THE Police Administration has given the assurance that the police will continue to collaborate with other security agencies to eliminate human trafficking in the country.
He, however, stated that it was the duty of society to rescue victims of human trafficking, and also eliminate the menace which is known to be modern-day slavery.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Seth Charles Oteng, gave the assurance when he inaugurated the regional anti-human trafficking unit of the Ghana Police Service in Sunyani.
The establishment of the unit throughout the country is a collaborative effort between the Police Administration and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
According to international labour estimates, about 2.4 million people were victims of human trafficking between 1995 and 2005 while the United States Department of State report also revealed that about one million children were exploited by the global commercial sex trade every year.
DCOP Oteng stated that human trafficking impacted negatively on the economy since it contributed to streetchildren, unskilled labour and commercial sex activities.
He said those who engaged in prostitution contracted all kinds of venereal diseases, including HIV and AIDS, which was a killer.
‘‘This is why the Police Administration in collaboration with the other security agencies, is determined to eliminate human trafficking in our society. We would not relent in our efforts until trafficking in human beings is no more practised in our society,’’ he stressed.
The regional police commander emphasised that human trafficking was very exploitative as children were trafficked and forced into all kinds of forced hazardous labour, such as stone quarrying, fishing, salt mining and worse of all, young ladies were forced into prostitution.
The Brong Ahafo Regional Minister, Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, said many years ago, there was the tendency of some women in parts of the country, who were enticed or induced to migrate to Abidjan, La Cote d’ Ivoire under the guise of finding gainful employment, only to be forced into prostitution by circumstances beyond their control.
He said some of them arrived to realise that they had been deceived because the promised jobs were non-existent and prostitution was the only avenue open to them to earn a living.
‘‘Occasionally, these Abidjan-based women visited home in fancy clothing which also enticed others to go along with them,’’ the Regional Minister stated.
Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, however, stated that human trafficking had assumed a new dimension with the recruitment and transportation of young boys and girls who were sold into slavery, either within or across national borders by the use of force, abduction or deception.
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