Twenty years after the enactment and enforcement of the Human Trafficking Act 2005, Act 694, the time has come for a review, an Associate Professor of Migration at the University of Ghana, College of Humanities, Prof.
Leander Kandilige has advocated.A review he said would afford the country the opportunity to modernise the law and align it with changing trends in human trafficking as well as meet the current challenges bothering on trafficking issues.Prof.
Kandilige said the advent of digital tools and Artificial intelligence and its deployment by traffickers made it even more imperative for the law to be looked at, stressing that "There's a need to modernise our laws to account for the increasing use of digital tools and artificial intelligence by traffickers."He made this known during his presentation on "Journey so far 20 years on, the Successes, Challenges, Gaps and Way Forward" at a media launch to commemorate the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons (Blue Day) held in Accra last Tuesday.Prof.
Kandilige who is also a Senior Lecturer at the Center for Migration Studies, He noted that while Ghana has made strides in fighting human trafficking, significant gaps remain that needed to be addressed.He cited the 2017 ban on the recruitment of domestic workers to the Gulf States as an example of a well-intentioned policy with unintended consequences, including a rise in smuggling and exploitation by unlicensed agents.He highlighted an acute shortage of shelters for rescued victims and underfunding of existing facilities, calling for urgent investment in trauma-informed rehabilitation and reintegration services.Although specialised trafficking desks exist in many courts and agencies, Prof.
