Within the same period, 32 cases of human trafficking and irregular migration were prosecuted, resulting in the convictions of 13 for human trafficking, nine for child labour and 10 for other related offences.

The Chief Director of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, DrAfisahZakariah, who disclosed this, said, in all 87 cases were reported and investigated by law enforcement agencies and called on stakeholders to work together to curb the menace.

She was speaking yesterday in Accra during the opening of a four-day advance training and capacity building workshop to equip law enforcement officers in combating human trafficking and irregular migration.

The workshop was being organised by the Ministry in collaboration with Expertise France, the French public agency for the design and implementation of international technical cooperation projects and the European Union (EU).

Participants include personnel from the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) -Customs Division, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) and the Ministry.

The workshop followed series of basic trainings across the country to build the capacities of law enforcement officers in the detection, investigation, prosecution and collaboration on issues of human trafficking and irregular migration.

DrZakariah explained that human trafficking and irregular migration was a heinous crime which had taken the form of organ harvesting, sexual exploitation, forced labour and psychological abuse of victims.

She said the 2021 rescues and prosecution outcomes were significant improvement in the country’s quest to fight human trafficking and irregular migration following the operationalisation of two government shelters.

The adult victim shelter, which was opened in February 2019 had so far received more than 153 rescued clients, who have been rehabilitated and reintegrated back into their communities, she said.

The children shelter, she noted, was operationalised in August 2020 and had rehabilitated more than 70 child victims.

She said the Ministry employed the services of four psychologists to manage the shelters and ensure the victims rescued were given the best of support.

Despite government’s efforts, DrZakariah stated that there were still a sizeable number of human trafficking ongoing which required collaborative efforts in fighting it.

Comptroller General of the GIS, Kwame AsuahTakyi, in a speed read on his behalf, said the Service had created migration information centres in some regions to educate the public on the dangers of irregular migration and provide information on how to travel safely.

He indicated that the Service, through it protects strategy, identifies, intercepts and rescues victims of human trafficking and refer them to the shelters for support.

Commissioner of Police, MaameYaaTiwaaAddo-Danquah, Executive Director of EOCO, said her outfit, in view of the menace, conduct regular operations at the Kotoka International Airport where irregular emigrants to the Gulf States were prevented from travelling.

Serge Akpalou, Project Manager at Expertise France, said the capacity building workshop would empower law enforcement officials with a better understanding and knowledge on human trafficking and victim identification which would help increase the number of prosecutions.