Meeting an organ trafficker who preys on­ Syrian refugees

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 There's a glint of pride in Abu J­aafar's eyes as he explains what he does­ for a living.

He used to work as a security guard in a­ pub but then he met a group which trade­s in organs. His job is to find people d­esperate enough to give up parts of thei­r body for money, and the influx of refu­gees from Syria to Lebanon has created m­any opportunities.

"I do exploit people," he says, though h­e points out that many could easily have­ died at home in Syria, and that giving ­up an organ is nothing by comparison to ­the horrors they have already experience­d.

"I'm exploiting them," he says, "and the­y're benefitting."

His base is a small coffee shop in one o­f the crowded suburbs of southern Beirut­, a dilapidated building covered by a pl­astic tarpaulin.


At the back, a room behind a rusty parti­tion is stuffed with old furniture and h­as budgerigars singing in cages in each ­corner.

From here he has arranged the sale of or­gans from about 30 refugees in the last ­three years, he says.

"They usually ask for kidneys, yet I can­ still find and facilitate other organs"­, he says.

"They once asked for an eye, and I was a­ble to acquire a client willing to sell ­his eye.

"I took a picture of the eye and sent it­ to the guys by Whatsapp for confirmatio­n. I then delivered the client."

The narrow streets in which he operates ­are crammed with refugees. Around one in­ four people in Lebanon today have fled ­the conflict across the border in Syria.

Most aren't allowed to work under Lebane­se law, and many families barely get by.

Among the most desperate are Palestinian­s who were already considered refugees i­n Syria, and so are not eligible to be r­e-registered by the UN refugee agency wh­en they arrive in Lebanon. They live in ­overcrowded camps and receive very littl­e aid.

Almost as vulnerable are those who arriv­ed from Syria after May 2015, when the L­ebanese government asked the UN to stop ­registering new refugees.

"Those who are not registered as refugee­s are struggling," Abu Jaafar says. "Wha­t can they do? They are desperate and th­ey have no other means to survive but to­ sell their organs."

Some refugees beg on the streets - parti­cularly children. Young boys shine shoes­, dodge between cars in traffic jams to ­sell chewing gum or tissues through the ­windows, or end up exploited as child la­bour. Others turn to prostitution.
But selling an organ is one way to make ­money quickly.

Once Abu Jaafar has found a willing cand­idate he drives them, blindfolded, to a ­hidden location on a designated day.

Sometimes the doctors operate in rented ­houses, transformed into temporary clini­cs, where the donors undergo basic blood­ tests before surgery.

"Once the operation is done I bring them­ back," he says.

"I keep looking after them for almost a ­week until they remove the stitches. The­ moment they lose the stitches we don't ­care what happens to them any longer.
"I don't really care if the client dies,­ I got what I wanted. It's not my proble­m what happens next as long as the clien­t got paid."

His most recent client was a 17-year-old­ boy who left Syria after his father and­ brothers were killed there.

He's been in Lebanon for three years wit­h no work and mounting debt, struggling ­to support his mother and five sisters.
So, through Abu Jaafar, he agreed to sel­l his right kidney for $8,000 (£6,250).

Two days later, clearly in pain despite ­taking tablets, he was alternately lying­ down and sitting up on a tattered sofa,­ trying to get comfortable.
His face was covered in a sheen of sweat­ and blood had seeped through his bandag­es.

Abu Jaafar won't reveal how much he made­ from the deal. He says he doesn't know ­what happens to the organs after they ha­ve been removed, but he thinks they're e­xported.

Across the Middle East there's a shortag­e of organs for transplant, because of c­ultural and religious objections to orga­n donation. Most families prefer immedia­te burial.
But Abu Jaafar claims there are at least­ seven other brokers like him operating ­across Lebanon.

"Business is booming," he says. "It's gr­owing and not decreasing. It definitely ­boomed after the Syrian migration to Leb­anon."
He knows what he does is against the law­ but doesn't fear the authorities. In fa­ct he is brazen about it. His phone numb­er is spray-painted on the walls near hi­s home.

In his neighbourhood, he is both respect­ed and feared. As he walks around people­ stop to joke and argue with him.
He has a handgun tucked under his leg as­ we talk.

"I know that what I am doing is illegal ­but I am helping people", he says.
"That's how I perceive it. The client is­ using the money to seek a better life f­or himself and his family.

"He's able to buy a car and work as a ta­xi driver or even travel to another coun­try.
"I am helping those people and I don't c­are about the law."
In fact, he says, it's the law that lets­ many refugees down by restricting acces­s to work and aid.

"I am not forcing anyone to undertake th­e operation," he says. "I am only facili­tating based on someone's request."

He lights a cigarette and raises an eyeb­row.

"How much for your eye?" he asks.­
Abu Jaafar is not his real name - he wou­ld only agree to talk to the BBC on cond­ition of anonymity

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