Hong Kong denounces “totally unfair” and “ill-conceived” degradation of US report on human trafficking

Hong Kong has criticized the United States' decision to downgrade the city in its annual report on human trafficking, calling it “totally unfair, ill-conceived and unsupported by facts.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the government said the US State Department's human trafficking report placed Hong Kong on a watch list for its failure to demonstrate increased efforts to combat the act.

“Trafficking in Persons (TIP) has never been a widespread problem in Hong Kong,” a government spokesperson said.

“There is no indication that Hong Kong is actively used by unions as a destination or transit point for migrants. [human trafficking].”

The US State Department downgraded Hong Kong from Tier 2 last year to Tier 2 on the watch list released Monday local time.

The report lists five tier rankings in descending order: Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 2 Watchlist, Tier 3, and Special Cases.

Residents of countries or regions listed under Tier 1 are least likely to be trafficked to another location, while those listed under special cases are most at risk.

The other 31 countries on the Tier 2 Watch List include Laos, Nepal, Zimbabwe and Uruguay.

Mainland China and Macau are at Level 3, a rating that indicates no significant efforts have been made to combat human trafficking.

Even though governments in Tier 2 countries are not fully meeting the minimum standards outlined in the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act, “significant efforts” have been made to come into compliance with these criteria, according to the report .

Countries are downgraded to the Tier 2 watch list if the estimated number of human trafficking victims is large or if authorities are unable to demonstrate increased efforts have been made.

The city was upgraded to Tier 2 last year for its increasing investigations and prosecutions of traffickers, after being on the watch list for three consecutive years.

The government said it carried out around 11,000 initial checks in 2023 on people vulnerable to trafficking, including illegal immigrants, sex workers, illegal workers, foreign domestic workers and imported workers, representing an increase by 45% compared to 2022.

“It should be noted that our increased anti-trafficking efforts and increased number of checks resulted in the identification of only three victims, showing that [human trafficking] is not a widespread or widespread problem in Hong Kong,” the spokesperson said.

“It is unfounded and unfair to question our determination to fight [human trafficking] and the quality of our screenings due solely to the low number of victims identified.

The government also criticized “unsubstantiated remarks” in the report on the lack of composite trafficking legislation in Hong Kong.

The spokesperson said the legislative framework, which has more than 50 legal provisions targeting human trafficking, provides a “comprehensive set of safeguards” comparable to other jurisdictions.

“There is no indication that the effectiveness of our anti-trafficking efforts has been compromised in any way without composite trafficking legislation. »

The State Department has not yet released the full report.