American views on local human trafficking refuted

The government has said it disagrees with the views expressed by the U.S. State Department’s annual Trafficking in Persons report, which was released on Tuesday.
The Secretary for Security’s Office issued a statement yesterday stressing that, “[the] considerations and conclusions included in the report do not reflect Macau’s reality.”
Furthermore, the government argued that the United States’ views on human trafficking in Macau are based on assumptions and unsubstantiated facts.
“The Macau government has paid great attention to the human trafficking matter, having set up the Human Trafficking Deterrent Measures Concern Committee. The committee has been following up on international policies to actively prevent and combat all criminal activity related to human trafficking,” it said.
The office added that through the committee, different interdepartmental groups have been created to protect victims and ensure a close relationship with non-governmental organizations. They stated that this has had a positive impact in combating “the human trafficking phenomenon.”
“The security authorities reiterate their zero-tolerance approach to human trafficking. A set of measures has been implemented to prevent such crimes, while we maintain a close collaboration with countries or neighboring regions in terms of law enforcement.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. State Department released its annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, which evaluates 188 countries on their efforts to combat modern-day slavery.
The report stated that Macau remains a source territory for sex trafficking and forced labor, despite governmental efforts to combat related activity.
According to the report, Macau authorities convicted six traffickers in 2014 but failed to identify any trafficking victims.
Furthermore, the report found that authorities prosecuted cases under “procuring of prostitution” instead of human trafficking. Procuring of prostitution is easier to prove in court but carries lighter sentences than the anti-trafficking law.
“Authorities reported pursuing three investigations regarding fraudulent employment offers, but the trafficking nexus was not made clear. For the 10th consecutive year, authorities did not report any prosecutions or convictions for labor trafficking,” the report said.
Macau was ranked a Tier 2 country, the second lowest in the department’s annual report on trafficking in persons.
The U.S. State Department ranks countries that strive to fight human trafficking. Countries with stringent anti-trafficking practices and low trafficking rates are placed in Tier 1. Tier 2 includes a Watch List for countries in danger of plunging into Tier 3, which consists of countries with the highest human trafficking rates.
This year’s report also ranked China on the Tier 2 Watch List, asserting that the country remains “a source, destination and point of transit for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.”