Residents petition Otiko over detained kids in Afram Plains

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Djaba, has been requested to deal with the unlawful raid and detention of some children and their parents in the Afram Plains North area.

The petition was filed by leaders of the coastal and fishing communities in the Afram Plains North district.

According to the petitioners, 30 of their residents, mostly children, were raided and detained at an unknown place by a foreign NGO named International Justice Mission (IJM) under the claim of child labour.

The petitioners, led by the Member of Parliament (MP) for the area, Betty Krosbi Mensah, expressed that the NGO’s decision to detain the children without the knowledge and consent of their parents, was unlawful citing section 5 of the Children’s Act,1998 (Act 560).

They urged the Gender Minister to act swiftly on the matter.

The petition was copied to the Speaker of Parliament and the Inspector-General of Police.

Read full petition below

THE HONOURABLE MINISTER MINISTRY OF GENDER, CHILDREN AND SOCIAL PROTECTION MINISTRIES, ACCRA

Dear Madam,

PETITION BY THE PEOPLE OF AFRAM PLAINS NORTH CONSTITUENCY IN RESPECT OF UNLAWFUL RAID AND DETENTION OF THEIR CHILDREN AND INDIGENES

The humble petition shows as follows.

Petitioners are leaders and indigenes of the coastal and fishing communities in the Afram Plains North Constituency within the Republic of Ghana.

On or about the ……..April, 2017, a foreign NGO by name International Justice Mission (IJM), in collaboration with your ministry and some armed police personnel raided our communities in ……………….and arrested some of our members including children who were returning home from various places on the lake. This raid occurred at a time when our children of school going ages were on vacation.

Our information is that about 30 (thirty) of our members most of whom are children were raided and have since been detained in a place unknown to the parents of the said children, chiefs or any of our political or religious leaders in our communities. Upon inquiry, we were informed that our children were allegedly engaged in child labour and as such it was necessary that they were detained. We find such a reason of unlawfully detaining our people and children most unfortunate and without any basis whatsoever. Such reason can only be given by people who have little or no understanding of the anthropology, social settings and the culture of our people.

Our people have not in any way engaged or encouraged the engagement of their children in child labour as being claimed by IJM volunteers and your ministry. Our communities are mostly Islands surrounded by lakes and thereby making fishing our main source of occupation and traveling by the lake is our main source of transport. Due to our peculiar circumstances, our people are trained from childhood on how to swim to enable them to survive on the Island. Our people have since time immemorial trained themselves and their children to survive on the Island and have done so without any major casualties whatsoever. In fact, at a younger age of 6 (six) years old, a child in our community is able to master the act of swimming in the lake under the supervision of older persons. This is because it is only at these younger ages that one is able to learn the act of swimming effectively. This is also to equip the child with the skills which enables him or her to survive on the lake in the event of any casualty whiles traveling on the lake from one point to the other.

Again, the high rate of Fulani invasion in our communities, causing physical harm which sometimes lead to death has made it necessary for us to take along our children to the farms and lake during vacations.

Knowing the background of our people, it cannot be said that our people have engaged their children in child labour when in fact all they have done is to travel on the lake with their parents or in the company of their parents or older siblings on the lake during fishing without more.

In deed as a traditional society, we have our own customs which prevents people from engaging their children in acts which seek to affect the health, development or education. In fact, children below the age of 18 (eighteen) years old in our communities are not engaged in any acts which are deemed dangerous or hazardous in any form whatsoever.

For IJM with the collaboration of your ministry and the Ghana Police Service to have raided our people without notice whatsoever including swooping their children on the lake during a period in which our children of school going ages were on vacation under the misconception that the children have been engaged in child labour instead of schooling is most unfortunate and regrettable.

These acts are not only wrongful but unlawful. The acts have brought to the families of the victims of these illegal acts so much pain and suffering. This is more so when your ministry, the Ghana Police Service and IJM have deliberately refused to show us the location of where our people and children have been detained.

We have been informed that your act in detaining our children without our consent is contrary to the constitution of the Republic of Ghana as well as section 5 of the Children’s Act,1998 (Act 560). For the avoidance of doubt Section 5 of Act 560 states as follows:

“No person shall deny a child the right to live with his parents and family and grow up in a caring and peaceful environment unless it is proved in Court that living with his parents would Lead to significant harm to the child or Subject the child to serious abuse; or Not in the best interest of the child.”

What is not in doubt is that IJM, your ministry and the Ghana Police Service without any court order have detained our children without our consent, an act which is not only wrongful but unlawful. To make matter worse they have deliberately refused to show us the location of our children as well as grant us access to them.

Petitioners contend that the continuous act of detaining their people and children without their consent is unlawful and unconstitutional. Petitioners are very disappointed by the inaction of your ministry and pray that you would use your good office to remedy this obvious wrong done against our people, cause their release from detention and to assure your ministry of our collaboration to find a lasting solution to this challenge.

We trust that on receipt of this petition you will address the concerns raised