Twenty people sentenced in 2018 for trafficking in human beings

General News of Sunday, July 28, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-07-28

The anti-human trafficking units of Ghana's police and immigration services registered 20 convictions for human trafficking and 12 for other related offenses in 2018.

Ms. Freda Prempeh, Deputy Minister of Women's Affairs, Childhood and Welfare, said that of this total, 13 were child labor offenses.

Fourteen people were charged with and sentenced for child labor exploitation and fined 120 units, while 10 defendants were charged with human trafficking and sentenced to between five and seven years.

She said that during the reporting period, 92 cases had been investigated. of these, the police investigated 77 cases, Immigration 14 and the Office of Economic and Organized Crime (EOCO).

Mrs. Prempeh, who made this revelation on Friday during the commemoration of the World Day Against Human Trafficking – the "Blue Day" in Accra, said that there had been a significant improvement in 2018 in terms of lawsuits, unlike 2017 when they had only four convictions.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection in collaboration with civil society with funding from the British High Commission.

It was to give stakeholders the opportunity to know where they had gone in the fight against human trafficking in Ghana.

According to the United Nations, human trafficking includes the recruitment, transportation, transfer, accommodation or reception of persons by improper means (such as Abduction, fraud or coercion) for illegal purposes, including forced labor or badual exploitation.

Each year, the United Nations celebrates the World Day Against Human Trafficking in order to raise public awareness, encourage vigilance and obtain support for the prevention of human trafficking.

Ms. Prempeh said that there were two public reception centers in the country for victims of human trafficking, one operational, receiving victims, and a reception center. for children.

She said the ministry has four psychologists who run these shelters to ensure that clients get the best support possible.

She stated that trafficking in human beings is an organized crime and that this phenomenon is considered a global challenge, affecting millions of people, including women and children, and impeding their fundamental rights and freedoms.

She stated that the modus operandi of the perpetrators of this heinous crime against humanity was through the recruitment, transportation, accommodation and reception of victims of trafficking for the purpose of exploitation.

She added that exploitation takes the form of physical, badual, emotional and psychological abuse against victims.

She said that in 2015, a study conducted by the Mission for International Justice (IJM) in South Lake Volta revealed that, out of 771 children interviewed, it had been discovered that more than half of the children had 23% were under six years old and more than half were under ten years old.

The deputy minister said that Winneba, Ningo and Ada were originally communities, while Akosombo, Kpeve, Kpando and the island communities on Lake Volta were the destination communities.

She stated that Chapter Five of the 1992 Constitution guaranteed the fundamental human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people. in particular, Articles 16 and 17 stipulate that no one shall be subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment.

She said that to prevent, protect and punish the perpetrators of human trafficking, Ghana signed the Palermo Protocol in 2000 and ratified in 2012.

Prempeh said that thanks to these efforts, Ghana was currently ranked in Category 2 of the US Department of Labor's country rankings; adding that "this shows that the government is making great efforts to fight human trafficking in Ghana".

Thomas Hartley, British High Commissioner to Ghana, said that the UK is working in partnership with the Government of Ghana to protect the most vulnerable and marginalized through the social protection program "Do not leave anyone behind ".

"He is supported by British funding of 39.2 million pounds over five years," he said.

"A key element of the program is to put in place a centralized channel for beneficiaries of all social protection programs to grieve, report violations and other abuses, report irregularities and request information about all social protection programs. "