Hotel staff report cases of children left alone, authorities claim unawareness

Authorities and tourism experts say they are unaware of children being left alone in hotel rooms in Macau, even as hotel staff report that such incidents happen frequently, often daily, the Times was informed.

Some children, including toddlers as young as two or three, have been found unattended; yet the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) and a Macau Hoteliers & Innkeepers Association representative said they are unaware of any such cases.

At the same time, a tourism scholar from the University of Macau said he did not have any insights to provide on the matter.

Still, according to several hotel staff members employed in different hotel units in Macau, such cases happen regularly and on a daily basis.

According to the same staff members employed in housekeeping and security jobs, there have been many cases, namely in the Cotai area, where hotel staff find children left alone in hotel rooms while performing their everyday tasks.

“In some cases, they are really young, like around two to three years old,” a hotel staff member told The Times under the condition of anonymity.

A different hotel staff member also acknowledged that security staff are often called to situations involving young children left unattended and in distress inside hotel rooms.

Security staff are often called to try to locate the parents or guardians of these children, and he mentioned that “they are usually found in the casino, playing.”

In their reply, the IAS said, “In the last five years, the IAS has not received any reports or referrals regarding the abandonment of children by tourists in hotel rooms,” adding, “The IAS and the family services institutions have paid attention to the issue of child abandonment. When they become aware of a case of abandonment, they immediately intervene, assess the family’s situation, and provide the necessary support to guarantee the children appropriate protection and care.”

Additionally, IAS said that anyone who becomes aware of a case of child abandonment “should immediately contact IAS or family services institutions for support, or call the 24-hour hotline for support for victims of domestic violence, 2823 3030.”

The same bureau added that when children are found in immediate danger, people who learn about the situation “should report it immediately to the police.”

Despite these rules and guidelines, which some hotel staff members told the Times they are aware of, hotel internal regulations call on staff not to report these cases to the authorities but to report them to the hotel’s security staff and handle them internally.

In at least one case, one of the children found alone in a hotel room in Cotai told the staff that they were hungry and had no food in the room, prompting the staff to downplay the issue following the authorization of a duty manager.

In other cases, older children often watch movies or play electronic games. Sometimes, security staff are also called to intervene when older children leave the room and struggle to return to their room on their own.

Recently, a case sparked concerns from society after a four- to five-year-old boy fell from a kitchen window and suffered intracranial bleeding after feeling scared while left alone at home.
The incident that occurred late last month led to the arrest of his mother and an Indonesian domestic helper on accusations of abandonment. This happened despite the domestic helper informing the mother of her intention to leave the child alone at home and being authorized by the parent to do so.

Hotel staff who reported the cases told the Times they are concerned about potential consequences if something were to happen to the children. Still, they claim a contractual duty to follow the company’s rules and keep the report on the cases as an internal matter only and not report them to the authorities.

According to information provided by the Judiciary Police on the case, this was the third time the boy had been left home alone, with the initial instance occurring in August of last year.