Anas Aremeyaw Anas

A secretive investigative Journalist from Ghana, Anas Aremeyaw Anas helped to bring down two major human trafficking rings in Ghana in 2007 and 2008.

From a young age, Anas Aremeyaw Anas was interested in journalism, and theatrics. He joined an independent Newspaper in Ghana, and began furnishing his reputation as a crusader about certain social issues with a unique style of undercover investigative journalism that crossed almost into the line of private investigation. In fact, he created a private investigation service several years later. Very few people have seen his face, and often he appears in interviews or pictures in disguise or masked. In 2006 he broke several stories, one about street hawkers and corruption, and another about a food factory that used maggot-infested flour. In 2007, he began investigating human trafficking in Ghana. He went undercover for eight months, recording many different interactions with the people within the trafficking rings. His investigation uncovered corruption in immigration officials, who were accepting bribes for fake passports and visas. He also discovered the ways in which the traffickers would transport their victims. That same ring attempted to transport girls to Europe for prostitution, and, as a result of Mr. Anas’ investigations, the police were able to rescue 17 Nigerian victims. The second ring he uncovered was involved in the trafficking of children for sexual exploitation. He went undercover into the brothel, and amassed enough information that the police were able to conduct a raid and rescue a number of minor victims of sex trafficking.

In 2008, he was honored as a "TIP Report Hero Acting to End Modern Slavery" in recognition of his efforts to combat human trafficking. Since then, he has continued to report on various social issues, and to utilize his investigative skills to uncover injustice and corruption in various parts of Africa. In 2014, his investigative journalism brought him back to the issue of human trafficking, and he was able to uncover and expose the trafficking of Vietnamese women to a city in Ghana. Most recently, Anas Aremeyaw Anas has been making waves because of his expose on judicial corruption in Ghana. Over 20 judges were suspended, including seven high court judges. Although threats have been made on his life and and the life of his family, he continues to be a brave example of investigative journalism no matter what the cost.

In the 2014 TIP Report, Ghana was listed as Tier 2 country. It is a source, destination, and transit country for both forced labor and sex trafficking. Child prostitution is common in the region of Lake Volta, as is child labor. Sex trafficking in and out of Ghana is still a problem, and forced labor is prevalent in parts of the country. Although the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit still attempts to vigorously combat this issue, the government of Ghana provides them with little to no funding to do so.