MACAU TIP: NEW LAW AND SEMINAR BOOST COMMITMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 HONG KONG 001148

SIPDIS

NSC FOR DENNIS WILDER
DEPT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, PRM, IWI, EAP/RSP, EAP/CM,
USAID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2033
TAGS: KCRM KFRD KWMN PREL PHUM SOCI SMIG CH HK MC
SUBJECT: MACAU TIP: NEW LAW AND SEMINAR BOOST COMMITMENT
AGAINST TRAFFICKING

REF: A. HONG KONG 000408

B. OSC REPORT CPP20080618715024

C. 07 HONG KONG 002360

Classified By: E/P Section Chief Laurent Charbonnet; Reasons 1.4 (b, d)


1. (SBU) Summary: The Legislative Assembly (LA) in Macau
unanimously passed a new, comprehensive anti-human
trafficking law on June 12 that broadens the definition of
trafficking crimes, increases punishments for convicted
traffickers, and guarantees protections for victims. The new
law was gazetted on June 23 and took effect June 24. Just
before the law was enacted, a Macau NGO organized and hosted
the first State Department-funded (Women,s Issues grant)
anti-human trafficking seminar in Macau. The event generally
elevated awareness of human trafficking and forced labor
issues in Macau and elsewhere; it also promoted discussion
among government agencies, NGOs, media, and business of
efforts and strategies to combat these crimes in Macau, as
well as ways and means to strengthen public-private
partnerships against human trafficking. In her keynote
address, Macau Secretary for Administration and Justice
Florinda Chan, on behalf of the Chief Executive, reaffirmed
her government,s determination to end human trafficking in
Macau. End Summary.


2. (C) Comment: Enactment of the new law and the successful
staging of the anti-trafficking seminar are important
positive developments that demonstrate the growing awareness
of, and commitment against, human trafficking in Macau.
Coupled with support from the Chief Executive, the new law
gives the authorities in Macau the mandate to pursue and
prosecute a wider range of trafficking crimes, including
trafficking of victims into Macau. As most cases involve
women trafficked from mainland China into Macau, closer
cooperation between mainland and Macau authorities will be
essential. Law enforcement training -- especially on
evidence collective techniques -- will become increasingly
important, as will expanded cooperation between government
and non-government agencies and the private sector. The
broad attendance and extensive media coverage accorded the
seminar achieved its goal of raising awareness among the
business community and general public in Macau,s insular,
conservative society. The new law and the seminar are major
steps forward, but the USG will need to continue to engage
Macau,s government and society to maintain the pressure
against human trafficking, and ensure these new legal tools
are used to prosecute traffickers and assist victims. End
Comment.

TIP Bill Passes Macau Legislature, Signed into Law
-------------- --------------


3. (SBU) On June 12, the Macau Legislative Assembly (LA)
unanimously passed a new, comprehensive anti-human
trafficking bill. Chief Executive Ho signed the bill, which
the government submitted to the legislature in February (ref
A),on June 23 and it was gazetted into law the same day, to
take effect June 24. The new law expands the range of crimes
considered trafficking, increases punishments for convicted
traffickers, and guarantees protections for trafficking
victims. The Chair of the First Standing Committee of the
LA, Ms. Kwan Tsui-hang, oversaw legislative debate on the
bill, and reportedly lauded it for fulfilling Macau,s
obligations under international law to combat human
trafficking through a series of policies, law enforcement and
technical measures, including:

a) Criminalizing all forms of trafficking in persons into,
from or through Macau;
b) Strengthening protections for children through stricter
penalties against offenders who exploit child victims;
c) Establishing criminal liabilities for legal persons,
including organizations, complicit in human trafficking;
d) Defining the rights of victims, including the right to:
report suspected cases of trafficking immediately to local
diplomatic missions; act as a litigant and receive legal
representation and translator support during legal
proceedings; receive loss/damage compensation; obtain free
social, psychological, healthcare, and medical assistance
from the Social Welfare Bureau; and, receive protection from
judicial and police authorities for family members or other
witnesses in the case if needed.


