Nepal's Organ Trail: Coming soon on CNN
The CNN Freedom Project first exposed the horrific practice of organ trafficking in Egypt, with the documentary "Death in the Desert".
Now we travel to a tiny district in Nepal where hundreds of people have had their kidneys stolen by organ traffickers.
The problem has become so widespread, the district has developed the unfortunate reputation as "the kidney bank of Nepal."
CNN's Delhi-based correspondent Sumnima Udas leads the investigation to unravel how traffickers dupe poor villagers into giving a piece of themselves away.
"Nepal's Organ Trail" will air on CNN International at these times:
• Friday June 27; 530am ET, 1130am ET
• Saturday June 28; 430am ET, 9am ET, 330pm ET
• Sunday June 29; 530am ET; 1130pm ET
• Monday June 30; 430am ET
• Tuesday July 1; 530am ET, 1230pm ET
• Wednesday July 2; 130am ET
Germans take up Sinai trafficking
Germany's parliament has taken on debating human trafficking in Sinai in part due to CNN reporting from the region.
German MP Annette Groth says it is time for Berlin to use its economic power to pressure Egyptian authorities.
Human rights groups estimate that thousands of African migrants have perished trying to make it to Israel via the Sinai. FULL POST
'Stand in the Sinai' now online
As part of the Freedom Project CNN this year returned to Egypt’s Sinai Desert where people-smugglers abuse, rape and hold for ransom desperately poor refugees.
In 2011 “Death in the Desert” uncovered evidence that traffickers tortured the refugees, and in some cases harvested their organs for sale on the black market, leaving many of their victims to die.
This year, in “Stand in the Sinai” we saw how the battle against the traffickers was progressing and found Bedouins, dedicated aid workers and former refugees fighting the horrific trade in human suffering.
Now for the first time you can watch the entire documentary online here in three parts.
Women raped by Sinai traffickers find help
By Frederik Pleitgen and Mohammed Fadel Fahmy, CNN
The Sinai desert is a hub for people trafficking. Many of the refugees from sub-Saharan Africa who get smuggled through here get tortured and blackmailed in the process.
Bedouin gangs – instead of trafficking the refugees straight into Israel - often hold them captive, torture them and force relatives into paying ransoms for their release.
The ordeal is exceptionally bad for women. Many of them are raped by the traffickers and some become pregnant. FULL POST
Helping to take a stand in the Sinai
In the Sinai Desert a handful of groups is fighting ruthless people-traffickers who prey on desperate migrants trying to reach Israel from war-ravaged and poverty-stricken parts of Africa.
Many of them also live in an unwired world such as the Bedouins who operate a safe house and have persuaded others not to allow the traffickers to shop at their stores – a kind of localized sanctions.
Sister gives hope to trafficked migrants
By Elise Labott and Dan Morgan, CNN
For thousands of African asylum seekers fleeing danger via Egypt's Sinai desert, one woman serves as an oasis after their harrowing journey into Israel.
She was born in Eritrea as Azezet Habtezghi Kidane. In the migrant shelters of South Tel Aviv, she is known simply as Sister Aziza.
In the free clinic for migrants run by the Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, where she volunteers as a nurse, Sister Aziza examines the African refugees. She sees burns and whip marks on the body of one of the men who fled to Israel though the Sinai. FULL POST
Bedouin successes fighting people traffickers
by Frederik Pleitgen and Mohammed Fadel Fahmy, CNN
The area of Al Mehdia near Egypt's border with Israel is a lawless place even by Northern Sinai's standards.
There is no police force and a military offensive launched recently after a deadly string of militant attacks on Egyptian border guards, has not stopped the illicit trade that flourishes in this area.
Tankers full of fuel still make their way to smuggling tunnels leading to Gaza in broad daylight and marijuana fields are cultivated with elaborate irrigation systems in the middle of the desert.
Last year CNN visited the region as part of the Freedom Project spotlighting the depths that the traffickers have sunk. Now we revisit the remote region to see Bedouins tackling the trafficking on their doorstep.
Slaves freed after CNN documentary
By Fred Pleitgen and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, CNN
(CNN) - Hundreds of African refugees have been released from captivity in the Sinai Peninsula and allowed to cross from Egypt into Israel, shortly after a CNN report detailed the horrendous conditions the migrants face.
The report, "Death in the Desert," which was first published online in early November and broadcast on CNN International on November 5, showed evidence that African refugees, mostly from Sudan and Eritrea, were being held captive by Bedouin human traffickers in Sinai, who try to extort massive sums of money from the refugees’ families for their release.
Refugees face organ theft in the Sinai
In the second part of his report, CNN's Fred Pleitgen investigates organ trafficking in the Sinai Desert. Read the first part
Bedouin smugglers involved in people trafficking are also believed to be stealing organs from refugees who are unable to pay their demands for large amounts of cash to take them into Israel. FULL POST
Death in the desert: Tribesmen exploit battle to reach Israel
In this first part of his report, CNN's Fred Pleitgen investigates the plight of refugees crossing the Sinai Desert. Check out the second part
El Arish, Egypt - "I wanted to build a good future for my family, but I failed," a weak Issam Abdallah Mohammed said in a videotaped statement.
The refugee from the Darfur region of Sudan was trying to illegally cross the border from Egypt to Israel when he was discovered and shot by Egyptian border guards.
Less than an hour after taping the statement, Issam was dead, succumbing to the wounds inflicted by the gunshots.
Every year, thousands of refugees, mostly from Eritrea, Ethiopia and Sudan, attempt the dangerous journey from their war-torn countries to Israel in search of economic prosperity and stability.
Very few make it, and the results of the failed migration can be seen in the morgue of the central hospital in the Egyptian port town of El Arish. FULL POST
Every Day in Cambodia
'Money buys injustice'
Looking for a virgin sale every day. CNN investigates with Hollywood star Mira Sorvino.Watch the trailer@cnnfreedom on Twitter
The Numbers
