Although the report shows the government enhanced its victim protection efforts, the number of identified victims rose compared to the 574 victims reported in 2022.
Children made up a large portion of the victims, with 505 affected, and the majority of those trafficked, 616, were Ghanaian nationals.
Among the 123 foreign nationals trafficked, most were Nigerian, with others from Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Vietnam.
The United States Department of State, through the report, acknowledged that Ghana has yet to meet the minimum standards for eradicating trafficking but is making notable progress.
The Department recommended that Ghana intensify investigations and prosecutions of suspected traffickers, including corrupt officials and fraudulent labor recruiters, and impose significant prison sentences on those convicted.
Ghana remains on Tier 2 of the US Department of State’s ranking due to its improved efforts compared to previous years. These efforts include increasing investigations, prosecutions, and convictions related to trafficking, as well as referring more victims for assistance. The government also trained judicial and law enforcement personnel in trauma-informed practices and strengthened its collaboration with civil society to improve protection and prevention.
Despite these advancements, the government still fell short in key areas. For example, the 2017 ban on labor migration to Gulf States remains in effect, increasing vulnerability to trafficking.
The government did not hold any fraudulent labor recruiters accountable, despite reports of Ghanaian victims being exploited abroad.
The report also criticized the government for not addressing complicity in trafficking cases adequately, nor amending anti-trafficking regulations to eliminate the option of fines instead of imprisonment for traffickers who are parents or guardians of child victims.
Efforts to identify trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations—such as labor migrants, asylum seekers, and workers on Chinese-owned fishing vessels—remained insufficient.
Over the past five years, human traffickers have exploited both local and foreign victims within Ghana, while Ghanaian victims have also been trafficked abroad. Children in Ghana have been forced into labor in fishing, domestic service, street hawking, begging, artisanal mining, herding, and agriculture.
In a disturbing revelation from the 2023 Ghana Trafficking in Persons Report, the government identified and reported 944 victims of human trafficking last year. Of these, a staggering 821 individuals were subjected to labor trafficking, while the remaining were exploited for sexual purposes. The report sheds light on the persistent and growing challenge of human trafficking in Ghana, despite increased efforts to protect victims.
