CYPRUS (Tier 1)
The Government of the Republic of Cyprus fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Cyprus remained on Tier 1. These efforts included identifying more victims and issuing stricter sentences. Authorities disseminated internal instructions to prosecutors to prioritize and expedite trafficking prosecutions and allowed victims to testify virtually in trials to mitigate re-traumatization. The government maintained a robust victim assistance program, including increasing weekly cash allowance for victims and hiring 50 social workers to work with vulnerable communities. The government organized awareness campaigns after not conducting any in 2021 and allocated funding to hire more labor inspectors to inspect rural and remote areas for forced labor and other labor violations. Although the government meets the minimum standards and continued to secure convictions, it convicted fewer traffickers and prosecuted fewer defendants. Social Welfare Services (SWS) continued to not respond to referrals of some potential victims in a timely manner and failed to refer all potential victims to police for official identification procedures. The government reduced overall funding for victim assistance and did not disburse financial assistance to victims in a timely manner, judges continued to not issue restitution as part of sentencing, and victims have never received compensation from the compensation fund.
PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers under Law 60(I), including complicit officials.
- Proactively identify victims among vulnerable populations, including migrants, asylum-seekers, and agricultural workers.
- Allocate sufficient resources to enable police to effectively investigate all offenses and SWS to refer all potential victims in a timely manner.
- Allocate sufficient resources for victim protection and reduce delays in providing victim assistance, including access to health care, rental disbursements, and financial assistance.
- Seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should include significant prison terms, and train judges at all levels of the judiciary to take the severity of trafficking into account when issuing sentences.
- Increase training for government personnel, particularly SWS officials, on victim identification, assistance, and referral.
- Reduce delays in court proceedings.
- Strengthen the capacity of the Labor Inspectorate to identify and refer victims of forced labor.
- Improve victim-centered investigations and prosecutions and implement witness protection measures when necessary.
- Implement recommendations made by the Ombudsman and other entities that monitor and evaluate anti-trafficking policies and efforts.
- Train judges on restitution in criminal cases, establish procedures to seize assets from traffickers, and create effective methods to allocate restitution in a timely manner.
- Inform all identified victims of their right to pursue compensation and encourage them to do so.
The government maintained overall prosecution efforts. Laws 117(I)/2019 and 60(I)/2014 criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties up to 25 years’ imprisonment for offenses involving an adult victim and up to life imprisonment for offenses involving a child victim. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with regard to sex trafficking, commensurate with those for serious crimes, such as rape. Police investigated 11 cases with 24 suspects (four cases with seven suspects for sex trafficking, four cases with seven suspects for labor trafficking, and three cases with ten suspects for forced criminality), compared with 11 cases with 22 suspects in 2021. The government prosecuted 12 defendants in eight new cases (five defendants for sex trafficking, four defendants for labor trafficking, and three defendants for forced criminality), a decrease compared with 21 defendants in 12 cases in 2021. The government continued to prosecute 29 cases with 68 defendants, compared with 26 cases with 71 defendants continued in 2021. The government convicted seven traffickers (two traffickers for sex trafficking and five for labor trafficking), a decrease compared with 10 traffickers in 2021 and no convictions from 2018 to 2020. Unlike previous years, judges issued more stringent sentences and sentenced two sex traffickers to 10 years’ and eight years’ imprisonment and two labor traffickers to three years’ and twenty months’ imprisonment. The government did not report any new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes; however, the government reported prosecuting a contractor working for the Ministry of Education for sex trafficking–related crimes. The government suspended the prosecution of three out of four immigration officers arrested in September 2018 and instead prosecuted them on suspicion of aiding a criminal network involved in trafficking because authorities could not locate the trafficking victims who were key witnesses in the case. The court acquitted the fourth immigration officer.
The Ministry of Justice and Public Order maintained the Anti-Trafficking Unit (ATU), which conducted proactive investigations and used special investigative techniques. However, observers continued to report inadequate staffing and growing responsibilities outside the ATU’s mandate, which limited the number of proactive investigations. For example, the ATU spent much of its time helping victims with issues under the mandate of SWS, including assisting victims with administrative forms, applying for jobs on their behalf, and supporting victims with drug rehabilitation. To address this problem, the Ministry of Justice signed Memoranda of Cooperation with the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Labor aimed at streamlining cooperation and clearly defining the duties of each agency. GRETA and the OSCE reported cases relied heavily on victim and witness testimonies and the government often did not provide or seek corroborating evidence. Court proceedings lasted up to three years, and the government did not consistently ensure the continued inclusion of victim testimony after foreign national victims and witnesses returned to their countries of origin, resulting in lenient sentences, cases tried under lesser crimes, and acquittals of suspects on trafficking charges because of a lack of other evidence. However, the government issued internal instructions to prosecutors to prioritize and expedite trafficking cases. The ATU and the police academy continued to train police officers and prosecutors, including new recruits and immigration officers, on trafficking issues. The government, in cooperation with international organizations, also trained police officers on various anti-trafficking issues. The ATU conducted a joint investigation with authorities from the UK, Germany, and Romania. The government also executed two European arrest warrants and issued one European arrest warrant.
