US downgrades Hong Kong to 'watch list' over response to human trafficking

Hong Kong has been downgraded to a “watch list” over its response to human trafficking, with the US government saying security laws enacted in the city in 2020 and March had restricted NGOs' ability to work with authorities to combat trafficking.

The “2024 Trafficking in Persons Report: Hong Kong,” released Monday by the U.S. State Department, drew swift objections from the city government in a lengthy statement released in the early hours of Tuesday.

“We vehemently oppose and firmly reject the unfounded and false remarks contained in the report against the situation in Hong Kong. Trafficking in Persons (TIP) is never a widespread problem in Hong Kong,” a government spokesperson said in the statement. “The report’s conclusions are unfounded. Hong Kong's rating at Level 2 (watch list) is completely unfair, ill-conceived and unsupported by facts.

See also: Hong Kong fails to meet US standards for combating human trafficking

The report notes that the Hong Kong government “continues to publicly deny that trafficking is a widespread crime in Hong Kong, despite continued anti-trafficking efforts by government officials and NGOs.”

He highlighted a government anti-trafficking steering committee headed by the chief secretary for administration and an inter-ministerial task force headed by the Security Bureau. Additionally, the report highlights that HK$77 million was allocated for the continued implementation of a 2018 anti-trafficking action plan in the city's 2024-25 budget, up from HK$62 million of Hong Kong dollars during the previous financial year.

However, since the enactment of a national security law imposed by Beijing in June 2020, which criminalizes secession, subversion, foreign collusion and terrorism, the report states that “NGOs and other civil society organizations have said they were more cautious in their engagement with the government, including on human trafficking.

It continues: “Similarly, after the promulgation on March 23, 2024 of the National Security Safeguarding Ordinance under Article 23 of the Basic Law of Hong Kong, civil society organizations began to report similar restrictions. »

In response, the government spokesperson said the two security laws “clearly state that human rights must be respected and protected as part of safeguarding national security.”

More screenings, fewer victims

Improvements seen in Hong Kong include an increase in screenings of vulnerable populations, from 7,576 in 2022 to 10,989 in 2023. However, these screenings identified only three victims last year, compared to 31 trafficking victims. labor and a victim of labor trafficking. sex trafficking in 2022.

According to the report, “the government did not provide services to any victims.”

The government spokesperson said the identification of only three victims “demonstrates that human trafficking is not a widespread problem in Hong Kong.” It is unfounded and unfair to question our determination to combat human trafficking and the quality of our controls simply because of the low number of victims thus identified.”

The implementation of the screening mechanism was described as “ineffective and inconsistent” in the report, noting that no victims from vulnerable populations, such as migrant domestic workers, were identified. Additionally, he said those involved in the selection process “lacked understanding of the psychological trauma associated with trafficking.”

“NGOs reported that law enforcement made efforts to improve their interview procedures and provide breaks and basic amenities to potential victims, but law enforcement often did not use a trauma-informed approach to interviewing potential victims during the identification process, which exacerbated victims' emotional distress. “, we read in the report.

Hong Kong authorities have also been criticized for failing to convict traffickers, instead preferring to penalize “trafficking victims through arrest and deportation for immigration, drug and sexual offenses committed in direct consequence of trafficking.

“High-risk” migrant domestic workers

The report described migrant domestic workers as “at high risk of trafficking,” adding that there were not enough safeguards in place to protect them.

The government, for its part, declared that it “always attaches great importance to the protection [migrant domestic workers] in Hong Kong, which has some 360,000 inhabitants.”

Among the recommendations included in the report were several measures that domestic workers' rights advocates have spent decades lobbying for: “Increase protections for foreign domestic workers, including banning recruitment fees charged to workers, permanently eliminating the “two-week rule” granting workers the possibility of living outside their workplace and the creation of a legal maximum working time.

According to the government spokesperson, the two-week rule “aims to allow sufficient time for [migrant domestic workers] to prepare for their departure,” adding that this did not prevent domestic workers from returning to Hong Kong to work.

“Exploitation of [migrant domestic workers] is never tolerated in Hong Kong,” the spokesperson continued, adding that migrant domestic workers who have been “mistreated or exploited should not feel prevented from filing complaints against their employers.”

There have been a number of high-profile cases of domestic workers being mistreated by their employers in Hong Kong, with some – like the one involving Erwiana – making international headlines. Excessive agency fees also remain widespread according to unions, with Indonesian domestic workers among the worst victims.

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