A US State Department report has delivered a scathing assessment of Hong Kong's laws against human trafficking, comparing the city's record on combating the problem to that of Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Serbia.
The Trafficking in Persons Report 2012 sets out the city's failure to meet minimum international standards and highlights a lack of progress in getting appropriate legislation in place. It also confirms that Hong Kong that has dropped down a tier in international rankings for efforts to combat human trafficking.
In a three-tier system of rankings, Hong Kong's position has dropped from tier one in 2008 to tier two today.
The report says Hong Kong 'does not fully comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking' and 'authorities have made no discernable progress over previous years in law enforcement efforts against sex trafficking or forced labour [labour trafficking]'.
The city's ranking is now on a par not only with that of Congo, Serbia and Cambodia, but also with that of Ukraine, Iran, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
'Due to Hong Kong's failure to fully comply with minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and the lack of discernable progress over previous years in law enforcement efforts against sex trafficking or forced labour [its ranking has been dropped down a tier],' the report says.