Longford academic is creating conversation with award-winning article

Dr Seán Columb, a lecturer and researcher in the University of Liverpool, was recently named as the winner of Best Investigative Article at The Human Trafficking Foundation’s Anti-Slavery Awards. From Ballynacross, Granard, Dr Columb attended UCC, then went to Queen’s University in Belfast before he got his post in University of Liverpool as a Reader in Law at the School of Law and Social Justice.

The award comes in recognition of his article published in The Guardian called: “‘For me, there was no other choice’: inside the global illegal organ trade” (published in 2024).

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As an academic, through his research, Dr Columb has been building connections throughout ten years to be able to speak to brokers and donors to explore issues in legislation that leads to people going down this route in organ donation.

He explained, “It’s not just an academic issue, but it’s not been reported. Victims weren’t recognised as victims of trafficking. They were being prosecuted, and I wanted to talk to people about why they were in a position to sell a kidney to begin with. I never thought it was possible to speak to a broker.

“It was a method of my research that happened organically. I felt it was important to see the impact the legislation had at all. I’m a socio-legal researcher, so I see how law affects people.”

Part of his research led him to Khartoum, Sudan as there was little international reporting on the conflict back in 2023.
He said that brokers were taking advantage of the situation, and he wanted to know why people there were vulnerable to exploitation. It was a follow-up to his time in Egypt from previous research, having stayed in contact with people there.

“Some of the people were younger people and it was their responsibility to help their family members. Their family would invest money in them to get somewhere to have a better chance. A lot would go to Libya, make the crossing, get pushed back. There is no legal accountability. People are being detained with no recourse. It’s completely arbitrary. They were being pushed back, locked up. They were releasing people for 7,000 dollars.”

Libya’s immigration detention centres are partly funded by the EU, but have no legal process, hence the bribes from officers to be able to leave. Dr Columb’s work is built through the accounts of those who had endured the kidney donation or bought them, as selling a kidney could bring the funds for refuge and passage between borders. The stories of Yonas, Hakim (a broker), Hiba, Rania and Fatima went into depth from various perspectives.

For Dr Columb, garnering the attention for this piece via the award is good news, but more because of how the topic is being discussed more.

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“I’m happy that it’s getting attention because you do this research and don’t want it in an echo chamber. That’s why I did this report. Hopefully, that opens conversation. When you have a complex social or criminal issue, legislation is brought but it doesn’t say what effects these measures are going to have. People look through a narrow lens, it’s wrong, we’ll criminalise it but not look beyond it. Why are people being targeted? Hopefully, it opens conversations. With that article, I wanted to draw what was happening in Sudan in this specific context. It’s nice the recognition but at least I know people are reading it which is drawing attention to the issue.”

He has added that he will use his own research for his course on transnational crime. On the course, he talks about organised crime, drug trafficking, and human smuggling. Then he has other people in to talk about their work and research.

Dr Columb's article is available via The Guardian, where he covers plenty of in-depth research and conversation on how this exploitative trade thrives on chaos and desperation.