Macau police authorities stated that they had not received any “prior notice of a gathering or demonstration” to be held on May 1, a date on which public events were regularly held before 2020. According to the Basic Law of Macau, all residents have the “right to assemble peacefully and without weapons in public places, places open to the public, or private premises.”
However, any entity planning to hold a demonstration must submit prior notice to the Macao Public Security Police, and any refusal or restriction must be justified by the police authorities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, security forces refused to approve the route of any demonstration, citing reasons of “public order and safety” or public health.
These bans were brought to the attention of the UN Human Rights Committee, which, in 2022, noted “a growing number of reports of undue restrictions on the exercise of the freedom of peaceful assembly.”
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Authorities lifted pandemic restrictions in late 2023, but protests did not return to the city’s streets. Last year, the Macau People’s Power group canceled a demonstration planned for May 1, calling for a reduction in the number of migrant workers, due to “pressure from the police,” who claimed the protest could violate the National Security Law, the All About Macau newspaper reported at the time.
The Macau government then indicated that holding demonstrations could threaten China’s security, but denied that the police had pressured the association to cancel the event.
“Demonstrations can bring conflict to society and to state security,” argued then-Secretary for Security Wong Siu Chak at a press conference.
A man protesting against the number of migrant workers in Macau was arrested on May 1 of last year, with authorities citing a violation of the Law on the Right of Assembly and Demonstration.
This was the first public protest on Labor Day since May 1, 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic, when two associations organized demonstrations.
In 2018, for example, the New Association for the Rights of Workers in the Gaming Industry led about three hundred members through the streets of Macau, demanding better working conditions.
