Hong Kong, a city commonly associated with finance and wealth, has one of the highest proportions of people enslaved across Asia, a new report has found. At least 29,500 people out of a population of more than seven million are trapped in modern slavery in one of the 10 richest cities in the world based on its gross domestic product, according to the Global Slavery Index 2016, which assessed the problem in 167 countries and regions. The sobering figures which specifically concern Hong Kong may come as a surprise, but the hard-hitting report stated that the city has become one of the worst places in Asia for its poor response to the problem, performing worse than mainland China. The city urgently needs tougher laws and a "transparent plan of action" to combat the problem, human rights group Justice Centre Hong Kong said. Jade Anderson, anti-human trafficking coordinator for the campaign group, said the Global Slavery Index, produced by charitable organisation Walk Free Foundation, came as a "shock" to some Hongkongers. But her organisation's research had found there were major human rights abuses that went unpunished in the city, and the number of slaves could be much higher than researchers have estimated, she said. The Justice Centre's investigation involving 1,000 migrant domestic workers found 17 per cent were carrying out "forced labor", which she said equated to about 55,000 of the city's 320,000 helpers. "We believe that Hong Kong needs a transparent plan of action to combat human trafficking, forced labor, or slavery-like practices, and protect victims," she said. "And ultimately there needs to be legislative reform. Hong Kong must develop more comprehensive policies and laws to protect victims." Hong Kong's proportion of people classified as slaves (0.404 per cent) is the ninth-highest in Asia and 32nd in the world, the same rank as 19 countries including South Korea, in the slavery index. Mainland China, meanwhile, was ranked lower on its proportion of slaves, due to its much larger population, taking the 14th spot in Asia. But it was among the top five countries in the world for estimated numbers of people in modern slavery (3.39 million).

Besides domestic helpers, other groups being exploited were said to include sex trafficking victims, young people engaging in compensated dating, and Southeast Asian fishermen, who are subjected to forced labour on fishing ships bound for Fiji and other ports in the Pacific. The Justice Centre said those working in construction, the hospitality sector, and elderly care institutions were also subjected to slavery-like conditions. Anderson said a much greater effort was needed from the government in terms of investigation and transparency on how many slavery victims it encounters. "At the moment, there is little information from the government about human trafficking, forced labor, or slavery-like practices in Hong Kong," she said. "We don't know how many victims have been identified, how they were identified, or what services were offered to them. We don't know how many people were prosecuted for human trafficking in the past years or how many times the prosecution code paragraph on human exploitation cases, introduced in 2013, has been applied. Nor do we know how many frontline officers have been trained or what that training contained. "As a first step, we would like to see a consultative and public review of the policies and laws in Hong Kong." Meanwhile, Scott Stiles, founder of the Fair Employment Agency, a not-for-profit recruitment organisation for domestic helpers, said he thought enforcement of existing laws was more crucial than creating new ones in the fight against slavery. He said Hong Kong was still better than many Asian countries in its legal protection for domestic helpers. "I think there is room for improvement but it is more of an enforcement issue," he said. "If people are scared of the repercussions if they quit their job, and feel like they can't, then that is a bad situation." The Hong Kong government has dismissed the Global Slavery Index's findings, saying it paints an incomplete picture as it relies on information supplied by partnering NGOs, and lacks verification from the government. Speaking to the Post this week on affording protection to foreign domestic helpers, a government spokesman said the Labour Department will continue to promote awareness on their rights and channels on which to seek redress. He also stated that current "legislation already provides a solid and proven framework" to combat human trafficking.