Macao Daily News - To understand Macau law
An orphan has a price

2009.03.02 News

Cases of sale of babies were previously reported by the mainland press, which unvealed that the Public Security Bureau officials of the Baoan area in Shenzhen had smashed an underground clinic for delivery following the arrest of a woman and the rescue of two newborn babies, who were about to be sold. According to the report, the woman was indeed a human trafficker, and had sold couples of babies in the past few years. Life is priceless, but life has a price for these traders, with $50,000 for a baby boy and $20,000 for a baby girl respectively.

Human trafficking is a universal issue. Children and women have a long history of being the main victims of this activity. Macao Special Administrative Region has formulated the Law of Combat the crime of trafficking in Persons to combat this crime.

Children to be sold at risk
Most children who are trafficked come from poor regions or vulnerable groups in the community, such as runaways or illegal immigrants. These unfortunate kids, whether boys or girls, have been forced to engage in various activities relevant to sexual coercion once in these traders’ hands, including prostitution, production of child pornography, employment in agricultural activities or factories as child labour, and training as child soldiers in war-torn regions. It is sad to note that these traders not only include organized crime groups, but also comprise children’s kith and kin, or even their parents.

Consequences of trafficking of children
With regard to human trafficking, any cases involving any victims under 18 constitute the crime of trafficking children. Whoever, by any means, offers, induces, recruits, accepts, transports, transfers, harbours or receives a minor for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced labour or removal of human organs or tissues, shall be punished with a penalty of 5-15 years of imprisonment. If the victim is a minor under 14 years old, or if the perpetrator acts as a form of living or with intent to profit, the penalties shall be aggravated by one third to imprisonment for 20 years at maximum.

Illegal adoption
In recent years, many culprits engage in the sale of children under the name of “adoption” to evade the law. The original objective of adoption is to make abandoned children grow up healthily in a normal family. However, these culprits usually make profit under the disguise of adoption. Therefore, the law states that whoever obtains or gives the consent to the adoption of a minor by offering and accepting advantages, shall be guilty of an offence and be punished with a penalty of maximum 5 years of imprisonment.

Sale of children by forced marriage
Freedom of marriage is one of the basic human rights, and is protected by the Basic Law in Macao. Arranged marriages are no longer the order of the day. However, this custom still prevails in some places of the world based on traditional customs and beliefs. Every now and then, there have been reports of parents forcing their children to marry upon receipt of scads of cash gifts in some Muslim countries. In accordance with the Law of Combat the crime of trafficking in persons, in addition to use of violence, kidnapping or serious threat, abuse of authority as a result of hierarchical relationship, use of fraud or obtaining the consent of a person having control over the victims, are all means constituting the crime of trafficking in persons.

The said forced child marriage for monetary benefits is tantamount to human trafficking in a different form. However, sale of children by marriage is not practicable in Macao. Why? In principle, any persons aged 18 years or over have the freedom of marriage. Any minors aged 16 years and below 18 years of age shall obtain their parents’ or guardians’ consent before getting married. And the law provides that any person under 16 is prohibited from marriage.

In addition to age limitation, a couple can validly marry only if the intending spouses clearly express their wills to get married before the Head of Civil Registration Office. If one of the parties expresses his/her unwillingness to marry, the marriage shall become void and have no legal effect by law. If the marriage is made under threat, the threatened party shall have the right to set aside the marriage subsequently.

Note: With reference to Article 2 of the Law of Combat the Crime of Trafficking in Persons and Articles 1479, 1487, 1492, 1494, 1501 and 1510 of the Civil Code.

(Please send your comments to Rua do Campo, nº 162, Edifício “Administração Pública", 17º andar, Macau or email us at 9872233@dsaj.gov.mo with your name and address stated.)
(Source by DSAJ)

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