US reports ‘sex trade’, trafficking in Macau

Macau has a large sex trade, including brothels, most of which are believed to be controlled by Chinese organised crime groups, and many of those exploited by the trade are women, the United States (US) State Department says in its 2009 Human Rights Report, published Thursday.
“The Government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, some problems remained, most notably limits on citizens’ ability to change their government, reports of official corruption, and trafficking in persons,” is the overall assessment.
It reports that Macau has no reported violations of freedom of the Internet, press, religion and association. However, the trafficking in persons, mainly for prostitution, is one of the issues that raised the attention of the US department.
“The SAR is a transit and destination point for women and girls trafficked for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation. Most victims were persons from inland Chinese provinces who migrated to the border province of Guangdong in search of employment, where they fell prey to false advertisements for jobs in Macau. Other foreign and mainland Chinese women and girls were deceived into migrating voluntarily for employment opportunities in casinos, as dancers, or other types of employment; upon arrival, some victims were passed to local organized crime groups, held captive, and forced into sexual servitude. Some foreign victims were misinformed about their destination and diverted to the SAR, where they were trafficked into prostitution,” it says.
Still, the report points out that in 2008 a “comprehensive” anti-trafficking law was enacted that prohibits all forms of trafficking in persons and prescribes penalties ranging from three to 12 years imprisonment. “Although prostitution is legal, a “procurement” law makes it a crime to instigate, favour, or facilitate the practice of prostitution by another person for the purposes of profit or as a way of life, although the penalties for this crime are less severe and the procurement crime does not recognize a victim,” it added.
The report also emphasizes that a shortage of local bilingual lawyers and magistrates has hampered the development of the legal system as well as a severe shortage of judges.
Concerning official corruption and Government transparency, the report says that although the law provides criminal penalties for official corruption, officials sometimes engaged in corrupt practices.
The cases reported last year of refusal of entry into Macau for Hong Kong activists, lawmakers and journalists figure in the document. It also says that the Internal Security Law grants the police the authority to prevent entry and to deport non-residents who are regarded under the law as unwelcome, or who constitute a threat to internal security and stability, or who are regarded as suspected of transnational crimes.
“The police used this provision of law to prevent the entry of several persons who sought to participate in peaceful political activities, as well as persons participating in academic exchanges or journalism, particularly when the Law on Safeguarding National Security was under consideration as well as in the period immediately following passage of the law.”
As for the labour rights, the report considers that the average wage provided a decent standard of living for a worker and family. “Although the law includes a requirement that employers provide a safe working environment, no explicit provisions protected employees’ right to continued employment if they refused to work under dangerous conditions,” the report warns.