PROTECTION
The government maintained victim protection efforts. The government identified 32 victims, an increase compared with 22 victims in 2021. Of these, four were sex trafficking victims, 20 were forced labor victims, and seven were victims of multiple forms of trafficking; ten were women, 20 were men, and two were boys; and two were Cypriots. A multidisciplinary NRM provided SOPs for identifying and referring victims to services, including an operational manual, written guidance for first responders, and guidelines to specifically address child victims. The police conducted proactive identification efforts, including in apartments, pubs, and agricultural establishments; but GRETA and other observers reported the ATU lacked sufficient resources to effectively investigate all referrals of potential victims, particularly among the increasing number of asylum-seekers. The NRM required first responders to conduct preliminary identification of potential victims and refer potential victims to SWS. SWS officers provided potential victims with information and notified the ATU, which officially identified victims based on a manual and guidelines; the ATU interviewed 126 potential victims referred by SWS, compared with 101 in 2021. In previous years, SWS lacked the capacity to maintain contact with potential victims but hired 50 additional social workers and 26 institutional officers in June 2022 to work with vulnerable communities, including trafficking victims. However, despite the additional staff, SWS continued to respond slowly to some referrals of potential victims and failed to refer all potential victims to the ATU for official identification procedures. For example, trafficking victims exploited prior to arriving in Cyprus and/or applying for asylum at immigration offices and reception centers may not have been identified, according to GRETA and other observers who documented SWS failing to refer some potential victims among asylum-seekers to the ATU. SWS maintained nine officers dedicated to assisting newly arrived asylum-seekers and implementing a screening system, including screening for trafficking indicators. SWS assigned an on-call officer outside typical working hours and on weekends to provide emergency accommodation and financial support to potential victims, but observers noted that, at times, the NRM was not fully functional on weekends. In previous years, the on-call SWS officer did not deem potential trafficking cases an emergency. The government trained SWS officers on various victim protection efforts.
The law entitled officially identified victims to psycho-social services, health care, translation and interpretation services, education, vocational training, and financial assistance. The government also provided full support to potential victims until their identification process was completed. Once the ATU officially identified a victim, SWS evaluated the needs of victims and referred them to the appropriate government agencies and NGOs for assistance. SWS operated a specialized shelter for female sex trafficking victims with the capacity to accommodate 15 victims; the SWS-run shelter accommodated 16 victims (33 in 2021) over the year. Victims may stay for one month or longer, as appropriate, in the shelter for a reflection period. The SWS-run shelter allowed adult victims to leave the shelter voluntarily after an assessment conducted by the ATU. The government allocated €389,000 ($415,600) to operate the SWS-run shelter in addition to staff salaries, a decrease compared with €459,100 ($490,490) in 2021. GRETA reported “a high standard of accommodation” in the SWS-run shelter, including living conditions, protections, and reintegration programs. NGOs reported the overall quality of SWS services were good in addition to service quality at the health care services and labor office but the SWS-run shelter lacked recreational and educational activities for victims. The SWS-run shelter previously consisted of only Greek-speaking staff, causing communication issues with victims, but added staff members who spoke English during the reporting period. The government increased the weekly cash allowance for victims staying at the SWS-run shelter to €25 ($27) from €17 ($18). The government also provided an assistance package worth €1,306 ($1,400) for pregnant victims, which included childcare products until the child was two years old; two victims received the assistance package. The government maintained a memorandum of cooperation with an NGO to manage transitional housing for female sex trafficking victims, which accommodated sex trafficking victims searching for permanent residence after leaving the state-run shelter, and to provide longer-term accommodations for female victims in apartments. The government also partnered with an NGO to provide apartments for male victims. The government allocated €110,000 ($117,520) to the two NGOs providing shelter and accommodations, a decrease compared with €145,000 ($154,920) in 2021. The government provided a rent subsidy and a monthly allowance for all victims, but victims faced obstacles in securing adequate accommodations because of increasing housing costs and greater demand for low-cost housing. The government allocated €297,645 ($318,000) for rent allowances and financial assistance to trafficking victims through a public benefit scheme known as Guaranteed Minimum Income, an increase compared with €213,622 ($228,230) in 2020, the most recent year the government reported this amount. The government continued to prioritize public benefit applications from trafficking victims over all other beneficiaries, but observers continued to report long delays, and victims waited several months to receive benefits with no retroactive payments. SWS provided emergency financial assistance to victims facing delays in receiving monthly allowances, but the amount was insufficient to cover basic necessities. The government allocated €19,430 ($20,760) for emergency rent and assistance to cover urgent needs, a decrease compared with €52,500 ($55,560) in 2021. The government continued to fund an NGO-run children’s house to provide education, placement into foster homes, and specialized medical and psycho-social care for child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, including trafficking. Victims could access free health care at public hospitals but did not have access to the General Healthcare System, established in 2019, which allows free access to participating private-sector health care providers. Employment counselors trained to handle sensitive cases sought suitable employment for each victim, and benefits for victims did not discontinue until a SWS officer and an employment counselor examined each case.
