Human trafficking victims identified

Annie Li made this Freedom of Information request to Security Bureau

This request has been closed to new correspondence from the public body. Contact us if you think it ought be re-opened.

The request was partially successful.

Dear Security Bureau,

I am writing to make an information request for the following in each of the years from 2014 to 2018:

(1) The number of human trafficking victims were identified, disaggregated by gender, age group at the time of victim identification (under 18, 18-30, 31-40, 41 or above), ethnicity, nationality and immigration status at the time of victim identification;

(2) The number of identified victims who were born in Hong Kong;

(3) Of the number referred to in (2), the number of victims who were not ordinarily resident, were illegal immigrants or were overstayers at the time of victim identification, and, of these, the number who were minors at the time of victim identification;

(4) The number of identified victims who were born in Hong Kong and were ordinarily resident in Hong Kong at the time of victim identification;

(5) The number of identified victims who were foreign domestic helper visa holders before or at the time of victim identification;

(6) The number of identified victims who had made a non-refoulement claim before victim identification; and

(7) The number of identified victims who had made a non-refoulement claim after victim identification.

Regards,
Annie Li
Research and Policy Officer
Justice Centre Hong Kong

Security Bureau

Dear Ms Li,

Your request under the Code of Access to Information submitted via the
accessinfo.hk website has been received.  The request is now under
processing.  We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Yours Sincerely,
Heidy Ng
(for Secretary for Security)

Security Bureau

Dear Ms Li,

I refer to your request under Code of Access to Information submitted via
the accessinfo.hk website on 12 June 2018.

The HKSAR Government first introduced a TIP victim screening mechanism in
2015 in the Immigration Department (“ImmD”).  The mechanism was then
gradually implemented by the Hong Kong Police Force (“Police”) in some
Police districts in 2016 and 2017, and also by the Customs and Excise
Department (“C&ED”) in 2017.

Under the mechanism, officers concerned will first conduct initial
screening on vulnerable persons (e.g. illegal immigrants, sex workers and
FDHs) whom they come into contact during daily operations, and look for
any indicators that the person might be a potential TIP victim.  If yes,
officers concerned will conduct full debriefing following a standardised
checklist to ascertain the presence of human trafficking elements, such as
threat and coercion in the recruitment phase, and the nature of
exploitation.  The identification figures during 2016-18 as follows:

2016 2017 2018
(up to April)
Victims identified during full debriefing 6 (6) 9 (3) 3 (2)

Note: (  ) represent number of identified victims who were holding foreign
domestic helper visas at the time of victim identification

There is no statistical breakdown of other figures requested.  Thank you
for your request.

Your Sincerely,

(Heidy Ng)
For Secretary for Security

From:        sbenq/SB/HKSARG
To:        [FOI #282 email],
Date:        23/06/2018 11:06
Subject:        Re: Interim Reply - Access to Informaiton by Ms Annie Li
[SF(12) in SB FR/6-5/1 (2018)]

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Dear Ms Li,

Your request under the Code of Access to Information submitted via the
accessinfo.hk website has been received.  The request is now under
processing.  We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Yours Sincerely,
Heidy Ng
(for Secretary for Security)

Dear Heidy,

Thank you for your reply. We would appreciate it if you could provide us with the other data requested in my email on 12 June 2018. It will inform civil society of the extent and nature of human trafficking in Hong Kong.

Regards,
Annie
Research and Policy Officer
Justice Centre Hong Kong

Security Bureau

Dear Annie,

I refer to your Access to Information Request and our tele-conversation
yesterday.

Among the 18 victims identified during 2016 to April 2018, 14 were females
while 4 were males.  We are sorry that we have no statistical breakdown of
other figures requested.

Your Sincerely,

Heidy Ng
(for Secretary for Security)

Dear Ms Ng,

Thank you very much for your call on 6 August and for the additional information about the gender of the identified victims.

I would like to make a follow-up request about the departments that identified the victims. May I know how many of the victims were identified by the Police, the Immigration Department and the Customs and Excise Department respectively in each of the years from 2016 to 2018?

Regards,
Annie Li
Research and Policy Officer
Justice Centre Hong Kong

Security Bureau

Dear Annie,

ImmD had identified 6, 8, 3 victims in 2016, 2017 and 2018 (up to April)
while Police identified 1 victim in 2017 via the victim identification
mechanism.  

Yours sincerely,

Heidy Ng
(for Secretary for Security)

Dear Heidy,

Thank you very much for the further information.

Regards,
Annie