IOM and its local partners recently reunited another group of
children with their families in Ghana's Lake Volta Region.

The 36 trafficked children, nine girls and 27 boys aged between
6 and 16 years, were rescued by IOM in January while working in
fishing villages on Lake Volta. 

The children were knowingly or unknowingly trafficked by their
parents to work in fishing communities in the belief they would be
fed, educated and taught a useful trade.  But the reality was
very different as they were forced to work long hours doing heavy
and dangerous work, were severely underfed and in many cases were
abused physically and verbally.

After their rescue, the children spent almost four months
undergoing comprehensive rehabilitation provided by IOM, various
government ministries and NGOs.  The children received
psychosocial counseling, medical evaluation and care, education and
creative art therapy at the Department of Social Welfare's
Rehabilitation Centre in Madina-Accra.

After the children are reunited with their families, IOM and its
partners continue to monitor the children and assess their
educational and social needs for at least two years to ensure that
the children are not re-trafficked and that they are leading a
normal and productive life.

Since 2003, with funding from the US State Department's Bureau
of Population, Migration and Refugees (PRM), IOM has rescued,
rehabilitated and reintegrated a total of 648 children.  IOM
has also received vital financial support from generous private
donors in France, Korea and the United States.

But in order to provide comprehensive rehabilitation assistance,
IOM has reduced the number of children it rescues each year to 25
children.

IOM's Jo Rispoli in Ghana says: "We know this assistance is not
enough but we need to provide more than two years of care and
support individually tailored to meet the needs of each
child.  Without this, we may not be able to avoid instances of
re-trafficking. We've made a great deal of progress but many
challenges remain.  The key is to secure enough funding to
ensure that the future holds a promise for all the children."

To contribute or to sponsor a child through IOM's rescue and
reintegration programme, please go to "paragraph-link-no-underline" href=
"http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/pid/1666">http://www.iom.int/jahia/Jahia/pid/1666.

For further information, please contact:

Eric Peasah

IOM Accra

Tel: + 233.20.812.6696 or

+ 233.242.170.827

E-mail: "mailto:epeasah@iom.int">epeasah@iom.int