Twenty-two people accused of trafficking or exploiting children were also arrested. The children, aged 5 to 16, came from Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso as well as northern Cote d'Ivoire. They were freed in an operation from the 1st of June to the 6th in the country's western cocoa belt of San Pedro. An official from the International Organisation for Migration says care centres have been set-up in the area to give the children medical and psychological assistance.

--REUTERS--