Hong Kong Downgraded In US Trafficking Study

The US State Department's annual report on human trafficking has placed Hong Kong on a "watch list" of territories that are not doing enough to tackle the problem.

The report, launched in the early hours of Friday Hong Kong time, said the SAR government "does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts to do so".

However the SAR was downgraded to Tier 2 (watch list) status, the second lowest rank in the four-level ranking system, because the government has not criminalised all forms of trafficking. Macau was also downgraded to the same level.

The report kept China, on the lowest rung and again highlighted widespread use of forced labour, including through what the United States and human rights groups say is the mass detention in camps of more than one million minority Muslims.

It said Beijing had expanded this campaign into other provinces and begun implementing it among other religious minorities. China denies mistreatment and says the camps provide vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

The coronavirus pandemic had made more people vulnerable to human trafficking, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at the launch of the report, which added Afghanistan and Nicaragua to a list of worst offenders while Saudi Arabia was upgraded.

"Instability and lack of access to critical services caused by the pandemic mean that the  number of people vulnerable to exploitation by traffickers is rapidly growing," Pompeo said in an introduction to the annual US State Department Trafficking in Persons report.

Saudi Arabia, a major U.S. ally and arms buyer that was last year placed on the list of countries that failed to meet minimum US anti-trafficking standards, was put in Tier 2 watch list.

Afghanistan and Nicaragua were both demoted in this year's report to Tier 3, falling into the lowest category, which can bring restrictions on US non-humanitarian, non-trade-related assistance, a decision that would be made by the president. (RTHK/Reuters)