They are so desperate that they are racing to sell their kidneys! Poverty is deepening in India.

With the military coup in Myanmar, nearly half of the country's 54 million population started living below the poverty line. Researchers from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) announced that this number has doubled since 2017. As violence spreads across the country due to armed groups fighting against the junta control, foreign investment decline, unemployment, and the cost of basic goods have reached levels that most people cannot afford. This has led people to resort to different ways to earn money. Desperate individuals trying to make a living by selling their kidneys are taking a big risk. While fearing the loss of their other kidney, they are also trying to survive with the money they receive. Eventually, when the money runs out, they are driven to despair with only one kidney left. This painful situation in India came to light with CNN's report.

In the organ trade, which is mostly conducted over the internet, buyers and sellers often work with agents who match donors with buyers, prepare the necessary documents through forgery, and arrange the surgery. Sellers are poor and buyers are relatively wealthy, but both parties find themselves in difficult situations, which is why they are involved in the illegal organ market.

ONLY 308 SUCCESSFUL KIDNEY TRANSPLANTS WERE PERFORMED BETWEEN 1995-2022

It has been revealed that desperate individuals in Myanmar (also known as Burma) are selling their organs to wealthy individuals on Facebook. With the help of agents, they go to India for organ transplantation, disregarding the laws that prohibit organ sales in both countries. According to information obtained from the office of the coup leader Min Aung Hlaing in Myanmar, only 308 successful kidney transplants have been performed between 1995 and 2022.

CNN found posts offering organ sales in at least three Facebook groups and uncovered the inner workings of an illegal industry fueled by desperation in a war-torn country by interviewing twenty-four individuals involved in organ trafficking (including sellers, buyers, and agents).

"I NEED MONEY, CONTACT ME VIA DM"

Most of the groups on Facebook that offer to sell kidneys are created for kidney disease patients to share home remedies and doctor recommendations. However, in recent years, with the increasing prevalence of posts offering organ sales, this illegal market has come to the forefront. An ad prepared by a victim, who, like hundreds of others, does not want to use their real name, reads as follows: "I want to donate my kidney. My blood type is O. I need money for my aunt who has cancer and needs surgery. I am 26 years old and do not drink alcohol. Contact me via DM."