “No one gives a kidney out of desire. Desperation leads to this.”
Authorities in both Bangladesh and India have made arrests, including that of a Delhi transplant surgeon in 2024, but experts say enforcement is weak and sporadic. The illegal trade thrives in the shadows of India’s $7.6 billion medical tourism industry.
As crackdowns grow in one region, traffickers shift to new hospitals, continuing to prey on the poor. Meanwhile, donors like Safiruddin live with chronic pain and broken promises. “They vanished with my kidney,” he said, “and left me with nothing.”
