HUMAN TRAFFICKING PROJECT

ADVOCACY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF HUMAN TRAFICKING
2006-2007


The awareness campaign was met warmly by the  Ghanaian citizens. Community members at the workshops engaged with the material, asking insightful questions and relating it to their personal experiences.  In one case, a chief commented that he was happy with the programme because many people had come to his palace with such issues and he often had difficulties in answering them but found this useful. Now he felt prepared to give them thorough and informed answers.

INTRODUCTION
The LRC, in collaboration with the International Labor Organization (ILO), initiated the Advocacy for the Elimination of Human Trafficking Project in 2005 to raise awareness across Ghana about the dangers of human trafficking and push the Ghanaian National Government to adopt new legislation to fight the trafficking of persons.

BACKGROUND
Trafficking - a worldwide problem
Trafficking in persons or modern day slavery, is widespread with horrifying consequences on the victims, their families and relations and humankind as a whole. Trafficking in persons is both a national and an international phenomenon. Trafficking generally affects the most vulnerable segments of society such as women, children, the poor and the unemployed.
There is growing awareness and media reportage of the horrors working children, who are victims of trafficking, are exposed to all over the world. This has lead to international outrage and a demand for immediate and decisive action to fight the menace.

The evidence is that Africa and Asia are the top locations of trafficking, with clearly established routes involving Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Gabon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Niger.  West African countries are trying to address this within the framework of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The World’s eyes fall on West Africa
In May, 2001, international attention was drawn to the West African sub region when a ship, the Etirino, was reported to have left the port city of Cotonou in Benin carrying over 200 ‘child slaves’ destined to work in Central Africa. After two weeks at sea, during which period the Etirino was refused landing rights by the Gabonese authorities to dock, the ship returned to Cotonou. The authorities in Cotonou then found that it carried about 140 people, including 40 children and youth aged between five and twenty four, who had confirmed that they were heading towards the Central African region for work.

The truth about trafficking in Ghana
There is without doubt, growing and worrying incidence of trafficking in persons in Ghana. The base-line study conducted by the PATWA project reveals cases of serious abuse of the rights of internal migrant workers that need to be addressed. Ghana is also an important sending and receiving country for migrant workers within the ECOWAS region and could derive important benefits for development from good migration management. As a vibrant democracy, with a continuously improving human rights record, Ghana cannot allow such a state of affairs. Ghana has a responsibility to fight trafficking in persons nationally and internationally.

WHAT THE LRC IS DOING ABOUT IT
Spreading the Word About Human Trafficking
The Legal Resource Center, supported by the International Labor Organization, is working to make sure that the proper legal frameworks are in place to halt human trafficking, while simultaneously raising educating the public about the dangers of this phenomenon. 
The LRC was charged by the ILO to:

•  Determine the degree of consistency between trafficking and labour legislation at national and state levels.
• Assess their compatibility with the provisions of ILO Conventions 29 (Forced Labour) and 143 (Migrant Workers), the Palermo Protocol, the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and their Families and the ECOWAS treaties on free circulation of persons and on trafficking.
• Identify strengths and weaknesses of investigation and prosecution procedures in cases of trafficking.
• Evaluate the extent to which agreements and policies on labour migration and repatriation with other countries within and outside the region are protective of the human and labour rights of migrant workers.
• Compare existing or planned systems of licensing and regulation of private recruitment agencies with the provisions of ILO Convention 181.
• Recommend changes required to enhance consistency with international standards and to reduce impunity of perpetrators of trafficking and related crimes.

To read the LRC’s report on Human Traficking, click here.
Meanwhile, our staff is creating awareness about human trafficking and its effects. A broad-based media campaign around the country of pamphlets, advertisements, and newspaper articles was paired with workshops in the Northern Region to reach as many Ghanaians as possible.  Personalities such as chiefs, immigration officers, the police, Security Agencies, and the judiciary were involved in these workshops.  Soon other organizations, such as Plan International, joined in the effort to reach poor communities with this important message.

Top