Eastern Regional anti-human trafficking unit inaugurated

Koforidua, Aug. 11, GNA - The Eastern Regional anti-human trafficking unit was inaugurated in Koforidua on Thursday, with a call on the citizenry to assist the security agencies to deal with human and child trafficking. Mr Eric Appiah Okrah, Child Protection Specialist of the UNICEF, reminded the public that human and child trafficking was an offence and warned that anyone caught engaging in the practice would be made to face th= e law. He said 93Gone were the days when anyone could recruit a child for th= e purposes of undertaking forced labour".

Mr Okrah noted that apart from drug trafficking, child and human trafficking had now become a lucrative business and challenged especially the media to create awareness on that dangerous issue. He commended the Government and the Police Administration for establishing the anti-human trafficking unit. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kwabena Gyamera-Yeboah, Eastern Regional Police Commander, expressed worry that some privileged people exploited the under-privileged to amass wealth and said that the Human Trafficking Act 694 of 2005 makes provision for the confiscation of assets of perpetrators. He stressed 93The proceeds from the assets and other funds are then u= sed to cater for unfortunate victims".

ACP Gyamera-Yeboah noted that fighting human and child trafficking was a shared responsibility, saying that the media and the general public had roles to play in the fight against the phenomenon. Justice Efo Kaglo, a Supervising High Court Judge, noted that poverty was the major cause of human and child trafficking and advised parents not to hide under the guise of poverty and sell their children into slavery but to engage in other means of livelihood.