Organ trade in Afghanistan is booming: The silent suffering of the Taliban What strategy could be behind the canceled grain deal

Big brown eyes stare into the camera. It’s a mixture of desperation, fear, but also quiet anger that screams from this look: “Look here! Help me!” Khalil Ahmad, 15, holds up his shirt. There is a long, light-colored scar on his stomach.

The young Afghan sold one of his kidneys for $3,500 to feed his family. Danish photographer Mads Nissen captured the teen’s snapshot. The dark circles under the eyes lie like a shadow on the still childish face. The picture looks bleak and heavy – just like Khalil’s life in Afghanistan.

“Having an organ removed for money is not a freely chosen decision in Afghanistan, but an act of desperation by families facing the greatest humanitarian need,” explained Christina Ihle when asked by Watson. She heads the “Afghan Women’s Association”, which works for people from the country. Because the need is great – especially since the Taliban came to power.

Afghans are experiencing the greatest humanitarian catastrophe

For twenty years, the US tried to build a stable state in Afghanistan. In August 2021, the plan fell through. US and Allied forces retreated. The Taliban regained power. And with it chaos, fear and hunger.

“We must not forget that Afghanistan is currently facing the greatest humanitarian catastrophe in the world,” Ihle emphasises. 97 percent of all families do not know how to feed their children adequately. Khalil’s photo therefore depicts the sad daily life of many people in Afghanistan.

A snapshot that won a prize in this year’s World Press Photo contest. The website states that illegal organ trafficking is booming in Afghanistan. Reasons are a lack of jobs and the impending famine. The western Afghan province of Herat has been particularly affected.

According to Ihle, the organ trade in Afghanistan flourishes especially in winter. Then when other survival strategies no longer work – such as day wage work in other people’s fields, on rubbish dumps or in markets. But it doesn’t just affect young people.

Fathers sacrifice their kidneys

“According to our conversations, it is mainly fathers who have a kidney removed to keep the family alive,” explains Ihle. According to her, this is done under very dangerous hygienic conditions and in secret. “Many pay for the process with life-threatening infections,” she says.

It is difficult to say who exactly is behind the trade. According to Ihle, these are international mafia structures. “That means the organs are immediately taken out of Afghanistan and resold internationally,” she explains.

People literally give their last kidney to survive. But Ihle says that’s not the families’ only “life-threatening and traumatizing” survival strategy.

Child marriages, child soldiers and child slaves

“Among the children, girls are at risk of early marriage because of the acute need of the family,” says Ihle. The bride price feeds the siblings. Boys are often sold for money to radical groups such as workers or fighters.

Estimates for 2022 assume that 95 percent of people in Afghanistan will not have enough to eat. According to »World Press Photo«, all international aid was cut off when the Taliban seized power. The assets of the Afghan state were also frozen between seven and nine billion dollars. Not without consequences: the already weak Afghan economy collapsed.

According to the non-governmental organization »The Exodus Road«, people in dire financial need are »easy targets« for organ dealers. As a mother of five children and no husband. She doesn’t have a “head of the family,” as she says in a video on Instagram. Under the Taliban, women have almost no rights, so single mothers have a particularly difficult time. For example, career opportunities for women have been severely limited since the takeover of power by the Taliban.

The scam of the organ dealers

In addition, victims often lack proper education and rely in good faith on the lies “that the kidneys will grow back, that they will have three kidneys, or that they will receive medical care after surgery,” explains “The Exodus Road.”

Organs are traded for between $500 and $10,000, according to the organization — in some cases, those affected receive no money at all. On the contrary – they are forced to sign papers giving their consent.

Kidneys are especially popular in the “organ market”, followed by livers and corneas. But skin, blood plasma, human eggs and embryos are also doing better and better. Still, Ihle says there is hope.

“Organ trafficking, child marriage, child recruitment and other harmful survival strategies suddenly decrease as the overall humanitarian situation of local families improves,” said the Afghanistan expert.

She explains:

For the young Afghan Khali, this help comes too late. He has already lost a kidney and with it the chance of a completely healthy life. He suffers from chronic pain and no longer has the strength to play football, writes “World Press Photo”.

With this photo, the Danish photographer Nissen not only wants to draw attention to the suffering of millions of Afghans who urgently need food and humanitarian aid, he also wants people to finally stand up for them.