IOM Rescues 20 Ghanaian Children from Trafficking for Last Time as Programme Runs Out of Funds
GENEVA, Switzerland, April 29, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ — IOM Press Briefing Notes
Twenty Ghanaian child victims of trafficking were rescued by IOM from exploitative labour in the fishing industry along the Lake Volta Lake region of Ghana, in what looks like to be the last such rescue mission as funding for the programme runs out in the year.
The IOM rescue team, which travelled to the remote fishing villages of Kete-Krachi, Kpando Torkor and Awate-Tornu, was at times forced to engage the local authorities in order to secure the rescue of some of the children.
Fourteen children were rescued in March, but the IOM team had to return this week to secure the release of other six children that should have also been rescued at the same time.
Eric Peasah, in charge of the IOM rescue mission, said, “We could not rescue this group of six boys in March, the fishermen simply refused to let them go so IOM had to engage in protracted negotiations to secure their release.”
All 20 children will undergo physical and psychological rehabilitation at a centre run by Ghana’s Department of Social Welfare where they will also attend classes for three months before being reunited with their parents in their communities of origin.
All of the rescued children -18 boys and 2 girls aged between 6 and 15 – confirmed that the boys were forced to go out on the lake daily to fish, while the girls worked in the processing and sale of the fish and doing household chores.
One 10-year-old said he endured hunger and mistreatment and was totally neglected whenever he was sick. He was transferred from one master to another during his four years at Awate-Tornu.
Another boy, a 15-year-old, told IOM he has never attended school, although all eight children of the fisherman exploiting his labour were enrolled in school.
Trafficked at young ages and for some for many years, their experiences have left deep mental and physical marks on the children. Upon rescue, they show very high levels of malnutrition, stunted growth, malaria and worm infections that needed urgent treatment.
“All of the children have suffered physical and psychological abuse and after years of being under-fed and badly treated, are in poor medical condition. It is of great concern to us that as we take these children to safety and give them a new hope for a future, so many other children will not have that chance,” says IOM Chief of Mission in Ghana, Dyane Epstein.
Thousands of other Ghanaian child victims of trafficking will continue to work in dangerous, exploitative conditions along Lake Volta with little chance of escape as years of efforts to rescue them will have to come to an end unless significant new funds are found.
Since 2002 IOM has rescued a total of 731 children with support from the United States Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) and in recent years as funding has declined, by many private donations as well.
“We urge donors old and new to not abandon those exploited children on Lake Volta. Their plight must not be forgotten,” Epstein adds.
Current funding for the programme which provides long term rehabilitation support to rescued child victims of trafficking in Ghana runs out in September this year.
SOURCE
International Office of Migration (IOM)
