Woman jailed eight years for human trafficking

An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced Beatrice Ofori to eight years imprisonment for recruiting and trafficking a lady from Ghana to Kurdistan in Iraq.

Beatrice Ofori is said to have received $4,500 and $700 from an agency for the act and promised to secure a seamstress job for the victim, but the victim ended up being a domestic servant, suffering inhumane treatment.

Beatrice pleaded not guilty to charges of human trafficking.

The court was presided over by Mrs Christina Cann, and after the trial, it was established that Beatrice was guilty and sentenced accordingly.

The facts, as presented by Superintendent of Immigration John Bernard Otoo, were that Beatrice claimed to be a travel and tour operator in Accra.

The prosecution said the complainant was the victim’s mother.

It stated that the complainant and Beatrice, the victim, whose name was withheld, were neighbours and family friends at Klagon in Accra.

The complainant filed a complaint with the Ghana Immigration Service’s Anti-Human Smuggling and In-Person Unit (AHSTIP) on September 13, 2022, claiming that she had received a distress call from her daughter, who she hadn’t spoken to in nearly 11 months, claiming that she was an enslaved person in Kurdistan, Iraq.

It said investigations revealed that Beatrice had taken the victim and transferred her to Kurdistan under the pretence of finding her work as a seamstress, but she ended up working under inhumane conditions as a domestic worker for more than 11 months.

According to the prosecution, the victim experienced cruel treatment while arriving in Kurdistan, including sexual abuse and food deprivation, and was forced to pay Beatrice $700.

Later, according to the prosecution, the victim obtained a phone and called her mother, the complainant, to request help.

According to the report, the victim called Beatrice and requested to be sent to Ghana.

The prosecution said, “It was at this point that she was made aware that $4,500 was paid on her head through an agency to the accused person”.

In accordance with the terms of her bail, the AHSTIP Unit of the Ghana Immigration Service reportedly gave Beatrice one week to repatriate the victim to Ghana.

According to the prosecution, Beatrice bought the victim a ticket on Qatar Airways. On September 27, 2022, the AHSTIP Unit of the Ghana Immigration Service picked up the victim at Kotoka International Airport at 0900.