Hong Kong slams US report on human trafficking despite waiver keeping it off list of worst offenders
Hong Kong escapes automatic downgrade that could have placed city among the world’s worst places for human trafficking, but government says the US assessment is ‘deplorable and unacceptable’
According to the annual report, although the Hong Kong administration was taking steps in the right direction, the city did not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, having failed at identifying victims and investigating cases with clear human trafficking indicators.
Countries and regions that remain on the Tier 2 Watch List for three consecutive years – like Hong Kong – are usually automatically downgraded to Tier 3, the lowest grade.
However, the US State Department granted a waiver to the city because the local “government has devoted sufficient resources to a written plan that, if implemented, would constitute significant efforts to meet the minimum standards”.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong government hit back at the report. “The US Department of State’s continued disregard of the Hong Kong government’s determined, persistent and reinforced efforts in combating human trafficking is most deplorable and unacceptable.”