The government maintained a referral system and trained authorities to identify potential victims among people in detention facilities, but, because of delays in formal identification procedures, victims may have been detained in reception centers while waiting for their interviews. The government repatriated or granted residence permits and work authorization to foreign national victims, including those who decided after their reflection period not to cooperate with the police. The government granted 36 requests for residence and work permits (five in 2021) but did not report the number of victims granted refugee or international protection status (six in 2021). However, in November 2020, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) informed a foreign labor trafficking victim – identified in 2015 – that his residence and work permits would not be renewed and that he would be processed for repatriation because of the absence of a criminal court case against his traffickers. Prosecutors reportedly declined to prosecute his case because of a lack of corroborating evidence. As a result, police arrested and detained the trafficking victim on March 14, 2021. After the international community inquired about the case, authorities released the victim on March 31, 2021, although his residence and work permits were still pending. Specialized personnel in the ATU, including a forensic psychologist, conducted interviews with victims before taking an official statement; 12 victims assisted law enforcement investigations (22 in 2021). Police permitted victims to leave Cyprus and return for trial after assessing potential risks and covering travel costs. In 2021, the ATU and SWS arranged for one victim to return to testify and covered accommodation and travel expenses for a victim’s family member to emotionally support the victim. The government also covered the expenses for two victims to visit their families in their home country and return to Cyprus to serve as witnesses in the trial. However, victims and witnesses often left the country and did not return before trial because of long delays, hindering prosecution efforts. The law entitled victims to witness protection through a request made by the police to the Attorney General; no requests were made in 2022 or 2021. Police officers escorted victims to court proceedings, and the law allowed courts to hold closed-door trials, provide a partition to separate victims from their traffickers, provide remote testimony, and use video-recorded testimonies for children; the government reported victims testified virtually from another court in one trial to avoid contact with the defendant and prevent re-traumatization. Authorities provided victims’ family members living abroad protection measures from intimidation and retaliation by arranging travel to Cyprus through diplomatic channels. The law allowed restitution through criminal cases and compensation through civil suits, but judges have never issued restitution, and authorities only approved two applications to date from victims for legal aid to pursue compensation.
PREVENTION
The government increased prevention efforts. The Multidisciplinary Coordinating Group (MCG) to combat trafficking, composed of relevant government agencies and NGOs, implemented and monitored anti-trafficking efforts; the MCG met twice in 2022 (three times in 2021). The MCG extended the 2019-2021 NAP for Combatting Trafficking into 2022 because many actions were delayed because of the pandemic. The MCG conducted an awareness campaign on demand reduction for sexual services provided by trafficking victims on TV, radio, cinemas, and social media platforms. The MCG conducted a second campaign targeting victims and potential victims through flyers and posters written in ten languages. The ATU created an online platform to report trafficking-related information and also maintained an anti-trafficking hotline; the hotline received eight calls in 2022, as in 2021. The government advertised the hotline number in government offices, in police stations, in airports, and on NGO premises and resumed awareness campaigns targeting vulnerable communities and the public on various anti-trafficking issues. In 2020, the ombudsman produced two public reports on the government’s anti-trafficking policies in response to civil society concerns. One report concluded government services did not fully implement provisions of the victim protection law because authorities did not renew the residence permits of victims exploited abroad; civil society filed a complaint stating authorities had not fully implemented the ombudsman’s recommendations. NGOs reported the government had not issued the recommended residence permits by the end of the reporting period.
