Ghanaian children wrongly taken in raids backed by US charity IJM

A BBC Africa Eye probe has raised superior concerns astir 1 of the world's starring anti-slavery organisations and their West African operations. In Ghana, multimillion-dollar foundation International Justice Mission aims to rescue trafficked children and reunite them with their families.

However, the BBC has recovered grounds of IJM wrongly identifying immoderate children arsenic trafficking victims. This has resulted successful the authorities taking immoderate children into attraction utilizing force, and the prosecution of their families.

A small aft midnight connected 6 September, 2022, Musah Mustafa emerged from his thatched-roof hut to relieve himself and saw 4 cars speeding towards his tiny village.

Mogyigna was hardly a village. With conscionable a fistful of household homes and 2 twelve radical successful total, it was much similar a dot successful the mediate of an expanse of farmland successful bluish Ghana. Cars were a uncommon show during the day, fto unsocial astatine night. Musah hid down a histrion and watched. When helium saw equipped men from the cars attack the 2 homes, helium shouted successful an effort to aftermath the different residents.

But earlier anyone could act, the men entered the huts and forcibly removed 4 children, carrying an 11-year-old miss called Fatima by her arms and legs from the country wherever she had been sleeping with her grandparents.

A weapon pointed astatine her neck, Fatima's grandma Sana pleaded with the men. She did not recognize wherefore the children were being taken away. Two of the children's uncles were besides taken. Sana feared she would ne'er spot her relatives again.

In the eyes of Mogyigna's villagers, a convulsive kidnapping had taken place.

But this was not a kidnapping.

Officially, it was a rescue cognition carried retired by Ghanaian constabulary officers, nether Ghana's Human Trafficking Act. The children were transferred into the attraction of societal services.

The cognition was instigated by IJM.

With astir $100m (£78m) successful backing annually implicit the past 2 years, IJM is 1 of the world's starring anti-trafficking organisations.

In the UK, IJM says it tin number connected the enactment of astir 300 churches, and much than £220,000 ($280,000) was raised past twelvemonth from churches and different donors by IJM UK to enactment activities successful Ghana.

But according to our investigation, IJM has removed immoderate children from their families successful cases wherever determination was scarce-to-no grounds of trafficking and this assertive attack whitethorn person been fuelled by a target-driven civilization wrong IJM.

We recovered 2 documented cases of rescue operations successful which children were forcibly, traumatically and unjustly removed and the children's relatives prosecuted arsenic kid traffickers. One of the cases was Fatima's.

In Ghana, IJM focuses connected rescuing children who person been trafficked to enactment arsenic enslaved labourers connected Lake Volta, 1 of the world's largest man-made lakes.

About 300,000 radical beryllium connected the water for their livelihoods, and children enactment successful the section sportfishing manufacture nether varying degrees of exploitation: immoderate enactment their families successful fishing, others are hired to enactment nether vessel masters for small oregon nary pay.

There is precise small autarkic information connected however pervasive the child-trafficking occupation is connected Lake Volta. A 2016 survey by IJM indicated that much than fractional of each children moving connected the water were victims of trafficking.

In 2015, the foundation began rescuing children who were spotted successful canoes connected the lake, but successful 2018 it switched to nighttime raids of on-shore locations wherever children were said to beryllium kept overnight.

The raid that nighttime successful the colony of Mogyigna was 1 specified mission. It was dubbed Operation Hilltop.

Africa Eye began investigating IJM aft becoming alert of concerns implicit their enactment successful Ghana and placed an undercover newsman connected the unit astatine the charity.

As Operation Hilltop unfolded, we were capable to show what unit were saying to each different connected an IJM WhatsApp group. We besides gained entree to societal services' documents relating to the case, giving Africa Eye an unprecedented penetration into the planning, execution and aftermath of the IJM's rescue mission.

That grounds shows that portion IJM was telling their partners successful some the constabulary unit and societal services that the 4 children had been trafficked, internally the foundation had reached a antithetic conclusion.

An IJM ineligible serviceman said successful an interior connection sent aft the raid that the foundation had already concluded determination were "no elements of trafficking" successful the lawsuit of Fatima and 2 of the different children taken that nighttime from Mogyigna. Only 1 of the 4 cases, Fatima's relative Mohammed, included elements of trafficking, according to the ineligible serviceman - a decision that is disputed by Mohammed's family.

But the ngo to region each 4 children, aged betwixt 5 and 11, went up anyhow due to the fact that IJM concluded the children were astatine hazard of being utilized for kid labour, an contented that, though serious, would not person merited specified an assertive raid.

The interior messages said that arsenic the children were not successful schoolhouse and "working betwixt the hours the instrumentality states they should not work, and deprived of bully wellness past determination was a request to rescue them [as they were] being utilized for the purposes of kid labour".

Fatima and the different 3 children were housed astatine an IJM-partner shelter, separated from their relatives for much than 4 months, earlier an probe by Ghanaian societal services concluded the children had not been trafficked and they should beryllium reunited with their families.

Fatima is present backmost successful the village, nether the attraction of her grandma Sana, portion Mohammed's begetter decided the lad should unrecorded elsewhere, arsenic did the begetter of the different 2 children.

When Africa Eye visited Mogyigna, 5 months aft the rescue, villagers determination told america they were blessed the children had been returned, but they said the after-effects of Operation Hilltop were inactive being felt.

