Missionaries Of Africa Holds Capacity Building Training On Human Trafficking

The Ghana-Nigeria Provincial Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation, Encounter and Dialogue (JPIC-ED) Commission has organized a two day training workshop in Tamale at the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center on the 27th &28th of April, 2018.

The Theme of the workshop was 'The Scourge of Modern Day Migration and Human Trafficking. And with the sub topic: Is migration the absolute resort for our socio-economic and political mishaps in our mission lands, Ghana and Nigeria?

Mr Joseph Famakin, a retired police personal with the Human Trafficking unit of the Nigerian police service, facilitated the two day workshop.

The aim of the workshop was among other things to understand the global phenomena of migration and human trafficking in our own local context. And to be part of the solution in our own milieu, and to be advocates for change and transformation.

Mr Famakin explained that human trafficking is the modern day slavery, that involves the movement of a person from one place to another for exploitative purposes, although the menace had been existence for very long, since from the Greek medieval times.

'Human Trafficking In Person(HTIP) shall mean recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other forms of abduction'

'People are been trafficked among other reaaons for sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, forced labour, hawking, among others.

He added that when men, women, children are bought, sold and held against their will in slavery-like conditions, they are deemed to be trafficked.

He further said that for every trafficking of persons, there must be an element of Action(movement of persons), Means(improper inducement) and Purpose(exploitation of victims)

Touching on the actions of the traffickers, he disclosed that they have sweet tongues, deceitful acts, and, victims are usually gotten from their own families all in the name of ending poverty.

He however stated that at the law court issues such as fraud, deceit, coercion, child recruitment among others make consent of victims legally invalid. According to him

International Conventions such as the 1995 Beijing Conference (UNO), The Parlemo Conference, among others were agreed on to help curb trafficking and its related activities.

He argued that migration and human trafficking was not the absolute resort for the socio-econmic and political mishaps in Ghana and Nigeria, as well as the rest of the continent.

He recounted that lack of public awareness on the dangers of the act, some customary practices, ineffective law enforcement levels, poor collaboration among stakeholders were some of the major reasons why human trafficking still existed. It exits in both internal and external terms.

Mr Famakin said it was important for the governments of Ghana and Nigeria to work together to curb this menace by changing our attitudes towards poverty, and also, adoption of strategies among all stakeholders in information sharing, investigation and prosecution are very key to fight trafficking in persons in West Africa. He added that implementation of policies aimed at ending poverty, unequal access to education, employment, violence and conflicts and gender and economic discrimination will eradicate or reduce illegal migration and human trafficking to the lowest acceptable level.

With kind partnership with CECOTAPS, Damongo based community radio, PADfm, attended the program.

The two day event was attended by various dioceses and parishes in the Northern and Upper east regions.

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