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Emerging evidence indicates that some Chinese are engaged in trafficking their compatriots into Ghana to force them to work in illegal gold mining camps to pay for their fare to Ghana. Among their modus operandi is that the traffickers apply for work permit for the Chinese entering the country, often describing them as construction workers in non-existent real estate companies and others as tourists. The patrons then seize the passports of their arriving compatriots and move them to the mining camps, mostly in the Western Region, to work as labourers. Sources at the Minerals Commission told the Daily Graphic that since the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and the Ministry of the Interior were also responsible for recommending visitors for work/resident permits to the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS), the Chinese patrons had started using that as a channel to traffic their compatriots into the country. According to the sources, anytime some of the trafficked Chinese were arrested in the camps, accusing fingers were pointed at the commission, although staff of the commission were not permitted to enter those illegal mines. It said at the moment one Chinese firm had been granted permit in the Northern Region as a mine support service provider. Daily Graphic investigations have also shown that trafficked Chinese are mainly concentrated in camps located in the Amenfi East, West and Central, as well as the Prestea, Enchi and Mpohor, districts of the Western Region. The investigations also established that some of the Chinese take advantage of the country�s porous borders to traffic their compatriots through unapproved routes on the west and the east. They then connive with local people and sneak through in the night to the camps. The Western Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Kofi Boakye, told the Daily Graphic that some illegal Chinese miners who were recently arrested and screened had permits that did not allow them to work in the mines. He said some had no entry visas at all, while others came under the pretext of providing one service or another in the mining sector but ended up mounting huge machines in forest reserves to do serious mining. When contacted, the Head of Public Relations at the GIS, Mr Francis Palmdeti, said the passports of some Chinese were often not found on them anytime they were arrested, reports Emmanuel Bonney. He said it was in the course of investigations that �you have someone coming with their passports�. He said it could be that the passports were held by those who had brought their compatriots into the country until the new arrivals performed the task for which they had been brought in. Mr Palmdeti said the GIS had started looking at the issue of human trafficking, adding that �although it has not been established, we cannot rule that out�. Checks at the GIPC, however, landed the Daily Graphic in a cul-de-sac, as Mr Tom Quarshie, the Public Relations Officer, asked this reporter to write to the chief executive officer of the centre for an official response on the matter.