Little one Rights Worldwide (CRI) has urged authorities to be delicate to the basic rights of kids concerned within the current swoop by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) to rid the streets of Accra of migrant beggars.
The CRI mentioned the federal government should undertake a extra “child-sensitive and coordinated method” in coping with the scenario because it concerned youngsters and adults.
The operation, which happened on Friday, Could 16, 2025, focused main areas like Kaneshie, Abossey Okai, and Kwame Nkrumah Circle, and led to the “arrest” of over 2,000 people with greater than 1,300 of them being youngsters, a lot of whom are overseas nationals.
The Govt Director of CRI, Mr Brilliant Appiah, addressing the media in Accra yesterday mentioned whereas it was “unlawful and unsafe” for youngsters to beg on the streets, any intervention involving youngsters should uphold their rights and dignity, no matter their nationality.
He expressed concern concerning the excessive variety of youngsters caught within the train and emphasised that the difficulty was not simply one in every of “public order, however of kid safety.”
He burdened that these youngsters shouldn’t be handled as offenders however quite as vulnerable people in want of care and safety.
Mr Appiah referred to each worldwide and native legal guidelines to assist its place.
“The United Nations Conference on the Rights of the Little one (UNCRC), which Ghana ratified in 1990, clearly outlines that youngsters mustn’t face discrimination and that their greatest pursuits should be a major consideration in all issues affecting them,” he defined.
In accordance with him, “Ghana’s Youngsters’s Act additional states that any baby who’s homeless, begging, or dwelling in unsafe circumstances is entitled to state safety.
Mr Appiah mentioned the dearth of coordination raises critical questions on how the children had been being cared for after the operation and whether or not any correct procedures had been in place for his or her reintegration or repatriation.
He talked about the danger to Ghana’s internationwide picture and nationwide safety if such operations continued with no structured and humane method.
The kid proper advocate warned that the presence of kids on the streets was greater than an ethical failure, including that it was a social and financial downside that drain public assets.
He mentioned a 2015 authorities report estimated that baby abuse alone prices Ghana as much as GH¢1.44 billion yearly.
The Govt Director urged the government to make long-term modifications and really helpful that authorities gather correct identification and bio-data of everybody concerned in such operations to make sure no baby was misplaced within the system.
He referred to as for detailed case assessments to raised perceive every baby’s background and desires.
This he mentioned would assist in tracing households and reuniting youngsters with them safely.
“CRI needs the federal government to set clear and constant procedures for dealing with overseas youngsters discovered on the streets. These ought to embody protected return protocols and authorized cooperation with the nations of origin,” he mentioned.
He mentioned stronger border monitoring and immigration programs had been additionally wanted to prevent unlawful entry and higher defend weak youngsters from exploitation or trafficking.
Mr Appiah insisted that operations just like the current GIS swoop shouldn’t be repeated with out correct planning and company collaboration.
“We imagine that if Ghana is to really defend its youngsters and meet its authorized obligations, it should deal with this subject as a nationwide emergency and a rights-based and child-focused technique is not only perfect — it’s a necessity,” he mentioned.
Mr Appiah referred to as on all authorities agencies to work collectively to place the pursuits of each baby first,” failure to behave responsibly and urgently dangers leaving a whole lot of kids on the streets, uncovered to hazard and stripped of hope.”
BY AGNES OPOKU SARPONG
