IJM empowers anti-human trafficking investigators in Ho

Ho, March 25, GNA – Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr. Edward Oduro Kwarteng, Volta Regional Police Commander, has said that the phenomenon of human trafficking has become a global menace with Ghana being identified as a source, transit and destination country for traffickers.

He said the country had been categorised among 11 nations that harbour traffickers, including Thailand, China, Middle East and others.

DCOP Kwarteng was addressing a 10-day training for Police investigators with the Anti Human Trafficking Unit of the Volta Regional Police Command, which ended Wednesday in Ho.

It was organised by the International Justice Mission (IJM), a global organisation that protects the poor from violence.

It is aimed at enhancing the skills of investigators whose chief task is to help reduce or possibly eliminate the incident of Human Trafficking in the region.

He said organised traffickers target vulnerable parents and communities to facilitate child-trafficking in the fishing industry in the country and other West African countries and sometimes employed the trafficked children to sell fish products.

The Regional Commander enumerated mass displacement, conflict, extreme poverty, lack of access to education and job opportunities, violence and harmful social norms like child marriage serve as pull-factors for individuals to become victims to trafficking.

He said platforms like the IJM was appropriate in assisting the Police to position itself in combating the nefarious and dehumanising practice.

He called for a sustained periodic training regime to update investigators on skills for soliciting information involving trafficking.

The selected investigators were taken through topics such as basic knowledge of anti-human trafficking, interrogation skills, victim trauma care, crime scene management, networking within human trafficking, preparation of operational orders for anti-human trafficking operations and ethics.

Participants at the end of the training expressed their appreciation to IJM, the facilitators especially Chief Superintendent (Rtd) Mr. Felix Mawusi for the knowledge imparted and also assured of making use of the lessons and skills acquired to guide their investigations going forward.

GNA