GHANA - Reunification of Trafficked Children-Seventychildren who had been trafficked for forced labour in fishing communities at Yeji in the Atebubu district of the Brong Ahafo region were yesterday reunited with their parents in the town of New Bakpa in the Volta region.
The children, who had been sold by their impoverished parents to local fishermen for up to 1.5 million Cedis (US$180), stayed at the IOM transit centre in the town of Yeji where they were given medical examinations and counselling before completing the final lap of their journey home.
This brings to 298the number of children who have been freed and reunited with their parents under IOM's US funded programme. All have now returned to school or have joined vocational training programmes.
They are part of a larger group of children soon to be released by their former employers. In return, the fishermen receive training and micro credits to help them improve their fishing techniques or engage in other income generating activities. IOM's project manager Joseph Rispoli says that many fishermen have now engaged in secondary activities such as cattle rearing and provision selling.
Prior to the release of the children, IOM identified the needs of parents to help them undertake income-generating micro-projects through the provision of training and micro-credits. The parents have received business training and community revolving loan funds to start or expand small businesses ranging from selling foodstuffs and textiles, through charcoal production and vending, to the setting up of small restaurants known as "Chop-Bars."
IOM has registered a total of1,002 school-aged children who have been trafficked for slave labour in fishing communities in the Volta and Central regions of Ghana. They are mostly boys aged between 3 and 14 forced to work in the fishing industry. They begin at dawn and work until late afternoon casting and drawing nets. They are poorly fed and never paid. Sometimes the nets get stuck at the bottom of the lake and the children have to dive to release them. Many have drowned.
According to Joseph Rispoli, local traditional leaders helped IOM win the cooperation of the fishermen, locally known as "slave masters". "Probably the most influential is Togbega Mortor Kwadjo Hadjor VI of Bakpa Traditional Area who is instrumental in helping us rescue, return and reintegrate trafficked children. Togbega Hadjor also playsan invaluable role in informing local communities of the evils of trafficking."
On 14 June, Togbeba Hadjor travelled to Washington to receive the 2004 US Department of State Anti-Trafficking Heroes Award for his extensive efforts to combat the practice of child trafficking in Ghana.
The Ghanaian authorities, the ILO and Apple, a local NGO, also cooperate in the implementation of the US-funded IOM programme.
For further information, please contact Joseph Rispoli, IOM Accra, Tel: 00.233.244 975250, Email