22 July 2014 – In an effort to educate the Filipino community regarding the dangers of human trafficking, the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong organized a forum on human trafficking at the Consulate General’s premises on July 6. Consul George Hogeman and Vice Consul Robert Kokta of the United States Consulate General served as resource speakers.

Vice Consul Kokta explained to the audience that human trafficking involves recruiting, harboring, and transporting people using force, threat of force, fraud, or coercion and compelling these people to perform labor or commercial sex acts.

To help fight human trafficking, the US Congress passed a law 15 years ago mandating the State Department to come up with an annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report, focusing on a victim-centric approach. At present, both Hong Kong and the Philippines are in tier 2 of the TIP report. Human trafficking has become a lucrative industry estimated to be worth US$150-billion per year industry and victimizing approximately 21,000,000 persons all over the world.

Hong Kong law does not consider labor trafficking part of human trafficking. Even with the introduction of a human exploitation clause in the Prosecution Code in 2013, Hong Kong needs to enact legislation through a comprehensive ordinance that provides for prosecution of labor trafficking cases.

To avoid becoming victims of human trafficking, Filipino nationals should:

•           Know their rights;

•           Seek assistance from the Philippine Consulate General or other non-governmental organizations (NGOs);

•           Deal only with licensed employment agencies;

•           Know the terms of contract and other signed documents; and

•           Not sign blank checks.

For his part, Consul Hogeman informed the audience that applicants going to the United States holding fiancée visas should always have their green cards with them, and for them to watch out for domestic violence. As for household service workers (HSWs) accompanying their employers on temporary visits to the United States, Consul Hogeman has the following advice:

•           The HSW should be paid the US minimum wage or the prevailing wage, whichever is higher, during the entire duration of the trip;

•           The HSW is only required to work 40 hours per week. Overtime work rendered should be paid at 1.5 times the prescribed salary;

•           Employers cannot hold or keep the HSW’s passport;

•           Employers cannot deduct expenses from the HSW’s salary. END