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Stop child trafficking
While some of the children trafficked are forced to engage in activities such as stone cracking, fishing or farming, others sell various items including sachet water.

Stop child trafficking

Dear Editor, I wish to express concern about the problem of child trafficking in the country. It baffles me that some people continue to engage in this despicable act against children in this modern age of ours.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines child trafficking as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose of exploitation

Children who are trafficked are often picked from rural areas of the country where their parents are deceived into thinking that their children will be taking to the cities to learn a trade or be sent to school.

Unfortunately, on arrival at their destinations, the stories turn out to be different. While some are forced to engage in activities such as stone cracking, fishing or farming, others sell various things including sachet water.

Past publications of the Junior Graphic I have read have highlighted the dangerous conditions under which some of these children work - some under very harsh weather and beatings from their guardians.

Some even claim they are sometimes denied food and health care when they are sick.

Children are the future leaders of this country and everything must be done to protect their lives. That is why

I believe we should identify ways of stopping this inhuman practice.

One of the ways to stop this is for the government to create more job opportunities so that all adults will be gainfully employed and earn some income.

If parents of such children are gainfully employed, there is no way they will give their children up to others to treat them that way.

Secondly, those who engage in this practice should be severely punished in order to serve as a deterrent to others.

To me, merely rescuing the children from the act is not enough because the perpetrators will go in for new children. That is why if they are severely punished, it will serve as a lesson to them.

I also believe that religious leaders, chiefs, assemblymen and women and other personalities in the communities should join the fight.

They could institute their own laws to stump out this crime in the society.
Child trafficking is bad and it is important we all do what we can to stop it.

Emelia Ofori,
JHS Graduate,
Akyem Oda

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