Fatima said that she was acrophobic the BBC squad had travel to instrumentality her distant again.

"I was terrified and I started crying," the 11-year-old said astir the nighttime of Operation Hilltop. "I thought they were taking america distant to termination us. We didn't cognize wherever they were taking us."

While successful the structure she thought her "grandmother, grandfather, uncles had died".

"When I was taken away, I cried a batch portion reasoning astir my family," she added.

Fatima's uncles, Nantogma Abukari and Sayibu Alhassan, were arrested during the operation.

They were prosecuted connected charges of kid trafficking and kid labour and spent each their savings to be tribunal and bail hearings. Every instrumentality travel to tribunal outgo them much than 1,500 Ghana cedis ($132; £104) successful question - the equivalent of astir 2 months' work.

Prosecutions are an indispensable portion of IJM's anti-slavery model, arsenic the foundation argues they service arsenic a deterrent. Court documents amusement that an IJM lawyer stood successful for the authorities authoritative successful 1 of the tribunal hearings.

The uncles' lawsuit was yet dropped and their names cleared, but it continues to canine them. Some members of their household nary longer talk to them, they said, driven by a suspicion that they had "colluded" successful immoderate mode "with the radical who took the children away".

Responding to the BBC's inquiries astir Fatima's case, IJM maintained that its ngo had successfully relocated the 4 children with their fathers to a safer location.

During Africa Eye's probe into Operation Hilltop, a 2nd problematic rescue came to our attention. A 2019 cognition had removed a lad and his sibling from their household and led to the children's mother, Mawusi Amlade, being sentenced to 5 years successful situation for kid trafficking.

The astir achy facet of prison, Ms Amlade said, was to beryllium separated from her children, unsure astir what had happened to them.

"I had nary thought wherever my children had been taken, I kept reasoning astir them, much than thing else," she told Africa Eye.

Two years later, successful a bizarre crook of events, Ms Amlade's condemnation was quashed aft an involution by different US NGO, the Sudreau Global Justice Institute - a spouse of IJM.

Sudreau not lone freed Ms Amlade done an entreaty process, but besides advertised her lawsuit successful a fundraising run arsenic a miscarriage of justice.

In an Instagram station that was aboriginal deleted, Sudreau's authoritative relationship described Ms Amlade arsenic a "mother of 2 falsely convicted of a superior crime".

Four years on, Ms Amlade has inactive not been reunited with her children.

Sudreau told the BBC that it acted independently from IJM, contempt the partnership, and that determination was nary struggle of interest.

In a statement, IJM said that it "does not determine whether a imaginable kid trafficking lawsuit is pursued oregon whether immoderate idiosyncratic is arrested oregon prosecuted with offences".

The undercover Africa Eye newsman joined respective conversations that whitethorn assistance explicate what was going incorrect successful a foundation whose ngo was to assistance the poor.

In a secretly filmed speech with a elder IJM unit member, the newsman was told IJM unit needed to rescue a acceptable fig of victims and unafraid a acceptable fig of prosecutions each year. Another unit subordinate said that IJM unit were denied wage rises oregon were astatine hazard of being sacked if they did not scope these targets.

In a abstracted conversation, the newsman asked an IJM researcher what would hap if unit connected a ngo were incapable to instrumentality the children away. "We can't accidental we didn't get adjacent one, we request to get some," the unit subordinate replied.

Dr Sam Okyere, a elder lecturer from the University of Bristol who worked connected Lake Volta conducting tract probe into kid rescue operations, reviewed the secretly recorded conversations and expressed concerns astir the evident target-driven culture.

He told the BBC that jobs astatine IJM are good paid and sought after.

"The fearfulness of losing a coveted presumption would mean that radical would spell the other mile to conscionable the targets," Dr Okyere said.

With respect to the claims of a target-driven culture, the foundation said: "IJM Ghana sets targets successful bid to measure interaction truthful that we tin supply the astir effectual enactment to authorities to halt kid trafficking."

IJM denied that unit were penalised if they failed to conscionable targets.

It said the charity's Ghana's squad was "led and staffed by Ghanaian nationals who enactment the Ghanaian authorities to bring trafficked children to safety, assistance reconstruct survivors' carnal and intelligence wellbeing, and halt those liable for illegally exploiting children".

It added: "Our attack ever has the payment of the kid astatine its core. The 76 operations that IJM Ghana has supported person led to hundreds of children being brought to information by the Ghanaian authorities."

IJM has released cinematic promotional videos for its enactment successful Ghana. In one, actors play retired the affectional infinitesimal erstwhile a lad is reunited with his gramps aft being rescued from the lake. In its selling material, the accumulation institution which made the video said it helped rise astir $1.25m successful donations to IJM.

But erstwhile Fatima, a existent kid with existent radical caring for her, was allowed backmost to her village, determination was nary specified embrace.

Fatima's grandfather, who had watched arsenic equipped men burst into his location and took his granddaughter away, died portion she was successful the shelter.

"My gramps was precise loving, helium utilized to springiness america gifts," Fatima said. "When I came back, I was crying and wondering, since my gramps has near us, wherever would we spot him again?"

Additional reporting by Yahaya Masahudu and Aliaume Leroy

You tin ticker the full film connected the BBC Africa YouTube channel.