CAIRO, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Illegal traffic in human organs is on the rise in Egypt, with traffickers targeting Sudanese refugees and other asylum-seekers, an organization's report says.
The Coalition for Organ Failure Solutions said organs are being taken from victims "either by inducing consent, coercion, or outright theft," Bikyamasr.com reported Monday.
"Until recently, Egypt was one of the few countries that prohibited organ donation from deceased donors; the country therefore relied entirely on the living," the report said.
"Accordingly, a free, unregulated market has been the distribution mechanism."
Refugees, with an insecure legal status in Egypt, are the most common targets of the illegal traffickers, the report said.
The authors of the report estimate 500-1,000 licensed transplants are performed in Egypt annually, with an additional 100-200 unlicensed transplants.
There has been no governing authority over live-donor kidney transplants in the country since the first one was performed in 1976, the report said.
