GCC: Kenyan workers allegedly subjected to illegal organ harvesting amid lack of protection of workers' consent over their bodies, report finds; incl. cos. responses & non-responses
In April 2025, Migrant-Rights.Org released a report describing allegations of organ trade and illegal harvesting in the Gulf Cooperation Council. The report says Kenyan migrants are returning from Gulf states with “suspicious scars” that may indicate organ harvesting.
Organ harvesting may be enabled by continued use of the Kafala sponsorship system and a lack of protection for migrants’ consent over their bodies. The report also emphasizes that routine post-mortems are not conducted in the GCC and deaths of young individuals are frequently attributed to “natural causes or cardiac arrest”.
Many of the established red flags for organ trafficking are evident in all of the cases recorded in this report. These indicators include, but are not limited to, donors solicited via media appeals; subordinate relationship to the recipient; foreign nationals; documents in possession of a third party; absence of a common language; disparity in socioeconomic status between the donor and recipient; and potential donor coming from known organ trafficking hotspots.Migrant-Rights.Org, "Allegations of organ trade and illegal harvesting are rife as GCC and African states fail to conduct autopsies"
The report describes several cases of potential organ harvesting. For example, in one case, a Kenyan migrant died shortly after returning home from Saudi Arabia with a missing kidney. The worker attended several medical centers while in Saudi Arabia, including Al Falah Hospital, King Saud Medical, Al Noon Medical Complex, and Safa Makkah Polyclinic Diagnostic Centre, as evidenced by receipts. She was told she attended the hospitals due to stomach, intestines, and oesophagus issues, yet allegedly no medical documents show relevant treatment.
The report also includes a section describing the “monetization of trauma” on social media. It says while influencers on social media platforms, including TikTok and YouTube (part of Google), raise funds for victims, there is “no accounting for how much is collected and how much … reaches the families”.
The report also describes potential organ trade in Kenya. It says an investigation by EU-funded project, ENACT, says private hospitals in Eldoret may be facilitating illicit organ harvesting, and the Kenya Renal Association said activities at Mediheal Hospital have raised “serious ethical concerns…including exploitation of vulnerable donors from local communities”.
In May, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Al Falah Hospital, TikTok, Google, and Mediheal Group to respond to the article. TikTok’s response can be read in full below. Al Falah Hospital, Google, and Mediheal Group did not respond.
The Resource Centre was not able to contact NADESCO agency or Noon Medical Complex to invite a response to the report, where they are named in reference to two separate cases; if a response is received in future this page will be updated accordingly.