By Michael Foli Jackidy
Ho (V/R), Oct. 09, GNA – Ghana has been upgraded to Tier one in the latest human trafficking assessment, after meeting the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in persons, with increased prosecutions, victim identification and funding for anti-trafficking interventions.
The upgrade reflects key achievements by the Government, including the prosecution and conviction of more traffickers, identification and referral of more victims to support services, and strengthened collaboration with foreign governments to investigate trafficking cases.
The government also intensified efforts to tackle online scam operations linked to fraudulent recruitment and forced labour, increased public awareness campaigns and provided extensive anti-trafficking training for frontline officials, according to its 2026 Trafficking in Persons report, available to Ghana News Agency.
Despite the progress, the assessment identified persistent challenges, including inadequate shelter services, particularly for adult victims, the absence of a legal prohibition on worker-paid recruitment fees, and limited specialised training and equipment for investigating trafficking-related cybercrimes.
In 2025, Ghana investigated 222 human trafficking cases, comprising 83 sex trafficking, 132 forced labour, and seven cases involving unspecified forms of trafficking.
The government prosecuted 212 alleged traffickers, including 31 for that of sex, 57 for forced labour and 124 for unspecified forms of trafficking.
A total of 28 traffickers were convicted, comprising 14 for sex offenders, and 14 labour traffickers and that majority of those convicts received prison sentences of at least a year.
The figures compared with 273 investigations, 65 prosecutions, and 25 convictions recorded in 2024.
The government also continued 15 investigations and 14 prosecutions from previous years.
The assessment noted that Ghanaian authorities collaborated with INTERPOL and foreign governments on law enforcement operations, including investigations into online scam operations, leading to the identification and repatriation of 756 foreign trafficking victims.
Authorities also signed a memorandum of understanding with e-commerce company QNET to support efforts to identify, arrest and dismantle online scam operations associated with fraudulent recruitment and forced labour.
The police, Ghana Immigration Service and the Economic and Organised Crime Office maintained specialised anti-trafficking units, while marine police conducted patrols on Lake Volta to identify and investigate child labour and trafficking cases.
However, the report identified limited shelter capacity, inadequate access to formal justice systems for victims in rural communities and knowledge gaps resulting from high staff turnover among police officers, as challenges affecting law enforcement.
The government identified 2,331 trafficked victims in 2025, comprising 492 for sex, 1,302 for labour, and 537 for unspecified forms of trafficking.
All identified victims were reportedly referred to support services, representing a significant increase from the 794 victims identified and referred in 2024.
Of the 2,331 victims, 862 were Ghanaian nationals and 1,469 were foreigners, with Nigerians accounting for 896 of the foreign victims, while others came from Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Togo, Senegal, Niger and Benin.
The government also identified 567 Ghanaian trafficking victims exploited abroad and funded their voluntary repatriation and screened 2,837 migrants returning from overseas for trafficking indicators and referred identified victims for assistance.
Support services included shelter, healthcare, counselling, legal assistance and repatriation, provided directly by the government and through partnerships with civil society organisations.
The government allocated GHS 3.452 million for direct victim services and assistance in 2025, up from GHS 2.85 million in 2024.
Nevertheless, shelter capacity remained inadequate, particularly for adult male victims, while a shelter designated for adult female victims was inoperable during the reporting period.
The assessment also noted that the government aided victims participating in criminal proceedings and issued restitution to six victims as part of their criminal sentences.
The government continued implementing its 2022–2026 National Action Plan on human trafficking through the Human Trafficking Secretariat under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
It allocated GHS 2.203 million for prevention activities, including public education campaigns targeting vulnerable populations and raising awareness of fraudulent recruitment schemes associated with online scams.
Public awareness initiatives on online safety were also conducted in schools and communities to protect children from online exploitation.
The government regulated formal labour recruiters, required private employment agencies to register, and provided pre-departure training for migrant workers.
Ghana also signed labour-related agreements with Grenada and Qatar to improve recruitment arrangements, employment conditions and protections for Ghanaian workers.
However, the report observed that the law did not prohibit worker-paid recruitment fees and that the government had not reported holding labour recruiters civilly or criminally liable for fraudulent recruitment.
It further noted that, despite a 2017 ban on labour migration to Gulf states, reports of Ghanaians being exploited in the region continued to increase.
The assessment described Ghana as a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking, with both Ghanaian and foreign nationals subjected to exploitation within the country and Ghanaians trafficked abroad.
Children remained vulnerable to forced labour in fishing, domestic service, street hawking, begging, portering, artisanal gold mining, quarrying, herding and agriculture.
The report also highlighted the exploitation of Ghanaian and other West African children in the cocoa sector, citing widespread poverty in cocoa-growing communities, low cocoa prices and limited educational opportunities as contributing factors.
Traffickers increasingly used technology to recruit and exploit victims through online scams and cybercrime operations, targeting young people, migrants, and economically vulnerable populations with fraudulent employment and migration offers.
Children working in the fishing industry on Lake Volta, were also identified as vulnerable to forced labour, while women and girls in the sector faced risks of sexual abuse and exploitation.
The report further highlighted concerns about the alleged exploitation of Ghanaian workers aboard industrial fishing vessels and cases involving Ghanaians reportedly recruited under false pretenses to fight for the Russian military in Ukraine.
It called attention to the continued need for stronger victim protection, improved enforcement of labour standards, specialised investigative capacity and measures to prevent trafficking and fraudulent recruitment.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/ Christabel Addo