Beijing’s foreign affairs office and Hong Kong on Friday rebutted a US report criticising anti-human-trafficking measures in the city despite an improved rating, with state authorities accusing Washington of using human rights as a “tool of stigmatisation”.

In the annual Trafficking in Persons Report released on Thursday by the US State Department, Hong Kong was upgraded to Tier 2 after being placed on a watchlist in the same category for three years.

Efforts cited for Hong Kong’s upgrade included an increase in investigations and prosecutions of traffickers, more victims being identified, the designation of a cyber hotline targeting employment scams, as well as the promotion of public awareness on overseas employment scams.

However, the report remained critical of what it said were Hong Kong’s inadequate measures to protect foreign domestic helpers. It also pointed to the national security law in claiming civil groups were muted in engaging with authorities on human trafficking.

A spokesman for Beijing’s foreign affairs office in Hong Kong on Friday expressed firm opposition in a statement, accusing the report of maliciously slandering China with political prejudice and using human rights as a “tool of stigmatisation”.

“We urge the US to change its course, stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and China’s internal affairs in any form and under any pretext, and stop maliciously slandering the rule of law and human rights in Hong Kong,” the spokesman warned.

The Hong Kong government said it “strongly disapproves of and firmly rejects the unsubstantiated remarks”, adding that human trafficking was never a prevalent problem and there were no signs pointing to the city being used by syndicates as a destination or transit point.

“Ignoring our efforts and achievements solely because we adopt a multi-legislation approach to tackle human trafficking seriously calls into question the credibility and objectivity of the US report,” the city government said.

The US report stated: “In 2022, the [Hong Kong] government initiated 114 trafficking investigations, 64 cases of sex trafficking, 46 cases of labour trafficking, and three cases of unspecified forms of trafficking, compared with initiating one labour trafficking investigation and no sex trafficking investigations in the previous reporting period.”

It added however that “the [Hong Kong] government allowed employers and labour recruiters to charge recruitment fees to migrant workers, and it did not adequately enforce limits on such fees, passport retention, and other practices that increase trafficking risks”. The report also claimed some domestic workers became “victims of debt bondage and domestic servitude”.

The national security law was again cited as a factor, along with “increased restrictions to freedom of expression”, that made civil society organisations more cautious in engaging with the authorities on human trafficking and other matters.

The report recommended that the city enact legislation to criminalise all forms of trafficking and increase protections for foreign helpers, such as affording such workers an option to live outside their place of employment.

According to the report, while governments of Tier 2 countries do not fully meet the minimum standards stated in the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act, “significant efforts” have been made to bring themselves into compliance with the benchmark.

Countries would be downgraded to the Tier 2 Watch List if the estimated number of human-trafficking victims is significant or if authorities are unable to show evidence that increasing efforts have been made.

There are a total of 106 Tier 2 jurisdictions in this year’s report, including Bangladesh, Japan and Romania. Mainland China and Macau are listed in Tier 3, the lowest rating indicating that no significant efforts have been made to combat human trafficking.

The Hong Kong government on Friday argued domestic helpers were offered statutory protection and “additional benefits” in the government-prescribed contracts, while the “live-in” rule reflected the policy priority that employment should be given to the local workforce.

“Exploitation of foreign domestic helpers is never tolerated in Hong Kong… [Helpers] abused or exploited should not feel inhibited from lodging complaints against their employers,” a spokesman added.

The city government also slammed the report’s remarks about the national security law for being “nothing but sheer political smears against Hong Kong”.

Legal experts and analysts in the city have called for tougher laws to combat human-trafficking scams after dozens of Hongkongers were ensnared in fake employment and romance traps in Southeast Asia last year when international travel began to resume.

Michelle Wong Siu-woon, programme manager of STOP, said the human trafficking concern group was pleased that Hong Kong last year had been able to identify more victims and that local authorities had recognised how such activities could affect residents.

But she added that the government currently struggled to screen for potential victims of domestic sex trafficking and criminal exploitation, as well as those forced to work as drug mules.

Wong also called for bespoke legislation that could better equip local authorities to combat human trafficking. “We are looking forward to systematic changes in anti-trafficking efforts from the government.”

Police stepped up education efforts on employment scam awareness last summer after receiving requests for help from victims’ families in the first half of 2022. The government said on Friday that 31 city residents and one foreigner were identified last year as victims of employment fraud in Southeast Asian countries.

In February this year, police also arrested a 69-year-old woman nicknamed “Queen of Temple Street”, the alleged ringleader of a syndicate that lured Thai women into the city with bogus job offers and then induced them into becoming sex workers in Yau Ma Tei. Two victims were rescued.

https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3224284/beijing-and-hong-kong-hit-out-us-report-criticising-citys-anti-human-trafficking-bid-despite

Category: Hong Kong