Don’t dare travel to Gulf Arab countries - Police

The Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) of the Ghana Police Service has discouraged the youth from traveling to the Gulf Arab countries in search for greener pastures.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Regina Eleanor Minta, Ashanti Regional Head of the Unit, warned that they could end up in slavery.

They should therefore refuse to be swayed by media advertisements about job opportunities in those places.

She said this in a speech read for her at a forum held at the Sokoban Wood Village in Kumasi, to sensitize the wood workers on the harmful effects of child labour.

The programme was organized by the Defence for Children International, an NGO, in collaboration with the Department of Children and Gender, the Labour Department and AHTU.

ASP Minta made reference to a study conducted by the Unit, which showed that greater percentage of young people, who embarked on trips to the Gulf region, aided by agents, ended up being sold virtually into slavery.

They either become sex workers or are engaged in forced labour under difficult and depraved conditions.

She reminded the woodworkers that it was an offence to engage minors to work for them and said any offenders would be prosecuted.

Child labour, she said, was inimical to their physical growth and development.

Dr. George Oppong, Executive-Secretary of the DCI, said the NGO managed to rescue seven teenage girls from being forced into early marriage.

The girls after counselling and therapeutic care have been returned to their parents.

Mr. Raphael Samaglo, Coordinator of the Sokoban Wood Village Workers Association, said through the collaborative effort of stakeholders, there were no minors now working in the enclave.