VZCZCXRO1817
PP RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHHK #1148/01 1760957
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 240957Z JUN 08
FM AMCONSUL HONG KONG
TO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5171
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

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 
 
HONG KONG 00001148  002 OF 003 
 
 
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 
 
HONG KONG 00001148  003 OF 003 
 
 
underway in Macau, Panares quipped that "after hearing all 
the provisions being planned or implemented in Macau -- I 
want to work here." 
Cunningham