Strong pushback as US downgrades Hong Kong to tier-3 in human trafficking: 'Double standard'

US downgrades Hong Kong to tier 3 in the human trafficking ranking.

Hong Kong has rejected the United States’ decision to place it in the lowest category of its annual human trafficking report, calling the assessment “entirely unfounded” and accusing Washington of applying double standards in evaluating the city’s efforts to combat trafficking. The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report, released on October 8, downgraded Hong Kong to Tier 3 from the Tier 2 Watch List, where it had remained for two consecutive years. The lowest tier includes mainland China, Macau, North Korea, Russia, Iran and Afghanistan. In a statement, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government strongly rejected the assessment, describing it as an attempt to damage the city’s reputation. It maintained that human trafficking had never been prevalent in Hong Kong and disputed the US assertion that the city was not making significant efforts to eliminate the crime. The US report, however, said Hong Kong did not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating trafficking and had fallen short in prosecuting suspected traffickers and identifying victims exploited within the territory. The tier rankings assess governments’ efforts to combat human trafficking, rather than the prevalence of trafficking itself.

What the US report said about Hong Kong

According to the report, Hong Kong authorities investigated 11 human trafficking cases in 2025, all involving forced labour, compared with seven cases in 2024. However, authorities prosecuted one suspect, down from two the previous year, while two sex traffickers were convicted. One of those convicted received a prison sentence of less than a year. The report also raised concerns about victim identification. Despite conducting approximately 12,100 initial screenings in 2025, authorities identified no victims who had been exploited within Hong Kong. All 15 victims identified during the year were Hong Kong residents who had fallen prey to employment fraud and been forced to work in scam centres in Myanmar and Cambodia, the report said. The Hong Kong government confirmed the screening and victim figures but said the number of screenings had increased by 7 per cent from the previous year. It argued that bringing residents home safely, identifying them as trafficking victims and investigating those implicated demonstrated its commitment to tackling the crime. A government spokesman accused the US of hypocrisy, citing studies and reports that had highlighted the underreporting of human trafficking cases by American law enforcement agencies. The US report reiterated its criticism that Hong Kong lacks a single law criminalising all forms of human trafficking. Instead, authorities rely on a range of offences relating to prostitution, immigration, employment and physical abuse. The Hong Kong government defended its legal framework, saying more than 50 legal provisions address trafficking-related conduct and provide safeguards comparable to those available under dedicated anti-trafficking legislation in other jurisdictions. “There is simply no one-size-fits-all solution,” the government spokesman said. The report criticized Hong Kong’s rules governing foreign domestic workers, particularly the live-in requirement and the “two-week rule”, which generally requires workers whose employment ends to leave Hong Kong within two weeks unless they obtain permission to remain. According to the US assessment, these arrangements could increase workers’ vulnerability to exploitation by employers and employment agencies. It also raised concerns that agencies routinely charged fees exceeding the legal limit and that penalties were insufficient to deter violations. Hong Kong has approximately 380,000 foreign domestic workers. Defending the arrangements, the Hong Kong government said the live-in requirement supported its policy of giving local workers priority in employment. It added that domestic workers who experienced abuse or exploitation could apply to change employers without first returning to their home countries. The government said employment agencies could charge workers no more than 10 per cent of their first month’s salary following successful placement. It also cited more than 1,700 inspections of domestic worker employment agencies in 2025 and the arrest of 37 employers in connection with physical or sexual abuse of domestic workers.