Another 36 Trafficked Children Rescued by IOM and its Partners
Since 2002, IOM has rescued 684 children who had been trafficked to
work with fishermen in Ghana, West Africa.
The children, trafficked for forced or bonded labour into
fishing communities in Kete-Krachi and Yeji along the shores of
Ghana's Lake Volta had been sold for little money by impoverished
parents in the belief that the children would be adequately fed,
educated and taught a useful trade.
Instead, the children had been forced to work extremely long
hours by their fishing "masters", including doing heavy and
dangerous work such as retrieving nets caught under water.
While most of the boys are made to work in the fishing industry,
the girls act as cooks, servers and porters. Very poorly fed,
never paid or sent to school, the children are also physically and
verbally abused by their "masters".
A Chance at a Normal Life
Andrew Kwetsu was rescued by IOM
this year. Andrew was living with his maternal grandmother after
his parents died. A few years later, his paternal grandmother came
for him under the pretense of sending him to school; instead she
gave him to a fisherman.
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The IOM 2009 rescue operation began in mid-February with the
release of a first group of 22 children who were taken to the
Department of Social Welfare rehabilitation centre in the Ghanaian
capital, Accra. The children are spending three-and-a- half
months in comprehensive rehabilitation through psycho-social
counselling, medical assistance, educational instruction and
creative art therapy.
In preparation for each rescue mission, IOM and its government
and local partners carry out numerous visits to the fishing
villages to identify trafficked children, gather information, and
raise awareness with support from village chiefs. In the
villages of origin, IOM works with the chiefs, the parents and the
community to raise awareness of the dangers of child labour and
human trafficking and to identify income generating opportunities
for the parents so they are not forced to give their children to
the fishermen. Fishermen who release children also receive training
and micro-credits to enable them to carry out alternative
livelihood ventures or improve their fishing techniques without
using child labour.
Once IOM secures their releases, the children are taken to a
government rehabilitation centre where they are given counselling,
medical assistance, educational assistance and art therapy for
three and a half months.
It Took Six Years to Secure His
Freedom
Stephen Akwetey, a 13-year-old boy
had been identified for rescue by IOM and its partners three years
ago, but his master had refused to release him. In 2008, IOM staff
tracked down his mother. Most of the people in her community
believed that Stephen had been missing for 6 years. But after much
investigation, IOM learned that he had been trafficked six times in
his short life, travelling as far as Benin and Cote d'Ivoire. His
mother, faced with severe economic hardship, had resorted to
trafficking him for small sums of money.
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"The 2009 rescue mission took more time than usual because we had
to engage in very difficult negotiations with the fishermen to
convince them to voluntarily release the children," explains Eric
Peasah, Manager of the IOM Counter-Trafficking Project in Ghana.
After their initial rehabilitation, the children are reunited with
their families and communities and enrolled into schools or given
vocational training in order to restart their lives.
The rescue of the children has been possible due to continued
support from the US State Department Bureau of Population, Refugee
and Migration (PRM) and private donations and sponsorships from
individuals and organizations from various countries.
However, since 2008, it has had to limit the number of children
it can rescue to 36 each year in order to provide adequate
reintegration assistance that includes continued medical follow up
and educational assistance, such as mentoring and tutoring,
education and other needs. Post-rescue health assessments
usually reveal severe levels of malnutrition, stunted growth,
Bilhazia as well as other long-term health related diseases.
For more information, please contact:
Eric Peasah
IOM Ghana
Tél. +233 24 217 0827
E-mail :
"mailto:epeasah@iom.int">epeasah@iom.int