4. (SBU) Following consultations and debate, the LA decided
to increase penalties beyond those proposed by the
government. The law provides for imprisonment for 3-12 years

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for human trafficking, including sex, labor and service
exploitation, as well as trafficking organs or tissues; 5-15
years for trafficking minors (under 18 years),with penalties
increasing by one third for trafficking victims under 14; one
to five years for the transfer, sale or unlawful adoption of
minors; one to five years for those who exploit the labor of
the victim or use the organ(s) of the victim with the
knowledge that other people have committed crimes as
described above; and, one to five years for retaining,
hiding, spoiling or destroying identification or tourist
documents of a trafficking victim, providing no harsher
punishment is available in other laws. (Note: The Open
Source Center published a complete translation of the law via
the OSC website (ref B). End Note.) The LA standing
committee that examined the bill reportedly also proposed
that the interagency "Concern Committee on Deterring
Trafficking in Persons" (ref C) should be made an executive
department with enhanced intelligence collection and
trafficking prevention powers. The government has not yet
responded to the LA,s proposal.

Anti-TIP Seminar Promotes Stakeholder Cooperation
-------------- --------------


5. (SBU) Sr. Juliana Devoy, Director of the Good Shepherd
Sisters Women's Shelter in Macau, hosted the first State
Department-funded (Women,s Issues grant),anti-human
trafficking seminar in Macau on June 5. The successful event
generally raised awareness of human trafficking and forced
labor issues in Macau; participants discussed efforts and
strategies to combat these crimes as well as means through
which to strengthen public-private partnerships against human
trafficking. Speakers from various Macau government agencies
and NGOs addressed a 55-person audience that included
stakeholders from local businesses, NGOs, social welfare and
healthcare organizations, women,s groups, academia and the
press. Speakers addressed issues ranging from the definition
of human trafficking, Macau's legal framework for combating
human trafficking, enforcement and victims' assistance
measures, the reasons behind trafficking into and through
Macau, and what has or needs to be done.


6. (SBU) Macau,s second-highest official, Secretary for
Administration and Justice Florinda Chan, speaking -- on
behalf of CE Edmund Ho -- opened the event by reviewing steps
already taken, inviting greater community collaboration, and
affirming the government,s determination to end human
trafficking in Macau. Other government officials from the
International Law Office, Social Welfare Bureau, Judiciary
Police, and the Macau Law Department described their
agency,s efforts against trafficking. Gloria Ko, Head of
Office of the International Organization for Migration in
Hong Kong, also spoke about the root causes of trafficking,
especially poverty, and noted that in any jurisdiction
cooperative efforts -- especially between government and
non-government stakeholders -- were the most effective
approach.


7. (SBU) Professor Richard Welford, Co-Director of CSR-Asia
(Corporate Social Responsibility - Asia),stressed the
important role of business in the fight against trafficking,
and highlighted a number of factors in Macau that upped the
ante for private industry. Macau's growing gambling and
entertainment sector has benefited Macau,s economy but also
has caused mounting social challenges, and offers a platform
for trafficking, said Welford. But businesses in that sector
also have the resources, expertise, and "responsibility" to
act, he added. Nevertheless, private industry,s capacity to
act did not negate the government,s responsibility; rather,
it required formation of public-private partnerships to
harmonize measures for prevention, protection, and
prosecution of trafficking.


8. (SBU) More to the point, Director Adrielle Panares of the
Migrants Program at International Social Services (Hong Kong)
described the hardships trafficking victims face, especially
in East Asia,s lucrative sex trade. Panares said that
victims in Hong Kong, who may at times travel onward to
Macau, are often single and aged 20-33 years. They enter as
tourists or entertainers (with fraudulent work papers),then
-- although they are briefed on the signs of and methods for
escaping trafficking upon entry into Hong Kong -- are quickly
manipulated into circumstances of debt bondage or other forms
of exploitation. She said the "emotional blackmail" victims
often experience, including threats to their families and
friends, required extensive inter-country casework throughout
the region. While fielding questions and discussing efforts

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underway in Macau, Panares quipped that "after hearing all
the provisions being planned or implemented in Macau -- I
want to work here."
Cunningham