Human trafficking to Macau a concern for Mongolia

Mongolia’s State secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade, D. Tsogtbaatar, has acknowledged that there have been cases of trafficking of Mongolian citizens to Macau, but the Mongolian authorities lack relevant clear statistics.

Yesterday, Mongolia and Macau signed an agreement to enhance bilateral cooperation in preventing and suppressing trafficking in persons, especially women and children. It is the first agreement of its kind ever signed by the Macau Government.

Tsogtbaatar told reporters that the problem of trafficking in persons subsists in the country, but it is still very hidden and no cases have been brought to justice. “At this moment, we haven’t got any recorded case, but we have data, for example, on mainland Chinese [people] that come to Macau and are subjected to trafficking in persons,” he said.

“We also know that the problem exists between Mongolia and Macau, so we really have to sign this agreement because we need to have this mechanism in place.

“There are these problems in the world and if we don’t recognise it and keep turning a blind-eye to it, it will continue to grow. In order to stop it, we have to sign this agreement,” he stressed.

Even though there are no records of trafficking in persons, Mongolia decided to act early. “This is a relatively new issue and it’s very hidden. Those organised groups are very well structured and it’s difficult to perceive these cases,” Tsogtbaatar said.

“We do not want our women and children to be subjected to this very shameful crime. And we do not want any single case to exist in the relationship between Mongolia and other countries,” he said.

Asked if Mongolian nationals form these criminal networks, the State secretary said: “Mongolian citizens are being trafficked and there is a network, but I cannot say whether it is formed by Mongolians or not.”

No data from Macau

Despite having revised the anti-trafficking law and set up a mechanism to fight trafficking in persons, the Macau Government has no data on how many victims from Mongolia have been found by local authorities.

Secretary for Security Cheong Kuoc Vá said that the majority of trafficked persons came from mainland China, but acknowledged that “there are also cases from Mongolia.” Nevertheless, he did not have “information at hand”.

Apart from preventing and suppressing trafficking in persons, the agreement aims to protect victims, including return and integration of victims. “Through signing this agreement, both the Macau Government and the Government of Mongolia are making further progress in making our commitment to combat against trafficking in persons,” Cheong said during his speech.

The secretary said the Government currently has no other similar agreements planned with other countries and jurisdictions. “The SAR Government has interest in signing other agreements, but it requires willingness from both parties to sign an agreement,” he pointed out.

Since the new law came into force in February 2008, the police have found 30 cases of human trafficking, of which 14 were in 2008, 6 in 2009 and 10 during this year.

The great majority of the cases have sexual purposes behind the trafficking, but there are also some cases of human organs trade. Victims are usually women coming from mainland China.

From 2008 until now, there was only one person tried for human trafficking charges, with a penalty of seven years and six months imprisonment. Other cases were filed by the Public Prosecutions Office as procuring prostitution.