Gov’t opposes US human trafficking report

The government has rejected the United States’ decision to place the territory in the lowest tier of its 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report, calling the assessment politically biased and a misrepresentation of its record in combating human trafficking.

The government’s response followed the U.S. State Department’s report maintaining Macau’s Tier 3 ranking.

According to the State Department report, a Tier 3 designation applies to governments that do not fully meet the minimum standards established under the U.S. Trafficking Victims Protection Act and are not making significant efforts to comply with those standards.

The US Department states that the assessment considers law enforcement, prosecutions, victim identification and protection, prevention measures, and public awareness, not the scale of trafficking alone.

In its statement, the government said it “established the Human Trafficking Deterrent Measures Concern Committee in 2007 and enacted Law No. 6/2008, Combat the Crime of Trafficking in Persons, the following year.”

It also noted that the “Human Trafficking Deterrent Measures Concern Committee” has several working groups and actively coordinates efforts across government departments on prevention campaigns, personnel training, criminal investigations, and victim protection and accommodation.

The government states that reported trafficking cases in Macau have remained low in recent years, with no cases recorded during some periods, and adds, “A review of the United States’ so-called Report reveals that it deliberately conflates cases involving ordinary crimes, labor disputes, and other matters with human trafficking activities.”

“Instead of accurately reflecting Macau’s efforts and achievements in preventing and combating human trafficking, the United States continues to openly denigrate the Macau SAR’s human rights situation, judicial system, and commitment to the rule of law through descriptions riddled with falsehoods and bias of various kinds,” the government statement reads.

Macau has also rejected the report’s suggestion that authorities failed to identify victims or made erroneous judgments during investigations, reaffirming that officials examine whether individuals were subjected to acts against their will and maintain “zero tolerance for any form of exploitation.”

The State Department’s 2026 report placed Macau in Tier 3 alongside jurisdictions such as Afghanistan, China, Iran, Russia, Belarus, Burma, Cambodia, Chad, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Hong Kong, Laos, Nicaragua, South Sudan, Sudan, Sint Maarten, and Venezuela.

A Tier 3 ranking can also expose jurisdictions to potential restrictions on certain U.S. assistance and exchange programs, although any measures remain subject to presidential decisions.

As the Times previously reported, based on information from the Secretariat for Security, there was a record of an alleged human trafficking case in Macau during the first half of this year. However, the Office of the Secretary for Security told the Times it cannot disclose any details about the case due to “judicial confidentiality proceedings.”

The case was reported in mid-July, during a press conference on the activities of the security forces and law enforcement, when data revealed that between January and June, there was one detected case of “human trafficking for the purpose of slavery.”

This figure contrasts with the zero cases reported in 2025.