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Organ ordeal

A case of 'missing organs' adds a bizarre twist to the harrowing experiences of local housemaids in unfamiliar lands, reports Kumudini Hettiarachchi

Shattered futures
"Suicidal hanging" was the verdict on the death of Kalai Selvi, 29, a widow who went in search of a better job than rubber tapping on the Ambanpitiya estate, to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

She worked for two years and the letters came regularly to her two fatherless children living with relatives in the cluster of line-rooms on the estate, that she was happy. There were bright plans for the future to remove her young ones, son Maheswara (now 12) and daughter Dharshanie (now 11) from the tin-roofed shacks they called home, to a tiny plot of land in Kegalle itself once she returned with her hard-earned money. "Piece ekakuth ewwa,"says Raman Pandaram, Selvi's father referring to a tape with her voice, while Dharshanie looks at her mother's framed photograph, the only one they have of her, which she had sent from there.

Suddenly in July 1999, they heard that Selvi had hanged herself. The body in a sealed coffin came only on October 26, 1999, though she had died on July 8. Warned not to open the coffin, the boys in the area fearfully did open it near the grave. "She was so very dark. We recognized her only from her hair and teeth," sighs her sister-in-law.

The children have got no compensation, no salary, only the bits and pieces of jewellery this humble rubber tapper had at the time of death. What are the authorities doing, one wonders on seeing these orphans struggling for survival. Selvi is also just another statistic with no inquiry or post-mortem.

They are beaten, harassed, molested and looked down on. The latest is that one of them has been subjected to organ removal apparently without the consent of her next-of-kin.

The bizarre case of the body of a housemaid who died in Kuwait being sent back home sans her kidneys and corneas has further underlined the vulnerability of thousands of our countrywomen working in unfamiliar lands.

"There have been a few other cases but the families of the victims didn't want to make any complaints,"said lawyer Nimalka Fernando, who is Convenor for the National Campaign for Migrant Women's Human Rights.

She cited another case in Talawakelle, where relatives had told her that a woman called Mary returned after a stint in the Middle East three years ago and found to her horror, when she entered the Nuwara Eliya Hospital for some ailment that one of her kidneys had been removed while she was abroad.

"She had died later. But the fact remains that she had gone to the Middle East after a full medical check-up with all her organs intact, but returned only with one kidney," Ms. Fernando quoted the relatives as saying.

Organ removal from Sri Lankans abroad for transplantation came into focus with the case of Somalatha Satharasinghe, 41, who went to Kuwait as a housemaid in May but returned in a coffin, her corneas and kidneys missing. The discovery came after her relatives requested a post-mortem here.

While Women's Affairs Minister Amara Piyaseeli Ratnayake called for an immediate investigation, the Foreign Ministry was, up to the time this edition went to press, attempting to ascertain the cause of Somalatha's death.

"I have been in contact with our embassy there to try and find out the cause of death," said Gamini Kariyawasam, Director General of Consular Affairs of the Foreign Ministry.

The question that keeps cropping up is whether Somalatha's case is part of a larger organ racket with innocent housemaids being the victims.

"This is the very first time we have heard of such a case,"stresses L.K. Ruhunuge, Deputy General Manager of the Bureau of Foreign Employment. When questioned about the procedure followed when a Sri Lankan worker dies abroad, he said that the employer, agent, police or hospital informs the relevant Sri Lankan embassy of such a death. The embassy in turn informs the Foreign Ministry in Colombo and the bureau, who would work together to get the message across to the next-of-kin. Then the formalities begin, to check whether the relatives would accept the body if brought back to the country or they would prefer it to be buried there, as in the case of most Muslims.

"The body is then sent back with a death certificate. A second post-mortem is conducted in Sri Lanka only if the relatives request one," said Mr. Ruhunuge.

If body parts are to be removed for transplantation, the next-of-kin's consent needs to be obtained.

In the light of Somalatha's case, we have already informed these countries, through the Foreign Ministry on the need to ensure that such consent is got, he said.

Coroner Edward Ahangama had ordered an inquiry into Somalatha's death and asked for the first post-mortem report.

The victim's brother had told the inquest that the family had been informed on July 10 that Somalatha was admitted to a Kuwaiti hospital after a sudden bout of fainting. Two days later she had died and on July 28 the family had been told that her kidneys had been removed because she had donated her organs.

Mr. Ruhunuge, however, told The Sunday Times that the victim was suddenly taken ill, went into a coma and was believed to have been brain dead. "Since the hospital had two patients who needed the kidneys, the transplant was done in accordance with Kuwaiti laws, we have been informed."

The Kuwaiti Department of OrganTransplantation has informed the Lankan Embassy in a letter that Somalatha had been declared dead by a commitee of three physicians six days following her admission to the intensive care unit on July 6. According to Kuwaiti health regulations the transplant coordinator was informed. "He searched for close relatives of the deceased to obtain consent for organ donation but found none. According to article 6 of the Kuwaiti Transplantation Law the consent of the Minister of Health was obtained for removal of organs from the deceased," the letter states.

Compensation is to be given to the relatives of the deceased by the Kuwaiti government.

"This case does not look like a donation. If one kidney is taken it can be considered a voluntary donation. Sri Lankan women are unaware of the dangers at the other end when they take up unskilled jobs overseas, says David Soysa, Director of the Migrant Services Centre (MSC), which is organizing a regional summit next week in Colombo on foreign migrant domestic workers.

"They don't have a clue about conditions and the environment. They are trained, registered, insured and sent abroad. Poverty forces them to take these jobs without question. They don't foresee anything beyond that," he said adding that they are deprived of their basic human rights after going abroad and the unfortunate thing is that they are not even aware of their rights.

"The biggest problem is that there is no responsibility on the part of the labour-receiving country. There should be bilateral labour agreements so that both governments are responsible."

"Once when the families of a victim opened the coffin during the funeral in a north-central village, they found a leg missing. Though angry, no complaint was made fearing repercussions," rights activist Ms. Fernando said adding this was why previous cases went unreported.

Should we forget these issues because only a few women are victims? On the other hand how many such cases may be unreported?

Of the 850,000, official figure of workers in the Middle East 60 percent are women, concedes Mr. Ruhunuge.

Mr. Soysa from the MSC said the regional summit between August 26 to 28 will discuss a range of issues including the current status of foreign migrant domestic workers.

"No, it's not going to be just a talk shop," he emphasized when asked. "We are seeking assurances and commitments that what we have been speaking about will be implemented."

Meanwhile, expressing deep concern over the "horrifying and barbaric story about removal of organs" from Somalatha, Ms. Fernando in a strong letter to Labour Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe has urged immediate investigation and action.

Inquiry and action will be the only justice that dead Somalatha can get from the Sri Lankan government.

The government also needs to ensure, like in other countries, that post-mortems are conducted on all bodies brought back to Sri Lanka.

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