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Challenging Heights, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Winneba, Ghana says it rescued at least 41 children from trafficking on Lake Volta in 2015, GhanaWeb reported on Thursday.
All 118 of the survivors were given comprehensive medical, psychological, physical, social, educational rehabilitation as well as shelter.
Pomaa Arthur, the Communications Manager of Challenging Heights said in a statement: “According to the organisation’s 2015 annual report, 74 children were reintegrated with their families after spending from three to nine months at the shelter depending on their needs.”
Child trafficking and forced labour remained a significant problem in Ghana, with both the total number and the proportion of children in child labour increasing in recent years.
Data from the Ghana Statistical Service indicated that 1.9 million children aged 5-17 were engaged in child labour, with 1.2 million of the children engaged in hazardous labour, Joy Online reported.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Ghanaian children were trafficked from their home villages to work in the fishing industry, where they lived in meagre conditions and worked long hours.
In addition to being cheap labour, their small, nimble fingers were useful in releasing fish from small nets.
