Over one thousand children are living as slaves on the banks of Ghana's Volta Lake, being used as free labour by local fishermen.

The victims, mostly boys aged between 5 and 14, are forced to work from dawn to dusk casting and drawing nets. They live separately in cramped thatched roofed huts, are poorly fed, suffer physical abuse and never get paid. Their diet consists mainly of cassava (manioc) with watery soup. They are never given fish. Because of their poor diet, harsh living and working conditions, many suffer from water-borne illnesses and experience stunted growth.

In one location alone, an island in the middle of Lake Volta, dozens of slave children are marooned in "Accra Town", a fishing settlement with no electricity or running water. In this settlement, the International Organization of Migration has collected testimonies that at least five children have recently drowned trying to release nets snagged on the bottom of the lake.

The IOM's Ernest Taylor is working with the local community to try and get the children freed and reunited with their families. To date over 800 children have been registered.

Read Dr Ernest Taylor's description of how the IOM discovered the problem and the IOM's latest progress report 2003.