The law required employment agencies acquire a permit and prohibited withholding payment, confiscating passports, and charging workers for job searches, placement, and maintenance of employment; the Ministry of Labor revoked the licenses of 18 agencies and fined one agency for fraud. The government allocated funds to hire an additional 30 labor inspectors to increase inspections in rural and remote areas for forced labor and labor violations. The MOI maintained a contract for employment of domestic workers and defined the process by which the employee or the employer could terminate the contract. In addition, the contract set a €309 ($330) minimum monthly salary for domestic workers and required employers to be responsible for accommodations, medical insurance, meals, visa fees, travel expenses, and a repatriation ticket. The MOI maintained a higher minimum monthly salary for workers from the Philippines and Sri Lanka at €400 ($430) and €350 ($380), respectively. The MCG formed a subcommittee for creating awareness campaigns and reducing the demand commercial sex acts. The government made additional efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, including by criminalizing the demand and purchase of commercial sex from a trafficking victim.
TRAFFICKING PROFILE:
As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in Cyprus. Foreign victims identified in Cyprus in 2022 were from Cameroon, Eastern Europe, Egypt, India, Nepal, and Nigeria. In previous years, victims were also from Cameroon, China, Czech Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Moldova, the Philippines, Romania, Russia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Traffickers subject women, primarily from Eastern Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, to sex trafficking. Sex trafficking occurs in private apartments and hotels, on the street, and in bars, pubs, coffee shops, massage parlors, and cabarets known for the availability of commercial sex. Traffickers exploit short-term tourist visas available to Ukrainians and Russians to recruit young women for sex trafficking in bars and private establishments and recruit some female sex trafficking victims with false promises of marriage or work as barmaids or hostesses. Traffickers subject foreign migrant workers – primarily from North Africa but also from South and Southeast Asia – to forced labor in agriculture. Employment agencies recruit and exploit migrant workers who enter the country on short-term work permits in labor trafficking; after the permits expire, traffickers use debt-based coercion, threats, and withholding of wages and documents. Domestic workers from India, Nepal, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka are vulnerable to forced labor. Traffickers subject asylum-seekers from Southeast Asia and Africa to forced labor in agriculture and domestic work. Unaccompanied children, children of migrants, Roma, and asylum-seekers are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor. Romani children are vulnerable to forced begging. Traffickers exploit Cypriots addicted to drugs and young women with disabilities to commit criminal offenses such as distributing illegal substances and committing welfare benefits fraud.
AREA ADMINISTERED BY TURKISH CYPRIOTS
The northern area of Cyprus is administered by Turkish Cypriots. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots proclaimed the area the independent “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (“TRNC”). The United States does not recognize the “TRNC,” nor does any other country except Türkiye. Turkish Cypriot authorities did not maintain any efforts to provide victim protection and assistance or implement efforts to prevent trafficking. Turkish Cypriot authorities do not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so, even considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its anti-trafficking capacity. Despite the lack of significant efforts, authorities took some steps to address trafficking. In April 2018 “Parliament” passed the UN TIP Protocol. In March 2020, “Parliament” amended the “TRNC Criminal Code” to include trafficking for the first time; and Turkish Cypriot authorities convicted its first trafficker under the trafficking article in December 2022 and sentenced the trafficker to four years’ imprisonment. However, Turkish Cypriot authorities did not investigate or prosecute other traffickers in 2022. Turkish Cypriot police did not identify any trafficking victims and provided no victim protection, including shelter and social, economic, and psychological services. Turkish Cypriot authorities did not allocate funding or implement prevention efforts to combat trafficking.
The “Nightclubs and Similar Places of Entertainment Law of 2000” stipulated nightclubs may only provide entertainment such as dance performances, but Turkish Cypriot authorities rarely enforced this “law.” Turkish Cypriot authorities reported 26 nightclubs in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots employed 1,353 women during the reported period (617 in 2022), and observers continued to report the nightclubs acted as brothels where sex trafficking commonly occurred. Police confiscated passports of foreign national women working in nightclubs and issued them hostess visas upon entry into the area administered by Turkish Cypriots. Turkish Cypriot authorities did not permit women to change employers once under contract with a nightclub and routinely deported victims who voiced discontent about their treatment; Turkish Cypriot authorities deported 11 women after curtailing their contracts (322 women in 2021). The “law” prohibited living off the earnings of prostitution or encouraging prostitution, but nightclub bodyguards accompanied female nightclub employees to their weekly health checks for sexually transmitted infections, ensuring the women did not share details about potential exploitation in commercial sex with police or doctors to facilitate continued illegal activity. The “law” that governed nightclubs prohibited foreign women from living at their place of employment; however, most women lived in dormitories adjacent to the nightclubs or in other accommodations arranged by the owner, a common indicator of trafficking. Observers reported nightclub owners and bodyguards blackmailed victims, made death threats, forced victims to use drugs, and prevented victims from receiving any medical assistance.
