Brief notes on Organ Trafficking in Humanitarian Emergencies Renato dos Santos Gama, Patrícia Gorisch

Abstract

Organ trafficking in humanitarian emergencies is a phenomenon that occurs due to the increased vulnerability of affected populations, social disruption and impunity, resulting in significant exploitation of individuals by trafficking networks that operate in these scenarios in a practically unrestricted manner. The central hypothesis of this research is that organ trafficking intensifies in humanitarian emergencies due to the increased vulnerability of affected populations, creating an environment conducive to exploitation by criminal networks that operate with little or no resistance. Given this context, some triggering questions arise: What are the main causes that encourage organ trafficking in contexts of humanitarian emergencies? How does the vulnerability of populations affected by natural disasters or armed conflicts facilitate the operation of organ trafficking networks? How can organ trafficking in humanitarian emergencies be mitigated through more effective prevention and humanitarian response strategies? Based on this issue, the general objective of this study is to analyze the dynamics of organ trafficking in humanitarian emergencies, with the aim of identifying the causes that facilitate this practice, the impacts on vulnerable populations and the gaps in the combat measures adopted by the international community. To achieve this objective, the research aims to investigate the factors that contribute to the increase in organ trafficking in humanitarian crises, such as natural disasters and armed conflicts. Furthermore, it seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of existing international measures to combat organ trafficking in emergencies, proposing prevention and combat strategies that can be integrated into humanitarian responses to protect the most vulnerable populations. The research also aims to study specific cases of recent humanitarian emergencies, such as the earthquake in Haiti and the conflict in Syria, in order to exemplify the role of organ trafficking networks in these contexts and highlight the need for more robust and effective responses by part of the international community.