President John Dramani Mahama has appointed a former Deputy Commissioner of Police, Daniel Julius Avorga, as Coordinator of government’s anti-human trafficking activities.
A former Director of Legal Services of the Ghana Police Service, Mr. Avorgah’s appointment will help with government’s ongoing efforts and fight against human trafficking.
Parliament has over the years expressed worry over human trafficking in Ghana and has urged government to commit adequate resources to halt the growing menace.
Members of the House have also urged the security agencies and other stakeholders, to, in the face of limited resources; consolidate their efforts to tackle the problem.
The 2014 edition of the “Trafficking in Persons Report” published by the US Department of State cited Ghana as a source, transit and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labour and sex trafficking.
It stated that even though the government of Ghana was making significant efforts to curtail the phenomena, it (Government of Ghana) was not complying fully with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, as intra-country trafficking was far more prevalent than transnational trafficking of persons.
“Ghanaian boys and girls are subjected to forced labor within the country in fishing, domestic service, street hawking, begging, artisanal gold mining, and agriculture. Ghanaian girls, and to a lesser extent boys, are subjected to prostitution within Ghana. Child prostitution is prevalent in the Volta Region and is growing in the oil-producing Western regions,” said the State Department Report.
“Ghanaian women and children are recruited and transported primarily to Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, South Africa, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States for forced labor and forced prostitution,” it added.
–
By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana