Hong Kong has been downgraded to the lowest tier in the United States’ annual human trafficking report, with Washington citing shortcomings in prosecutions and victim identification.
The Hong Kong government rejected the assessment as “entirely unfounded”, accusing the United States of making a blatant attempt to damage the city’s reputation.
The US State Department’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons report, released on Thursday, moved Hong Kong from the Tier 2 watchlist to Tier 3. Hong Kong had remained on the watchlist for two consecutive years.
The downgrade places Hong Kong alongside mainland China and Macau among 20 jurisdictions in the lowest category. Other jurisdictions in Tier 3 include North Korea, Russia, Iran and Afghanistan.
Hong Kong rejects trafficking downgrade
The Hong Kong government issued its response early on Friday, describing the rating as “entirely unfounded” and “a blatant attempt to tarnish Hong Kong’s sterling reputation”.
“Trafficking in persons has never been a prevalent problem in Hong Kong, and there has never been any sign that Hong Kong is being actively used by syndicates as a destination or transit point for trafficking in persons,” a government spokesman said.
The US report said Hong Kong did not fully meet the minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking and was “not making significant efforts to do so”.
The report clarified that its rankings assessed governments’ efforts to combat human trafficking, rather than the prevalence of the crime in each jurisdiction.
US cites prosecution and screening gaps
According to the report, Hong Kong authorities investigated 11 human trafficking cases in 2025, all involving forced labour. This was an increase from seven cases the previous year.
However, authorities prosecuted one suspect, compared with two a year earlier. They also convicted two sex traffickers, one of whom received a prison sentence of less than one year.
The authorities identified 15 victims last year. All were Hong Kong residents who had been forced to work in scam centres in Myanmar and Cambodia.
The report said authorities did not identify any victims who had been exploited within Hong Kong, despite conducting about 12,100 initial screenings.
The Hong Kong government confirmed the screening and victim figures, saying the number of screenings had increased by 7% from 2024.
It said efforts to bring residents home safely, identify them as trafficking victims and pursue those responsible demonstrated its commitment to combating human trafficking.
Government accuses US of double standards
The Hong Kong government accused Washington of applying double standards, referring to studies and reports that have highlighted the under-reporting of trafficking cases by US law enforcement agencies.
The US report acknowledged several areas of progress in Hong Kong. These included improvements in victim screening, training for about 2,400 officials and funding to repatriate residents trapped in scam operations in Southeast Asia.
It also noted that Hong Kong had allocated HK$80 million for its anti-trafficking action plan in the 2025-26 financial year.
However, the report repeated long-standing US criticism that Hong Kong does not have a single law criminalising all forms of human trafficking.
Instead, authorities rely on various offences covering prostitution, immigration, employment and physical abuse.
The Hong Kong government said more than 50 legal provisions provided safeguards comparable to those under dedicated anti-trafficking laws in other jurisdictions.
It also cited rulings by the Court of Final Appeal, which found that Hong Kong had no positive obligation to enact a specific criminal offence covering activities prohibited under Article 4 of the Hong Kong Bill of Rights.
“There is simply no one-size-fits-all solution,” the government spokesman said.
