premiere main...le rein...
un cerveau d'occasion?
Southerners sell kidneys for cash08:35' 30/01/2008 (GMT+7) Lam Duong Nhi, a kidney seller
VietNamNet Bridge – Some people in Mekong Delta Provinces leave their homes for a time and return home rich. Police investigated and the truth was uncovered: they went to China to sell their kidneys.
Some “brokerage rings” have been set up in poor areas of the Mekong Delta, where many needy people are ready to sell part of their bodies for tens of millions of VND.
Cut it out
In recent years, many poor families in Trung Binh Commune, Soc Trang Province have become suddenly rich, including the family of Phan Thi Hong and Nguyen Van Tam. Tam left home and after a time returned with a fistful of cash. After over one year investigating, Soc Trang police found that Tam heads a ring which brings poor people to China to sell kidneys.
Tam sold one of his kidneys for VND70 million. His wife, Phan Thi Hong, did the same for another VND70 million. By selling their own kidneys, Tam and his wife sought “customers” and returned to Vietnam to entice local poor people to sell their kidneys as well.
In Nha Tho Hamlet, Soc Trang Province, police discovered three residents who sold their kidneys through Tam’s brokerage. These people said they all received VND70 million. They only agreed to sell their kidneys and didn’t receive any health consultancy.
Ngo Van Khanh, a farmer in Nha Tho Hamlet, went to China with Tam to sell kidneys but “customers” refused to buy because Khanh has cardiovascular disease.
In Bac Lieu province, a woman named Hong went to HCM City to sell her kidney, but, luckily in time, her family prevented her from doing so. In other Mekong provinces like Hau Giang and Ca Mau, many poor people are also selling their organs. After Tam’s ring was unearthed, other rings temporarily ceased their operations.
Crossing the border
Lam Duong Nhi sold his kidney in China under Tam’s brokerage, he said “On July 20, 2007, Tam visited me and urged me to go to China to sell one of my kidneys for VND70 million. My family is very poor and I have to feed many children so I agreed.”
Tam brought Nhi to HCM City for a health check. After that, they flew to Hanoi and from Hanoi to Lang Son Province, crossing the Huu Nghi border gate into China. Nhi was brought to a hospital where he met many Vietnamese people who came to sell their kidneys like him.
A Chinese man who spoke Vietnamese very well gave Nhi a commitment paper in Vietnamese and Chinese, in which Nhi agreed to donate his kidney for his “uncle”. After, Nhi found out that his “uncle” was Nguyen Van Phuc, from Vung Tau City, who bought his kidney for VND500 million.
Some 20 days after the operation, Nhi was brought back to Vietnam. In HCM City, Tam gave Nhi VND70 million and a commitment paper, in which Nhi agreed to not sue if his health declined.
Nhi rolled up his shirt, showed him a scar and said: “I don’t feel anything strange but I’m very worried. I don’t dare do a hard job now”.
Nhi bought a small fishing boat and spent some money on his family. However, he has not used the boat yet, he is waiting until he recovers. “I’m very scared, but we are so poor so I had to hide from my family that I sold my kidney,” Nhi said.
He said many poor are willing to sell their kidneys for a better life.
(Source: Dan Tri)