A lot of Chinese prostitutes are being trafficked to Ghana to service expatriate communities in the country, the Enslavement Protection Alliance West Africa (EPAWA) investigations reveal.

The Accra-based Non-Governmental Organisation told Citi News victims are recruited under the guise of working as restaurant assistants. They are then confined and forced to provide sexual services.

The Executive Director of EPAWA, Tatiana Kotlyarenko said their research shows the practice is more prevalent in the mining areas of the country.

“They are deceived and brought here under wrong consent,” she stated. “None of them really know that they are coming here to do that. ”

"The thing is that they are generally given the impression that they have an indentured labour so when they are brought here, they are forced to do this.

“They are beaten, their passports are taken away, they do not speak the language, their families are threatened and they are told that they owe huge amounts of money that they have to work off,” Kotlyarenko added.

“They are not really paid. After they have worked for a certain amount of time for a year for free, and might be getting a little bit of this money put away. ”