Rescued Children Need Counselling

The pleas by children who were sold into slavery by their families not to traffic any children ever again are indeed heartbreaking.

As most children grow, the persons they begin to trust and get close to are their mothers. That is why it is very painful for them to realise that the very individuals they believe will seek their interests first, betrayed them.

Little wonder that the children who were rescued from Kete Krachi in the Volta Region after being trafficked by their families, particularly their mothers had refused to reveal their ordeal to their parents.

It is, therefore, unfortunate that during this period of the rule of law, helpless children, some as young as five, could still be sold into servitude.

The excuse by the affected families that they gave away their children as a result of poverty should no longer be acceptable, because the dire financial needs of parents should not make crime acceptable.

That is why the statement by Madam Hajia Alima Mahama is gratifying, because abusers of the human rights of children would be prosecuted, no matter their relationship with the victims.

It is only by making the laws which protect children bite, that people who take helpless children for granted and abuse their fundamental human rights would be restrained from doing so.

Though it is important for the rescued children to be given some education, sending a 12-year-old boy to nursery school will only dampen his spirits and cause him to drop out of school in no time.

To make the education of the children beneficial, there is the need for a special educational programme to be organised for them to bring them to an appreciable level before they are sent to regular schools.

It would also be important for all children who went through that harrowing experience to be counselled to assist them overcome the pain and trauma and be integrated in their new environment.