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World News

Christian anti-slavery charity releases song to fight against child trafficking in Ghana

A song featuring over 90 singers from 33 countries has been released to raise awareness of how children in Ghana are being trafficked and to remind people that justice is possible. 

The song, organised by anti-slavery charity International Justice Mission, opens with the voice of Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights activist, saying "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" and includes singers from across the world pleading to God to "Let justice flow like a river".

International Justice Mission is hoping 'The Justice Song' will make people feel emboldended to fight for fairness and an end to forced labour. 

 

The song features staff from the charity and supporters from across the world and was written by Selorm Tamakloe and former country director Kaign Christy, in whose memory the song is released. 

Speaking to Premier, Zoe Anderson, one of the singers and a member of IJM staff, told Premier: "This is a song celebrating that justice is possible...but it's also a song that's acknowledging that justice is something we have to choose together and that's why it includes a variety of singers."

One particular situation the song wants to raise awareness of is that of children being used for labour in Ghana. 

Zoe said: "What we're seeing in Ghana is children being trafficked to Lake Volta, which is the largest man-made lake in the world, and subjected to violence and forced to work in incredibly dangerous conditions, where they are forced to dive deep into the waters to untangle fishing nets from tree stumps."

Some of the children are forced to work seven days a week, with their families being tricked into giving them away to work for adults in the fishing industry, where they descale and smoke fish, collect wood and clean. 

However some children have been freed from slavery at Lake Volta before. In 2020, IJM Ghana worked and local authorities rescued 71 survivors of trafficking, arrested 40 perpetrators and made three convictions. 

In one scenario, the rescue of a boy called Jeffrey, who told investigators the names of other children in the same position and went back and identified them for police, lead to the freedom of several other children. 

IJM is urging people to think about how their own lifestyle might cross paths with slavery unintentionally through their Lent campaign 'Make #slavefree Normal'.

Zoe said the coronavirus pandemic has also not helped the worldwide trafficking situation: "The more people who are losing their livelihoods, the more people that are vulnerable to being tricked and trapped by traffickers. We believe that this is why this song is so important, to inspire people to become part of the move of justice and to join us in what God is doing."

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