When investigating alleged human trafficking cases it is difficult for the police to collect and obtain sufficient evidence to make sure that the Public Prosecution Office (MP) is able to charge suspects with human trafficking, Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Chau Wai Kuong said on Tuesday.
Chau made the comments while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a forum on ‘Understanding Human Trafficking from a Global and Local Perspective’. The forum, organised by the Good Shepherd Sisters, was held at MGM in Nape.
According to the website of the government’s Human Trafficking Deterrent Measures Concern Committee, just two human trafficking cases were prosecuted last year, compared with four cases in 2014, 18 cases in 2013 and 14 cases in 2012.
Chau said that most cases of human trafficking in Macau are related to sexual exploitation. Chau said that up to 90 per cent of victims of human trafficking have been from the mainland. Chau said that there have been only a few cases in which the victims were younger than 18.
The Law on Combating Human Trafficking was enacted in 2008 June.
Chau said that when prostitutes under the age of 18 are picked up by the police, they launch the local authorities’ anti-human trafficking mechanism, where the police, Health Bureau (SSM) and Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) provide the victims with assistance and protection.
Chau said it was quite difficult to obtain enough evidence to ensure that human trafficking suspects can be successfully charged by prosecutors, as the victims need to give evidence against the suspects.(Macau News / The Macau Post Daily)
