Investigation launched into human egg trafficking ring targeting Thai women

Three Thai women have been repatriated after allegedly being held captive in a human egg harvesting ring in Georgia. (Pexels: Festina Muhaxheri)

In short:

Officials are investigating a human trafficking ring allegedly harvesting eggs from Thai women brought to Georgia.

Georgia's interior ministry confirmed four foreign nationals were questioned and three Thai nationals repatriated.

A Thai NGO helping the alleged victims says it estimated that around 100 more trafficked women remained in Georgia.

Police are investigating a human trafficking ring harvesting eggs from Thai women who were brought to Georgia under the guise of being surrogate mothers.

Three Thai nationals were repatriated after an alleged incident and have claimed that they faced having their eggs harvested while being held captive in Georgia.

An alleged victim spoke at a press conference in Thailand this week, without disclosing her name and wearing a face mask and hat.

A press conference where the alleged victims of human trafficking in Georgia spoke in Thailand earlier this week.  (Facebook: Pavena Hongsakul Foundation for Children and Women)

She said she responded to a social media advertisement for surrogate mothers who would live with families and be paid about $1,182 (25,000 baht) a month. 

The alleged victim said she was brought to Georgia, via Dubai and Armenia, where two Chinese nationals escorted her to a house.

"They took us to a house where there were 60 to 70 Thai women. The women there told us there was no (surrogacy) contracts or parents," she said.

"(The women) would be injected to get treatment, anaesthetised and their eggs would be extracted with a machine. After we got this information and it was not the same as the advertisement, we got scared, we tried to contact people back home."

The women at the press conference said they had feigned illness to appear weak to avoid having their eggs harvested. 

They said that their passports had been taken and were told by captors they risked arrest in Thailand if they returned home.

The Pavena Hongsakul Foundation for Children and Women, a Thai-based NGO which helped return the three women, said it estimated that around 100 more trafficked women remained in Georgia.

Georgia's interior ministry confirmed four foreign nationals had been questioned as part of the investigation.

Commander of the Foreign Affairs Division of the Royal Thai Police Surapan Thaiprasert said on Friday that Thai authorities were also investigating.

-Reuters