China News Agency, Hong Kong, June 26. The US Department of State recently issued the "2020 Report on Human Trafficking in the United States", claiming that the Hong Kong SAR government’s efforts to eliminate human trafficking have not reached the minimum standards, and the enforcement of anti-human trafficking has also been reduced, and Ranked Hong Kong as the second level (watch list). A spokesman for the SAR Government strongly objected to this on the 26th and said that the report's conclusions are weak, with serious prejudice and lack of evidence to support it.
The spokesman said that the report referred to allegations made by unnamed persons or groups, but did not provide any specific case details. Many of the analyses in the report seem to be based only on rumors, and the basis for their conclusions is weak. It can be seen that Hong Kong's ranking as the second level (monitoring list) is clearly based on serious prejudice and lack of evidence. The SAR Government refuses to accept the conclusions and ratings reached in such sloppy and biased ways.
The spokesman added that Hong Kong has always taken a proactive and multi-pronged approach to combat human trafficking in all aspects. In 2019, various relevant departments (including the Police Department, Immigration Department, Hong Kong Customs and Labour Department) conducted a total of more than 7,500 initial identification audits of victims of human trafficking.
The spokesman said that in Hong Kong, only a very small number and proportion of people are identified as victims, confirming that trafficking in persons has never been a widespread problem, and there has never been any indication that criminal groups have used Hong Kong as a destination or transit for human trafficking station. It is irresponsible to object to this statement but fail to provide any substantive evidence, so that the report is reduced to allegations made out of thin air. It is extremely unfair and illogical to use such positive results to attack Hong Kong’s deficiencies in combating human trafficking.
The spokesman emphasized that Hong Kong will not condone such serious crimes as trafficking in human beings. Hong Kong has a consistent and effective legal framework with more than 50 legal provisions against various kinds of trafficking in persons, which provides a comprehensive set of protection. It is not inferior to other jurisdictions with a single trafficking law. Some of these crimes are punishable by life imprisonment. (Finish)