Human trafficking has become pandemic - Supt. Ahmed Musah

Central Regional Deputy Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Supt. Ahmed Musah, has stated that human trafficking has now become a pandemic due to the rampant rate at which it was growing in the country.

According to him, if Ghana was not careful, it will be listed under tier three which will deny the state of millions of dollars in aid.

He, therefore, called for intensification of education to enable the country get closer in arresting perpetuators.

Speaking at this year’s World Day Against Child Labour in Cape Coast last Monday which was organised by Friends of the Nation, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Supt. Musah called for mandatory partnership to enhance the reporting of cases to the appropriate quarters for action to be taken.

He noted that his outfit understands the effects of human trafficking and child labour since it is regarded as one of the inhumane activities.

“Children in particular are not supposed to go through this kind of misdemeanor because it affects their general wellbeing but what we see now in our country is parents pushing their wards into this slavery because of poverty which is very unfortunate,” he lamented.

The deputy commander hinted that his outfit has therefore been working with other stakeholders such as the police, NGOs and the community to rescue victims over the years.

“In February this year we were able to rescue 11 victims and arrested two suspects at Agona Swedru with the help of the police upon a tip off,” he disclosed.

“Just recently in Winneba we intercepted 3 other victims who were adults and have handed them over to the police after interrogating them,” he added.

Supt. Musah indicated that GIS has human trafficking units throughout its offices in the regions, districts and boarders and has been training its personnel on the menace to be able to identify and arrest perpetuators.

“We intend doing this continuously to keep on hammering on the effects of this canker and flush it out of the society,” he assured.

The Central Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, DSP George Appiah Sakyi, disclosed that his outfit has received over 50 cases of child labour in the region alone over the years with over 15 cases of human trafficking in the first quarter of this year.

He stressed the need to intensify sensitisation on the canker so as to draw the clear difference between child work and child labour.