The desperate debtor is trying to sell his kidney to clear his debts.
The desperate debtor is trying to sell his kidney to clear his debts.

Dubai debtor willing to put kidney up for sale to pay off Dh90,000



DUBAI // A debtor who owes Dh90,000 that he cannot pay says he will sell one of his kidneys to avoid prison.

"This is not something I want to do but it is the only way out," the man, who says his name is Mohammed, said yesterday.

He said his problems began two years ago when he took out a bank loan to help his brother to buy a bus. Six months later his brother was killed in an accident and the vehicle was written off.

Mohammed says he lost his job a year ago, and with it any means of paying his debts. "This is not something I want to do but it is the only way out. It's been a crisis for me and my family after the death of my brother. I have to take care of his family and mine. Eleven people depend on me.

"It will soon be exam time and I need money for their school. We don't have a house, my family moves from place to place."

Selling or trafficking in organs is a criminal offence, but an advertisement was posted in January on the classifieds website Dubizzle by someone trying to sell a kidney. Dubizzle later removed the ad.

Mohammed Al Zaabi, a liver transplant specialist at Zayed Military Hospital, said: "Even just advertising this is wrong.

"And if it were possible to sell it, I don't think any doctors here would do the surgery. It's strictly prohibited and if anyone did it they would be punished severely."

The rules on organ donation are strict. Donors must be living relatives and require extensive psychological testing before approval is given.

As a result, there is a long list of people waiting for organ transplants. Dr Al Zaabi said there were about 1,000 people on dialysis, although not all of them required a transplant.

Saeed Al Shaikh, a consultant haematologist at Welcare Hospital, said many people from the UAE travelled abroad for black-market transplants.

"The number of people who do this is huge," he said. "People travel to Pakistan, India, the Philippines and China.

"There's a lot of problems from people who are returning with those kidneys. They are done on the black market, in suboptimal conditions. There are people who have died under our care because of serious infections."

Dr Al Shaikh said he knew of at least two cases of patients who died while taking immuno-suppressants after a botched transplant.

"If they get an infection from a dirty kidney and their immune system has been suppressed, of course they'll get serious infections and die," he said.

The UAE is working on a law that would allow transplants from corpses. Dr Ali Al Obaidli, consultant nephrologist at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, said the new law, which he is helping to draft, will go some way to removing the temptation to seek organs from overseas.

"When something is not allowed in this country, we need to give viable options for people," Dr Al Obaidli said.

Dr Luc Noel, head of transplantation at the World Health Organisation, said transplants from cadavers were a more viable option than the current arrangement.

"It's never innocuous to remove an organ from someone who's alive," Dr Noel said.

Dr Al Shaikh also welcomed the proposal, and said it would go some way to meeting the demand for organs.

"There are plenty of people who are dying every day and their valuable organs are buried with them, with no use to anybody," he said. "This law will help a lot of sick people.

"If even 10 per cent of people who die in road accidents donated their organs that would be sufficient to get a good programme going."

Meanwhile, Mohammed admits he is worried about getting into trouble with the law but he feels he has little choice.

"I have to try to do something for the children. I have tried to work hard but nothing has worked out.

"I don't want any trouble, I don't want to create any problems. If I get into any trouble my family will be ruined. It will be the end of us."

* Additional reporting by Ramola Talwar Badam

The design

The protective shell is covered in solar panels to make use of light and produce energy. This will drastically reduce energy loss.

More than 80 per cent of the energy consumed by the French pavilion will be produced by the sun.

The architecture will control light sources to provide a highly insulated and airtight building.

The forecourt is protected from the sun and the plants will refresh the inner spaces.

A micro water treatment plant will recycle used water to supply the irrigation for the plants and to flush the toilets. This will reduce the pavilion’s need for fresh water by 30 per cent.

Energy-saving equipment will be used for all lighting and projections.

Beyond its use for the expo, the pavilion will be easy to dismantle and reuse the material.

Some elements of the metal frame can be prefabricated in a factory.

 From architects to sound technicians and construction companies, a group of experts from 10 companies have created the pavilion.

Work will begin in May; the first stone will be laid in Dubai in the second quarter of 2019. 

Construction of the pavilion will take 17 months from May 2019 to September 2020.

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

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Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
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German intelligence warnings
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  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution