An MP in Ghana is calling for the legislative body to investigate the activities of the US-based charity International Justice Mission (IJM), following a BBC Africa Eye expose of an anti-human trafficking scheme where children are wrongfully identified as victims.
The MP, Betty Krosby, on Wednesday, told her colleagues in parliament to reconsider the country’s anti-human trafficking laws which she says are often exploited by NGOs.
“International NGOs are taking advantage of our human trafficking law," to benefit their own organisations, she added.
"I would urge this house to reconsider the act on human trafficking and the children’s act once again to consider our cultural values and way of life as well to put proper systems in place to monitor and evaluate the activities of such organisations in Ghana," she said.
While condemning IJM's activities exposed by the BBC investigation, the lawmaker expressed concern about publications that suggest there is pervasive child trafficking in communities along Lake Volta.
BBC Africa Eye, in its latest investigative documentary, exposed how IJM was falsely identifying and separating children from their families, sometimes through violent means while aiding local authorities to prosecute and jail their breadwinners.
The IJM told the BBC that it seeks to "provide the most effective support to authorities to stop child trafficking."
The group added that its "approach always has the welfare of the child at its core".
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