ORGAN TRAFIC

“Migrant populations provide a key source of organs for Cairo’s burgeoning transplant industry (see COFS 2011). Barred from access to the formal labour markets, migrants have little choice but to accept precarious labour conditions. Furthermore, migrants compete with locals for limited job opportunities in an unregulated, uncertain and often hostile environment (see Grabska 2006; Thomas 2010; Jacobsen et al. 2014). Excluded from state protection migrants rely on the strength of their social relations to gain access to job opportunities (Jacobsen et al. 2014). While Sudanese migrants have strong social ties in Egypt, owing to a tradition of shared migration between the two countries, employment options remain limited and working conditions fall well below what might be considered ‘reasonable’ standards (Grabska 2006). Faced with occupational barriers in both the formal and informal sectors, Sudanese migrants have to achieve a level of labour flexibility beyond recognized norms, responding to available market opportunities, legal or otherwise (Kleemans and Van De Bunt 1999). In other words, the legality of their activities is shaped according to existing opportunities and demands.”