GCAA moves to halt human trafficking by air

The aviation sector regulator, Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, is to train operators to quickly identify, respond and stop persons being trafficked via the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).

The measure has become necessary to halt the growing number of persons trafficked from Ghana and other West African states to the gulf region to work as domestic workers but oftentimes return with horrifying tales of sex and physical abuse.

In partnership with the Ghana Immigration Service at the Kotoka International Airport and the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), the GCAA says the training is in line with the global crusade against human trafficking.

Ms. Juliet Aboagye-Wiafe, the Deputy Director-General Finance and Administration of the GCAA, said: “Due to the growing number of victims being transported by air, the training of aviation personnel, including cabin crew, to identify and respond to trafficking in persons has become necessary in the global crusade against this crime.”

On her part, Madam Edith Penelope Arhin, the Regional Commander of the Ghana Immigration Service at the Kotoka International Airport, said her outfit has established an anti-human smuggling and trafficking in person unit to contribute to the fight against the menace and to identify the traffickers for prosecution.

The Head of the Human Trafficking Secretariat at the MoGCSP, Abena Annobea Asare, said the training is apt, giving the debilitating effect of human trafficking on the victims, their families and society and whole.

“Our girls are trafficked to most of the Gulf countries to be exploited sexually. Some come back with horrible news and detailed levels of abuses. The airport has not been spared, as these fraudulent agents are sometimes aided by some officers, knowingly and unknowingly,” she added.

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