Horror on escape routes in Africa: forced organ harvesting
Published: Friday, Jul 5th 2024, 05:20
Retour au fil d'actualité
According to a UN report, the devastating dangers on the escape routes from Africa to the Mediterranean are increasing: some desperate migrants are having organs removed under duress, others are threatened with enslavement, sexual exploitation, torture, extortion, robbery and many with death.
Compared to the previous report from 2020, more people reported sexual violence, kidnapping and assaults by criminal gangs. Around 30,000 people were surveyed for the report between 2020 and 2023.
The authors estimate that twice as many people die on land routes than during the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean. More than 23,500 people died on the central Mediterranean route from Tunisia, Libya or Egypt to Italy and Malta between 2014 and today.
Anesthetized and kidneys removed
In at least two countries, migrants are being abducted and drugged, said Vincent Cochetel from the UN refugee agency UNHCR. "They wake up and have one kidney less," he said in Geneva. He assumes there are thousands of cases. The UNHCR does not name countries, but reports mention Egypt and Libya.
According to the organizations, conflicts, desperation and the consequences of climate change are driving more and more people in Africa to flee their homes. Many remain in neighboring countries, but as resources dwindle there is also a growing rejection of refugees.
More people on their way to Europe
"As a result, more and more are making the dangerous onward journey to the southern coast of the Mediterranean," the report states. Exact statistics are not available. However, UNHCR registered more than three times as many refugees in Tunisia in 2023 than in 2020.
The report comes from the UNHCR, the UN Organization for Migration (IOM) and the independent organization for migration data, Mixed Migration Centre (MMC).
Was getan werden muss
The organizations demand better protection for people along the escape routes. The causes of flight must be better combated, including through more peace efforts, more poverty reduction and concrete measures to protect against the consequences of climate change.
©Keystone/SDA
French 
English 
German 
Spanish 
Arabic