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Community
leaders, security officers to enforce Human Traffic Act
Accra, Jan. 6, Ghanadot/GNA – The Association
of People for Practical Life Education (APPLE), an
anti-child trafficking NGO, has organised a workshop for 123
security officers and community leaders as part of efforts
to enforce the implementation of enforcement of the Human
Trafficking Act (694).
The two-day workshop, sponsored by Right and Voice
Initiative, on the theme: "Empowering the Law Enforcement
Agencies to Arrest and Prosecute Human/Child Traffickers”
sought to engage government as well as the citizenry in the
fight against trafficking.
Mr Abdulai White, a Magistrate at Adidome, said though the
human trafficking law was lifted from foreign statutes, such
as the United Kingdom, a great deal of effort and strategy
must be crafted to enforce the law, “otherwise, Act 694 will
be a mere law passed to appeal to the international
community, particularly, the donor community”.
He also called on the Social Welfare Department to
strengthen their internal mechanisms of catering for such
rescued children in order not to frustrate the work of the
Police and NGOs working in the area.
Mr Jack James Dawson, Executive Director of APPLE, said at
the moment it was collaborating with the police, traditional
rulers in the target districts (Mfantseman, Yeji and Pru) to
enforce the laws on human trafficking.
He reiterated that trafficking was a crime liable to a
minimum of five years’ imprisonment and asked individuals
with information on some unscrupulous persons engaged in the
act to report to the security agencies.
Participants were trained on the basic features of human
trafficking, paying or receiving money in respect of
recruitment and transfer of humans or children.
They were also trained on offences in Criminal Law (Act 29)
and Children's Law (Act 560) to help them build a charge
sheet for arrest and prosecution.
GNA |
