1,055 Street Beggars Removed From Accra, Kumasi Streets – GIS
The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has removed 1,055 West African nationals from the streets of Accra and Kumasi in an intelligence-led operation targeting organised street begging and suspected human trafficking networks.
The operation, conducted in the early hours of Saturday, August 29, focused on rescuing vulnerable persons and disrupting networks allegedly using street begging to traffic, control and exploit foreign nationals, particularly women and children.
The exercise covered several identified hotspots in Accra and Kumasi, where officers captured more than 1,000 West African nationals.
According to the GIS, some Ghanaian nationals were also apprehended on suspicion of acting as local agents for the alleged exploitative begging networks.
The operation resulted in the apprehension of 1,055 persons, comprising 662 children, 248 women and 145 men.
The GIS said the situation reflected what it described as a growing pattern in which children are trafficked and placed on the streets to solicit money from the public.
The service said its intelligence-led approach was intended not only to enforce immigration laws but also to identify and protect individuals who may have been victims of trafficking or other forms of exploitation.
In the Greater Accra Region, the operation targeted a number of locations identified as hotspots for organised street begging.
These included Abossey Okai, Sabon Zongo, Madina Zongo Junction, Madina, Ashaiman and Tema.
In the Ashanti Region, GIS officers conducted operations in several parts of the Kumasi Metropolis, including Asawase, Alabar, Akwatia Line, Dagomba Line, Sabon Zongo, Airport Junction and Aboabo.
The service said the coordinated nature of the operation was intended to disrupt networks operating across different locations rather than simply remove individual beggars from the streets.
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