Deputy Gender Minister: “New forms of human trafficking must be addressed immediately.”
Francisca Oteng Mensah, the deputy minister of gender, children, and social protection, has urged for immediate action to stop new forms of human trafficking that are becoming more prevalent in the nation.
During a courtesy call by International Justice Mission (IJM) Ghana, an NGO that assists law enforcement in responding to and combating human trafficking, the MP for Kwabre East made this call at her Ridge office.
The Deputy Minister claims that there are new forms of trafficking, such “trafficking into the streets.” This is the phenomena whereby people are trickily transferred from the streets of the village to those of the large cities as beggars.
Each beggar is assigned a daily sales quota to meet in order to eventually win their freedom, along with a financial bondage that stems from their transportation to the city.
Each morning and evening several of them, packed inside a vehicle are dropped and
picked at vantage points in the city respectively before and after working for their masters.
She emphasized the veracity of the information by saying, “This is intelligence picked from the National Security and the BNI.”
She implied that the ministry is very concerned about this as well as other forms of human trafficking and social vices, and that all resources are needed to support the ministry’s and its affiliate agencies’ efforts to stop the problem.
The Deputy Minister stated that “human trafficking is a headache for all of us” and went on to emphasize the significance of IJM’s efforts. She continued by thanking the IJM officers for their encouragement to continue working with the ministry and the appropriate secretariats under it as well as for their nice comments and congratulations on her appointment.
Anita Budu, the recently appointed Director of IJM West Africa, headed the IJM delegation. As he praised the new director, Hon. Oteng Mensah said, “I am especially glad that we have a woman holding this post. I want to reassure you of my support and dedication.
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