Nearly 10,000 albinos in east Africa are being forced into hiding, for fear they will be hunted and dismembered, according to CNN.
Albino citizens living in Tanzania and Burundi are targeted because their body parts are believed to bring wealth and good fortune, reported CNN.
The Associated Press reported that dealers can make up $75,000 selling a complete dismembered set. These sets include limbs, genitals, tongue, nose and ears.
A Red Cross report said that many are fleeing to schools of disability in Tanzania because there are emergency shelters set up there.
Government officials in Tanzania are trying to mobilize police but these killings usually happen in rural areas where there aren't enough resources, CNN reported
Officials at the International Federation for the Red Cross and Crescent societies.say this issue needs to be addressed on an international level because, "Thousands more albinos across a huge swathe of countryside ... are unable to move freely to trade, study or cultivate fields for fear of albino hunters,"
Albinos are often looked down upon and many are uneducated, according to the AP. They are therefore forced to work menial jobs, often outside, putting them at a high risk for skin cancer.
CNN reported that at least 44 Tanzanian albinos have been killed and 14 in Burundi since 2007.