The “Nightclub Commission,” composed of police and “government officials” who regulated nightclubs, met monthly and made recommendations to the “Ministry of Interior” regarding operating licenses, changes to employee quotas, and the need for intervention at a particular establishment. The “Nightclub Commission” reportedly inspected nightclubs randomly and followed up on complaints. However, in practice, inspections focused on the sanitation of kitchens and, interviews with women working in nightclubs always took place in front of nightclub bodyguards or staff, preventing women from speaking freely. Nightclubs provided a source of tax revenue for Turkish Cypriot authorities with media reports in 2015 estimating nightclub owners paid between 20 and 30 million Turkish lira ($1.07 million and $1.6 million) in taxes annually, presenting a conflict of interest and a deterrent to increased political will to combat trafficking. In addition, observers alleged complicit “government officials” were involved in organized criminal groups associated with nightclubs and that some police maintained connections with nightclub managers, owners, and operators, which further stymied efforts to address concerns.
Turkish Cypriot authorities issued 1,353 six-month hostess and barmaid “work permits” for individuals working in nightclubs and pubs in 2022, compared with 942 issued between April 2019 and January 2020. Observers reported that nightclub owners hired female college students to bypass the cap on the number of employees legally permitted in each club and to avoid taxes and monitoring. Turkish Cypriot authorities reported permit holders came from Algeria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, Moldova, Morocco, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, and for the first time from Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Iran, Lebanon, Romania, Tunisia, and Venezuela. Turkish Cypriot authorities have not provided the number of “work permits” issued to domestic workers since 2018 (3,143). Turkish Cypriot authorities did not encourage potential victims to assist in prosecutions against traffickers and deported all potential victims. The “law” allowed compensation through civil suits, but experts reported the process was extremely difficult because of a lack of victim assistance, particularly legal assistance; one potential victim filed a civil suit. Turkish Cypriot authorities did not have a NAP and did not conduct any awareness campaigns or research on trafficking issues. Turkish Cypriot authorities did not enforce labor “laws,” and observers reported Turkish Cypriot representatives made little effort to investigate employers and recruitment agencies charging high recruitment fees, confiscating passports, or withholding salaries, which were common practices. The “Social Services Department” in the “Ministry of Labor” continued to run a hotline for social service complaints, which included trafficking. However, it was not always operational and was inadequately staffed, and experts reported trafficking victims were afraid to call the hotline because they believed it was linked to Turkish Cypriot authorities. NGO-run hotlines reported 13 calls from trafficking victims, compared with 77 calls from potential trafficking victims in 2021.
As reported over the past five years, human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots. Traffickers exploit women from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa in sex trafficking in nightclubs licensed and regulated by Turkish Cypriot authorities. Men and women are exploited in forced labor in the industrial, construction, agriculture, domestic work, restaurant, and retail sectors. Traffickers control forced labor victims through debt-based coercion, threats of deportation, restriction of movement, and inhumane living and working conditions. Labor trafficking victims originate from Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and South and Southeast Asia. Migrants, especially those who cross into the area administered by Turkish Cypriots after their work permits in the Republic of Cyprus have expired, are vulnerable to labor trafficking. Romani children and Turkish seasonal workers and their families are also vulnerable to labor exploitation and trafficking.
Thirty percent of the total population in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots are foreign university students, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East. Turkish Cypriot–funded and for-profit universities pay unregulated agents and recruitment agencies up to €1,000 ($1070) for each successfully recruited student. Agents and recruitment agencies deceive foreign students with false promises of scholarships, free housing, and employment. Unlicensed moneylenders issue loans to students and confiscate their passports as guarantees, increasing their vulnerability to trafficking to pay off debts. Traffickers force female students into sex trafficking in apartments and male students into forced labor or coerce students to commit crimes such as transporting or selling drugs. Students who drop out of school or engage in irregular work, many from sub-Saharan African countries, are particularly vulnerable. Local business owners deceive newly arrived students into working in nightclubs, casinos, hotels, and other places of employment under inhumane working conditions with little or no pay. Migrants, asylum-seekers, LGBTQI+ persons, and refugees and their children are also at risk for sexual exploitation. Observers reported traffickers shifted tactics during the pandemic, forcing female sex trafficking victims to visit clients’ homes because of the drop in demand at nightclubs and often marketed home visits to potential clients under the guise of massage services. Civil society reported traffickers allegedly facing financial hardship because of the pandemic acted with increased aggression toward victims.
PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers and seek adequate sentences, which should involve significant prison terms.
- Establish and implement policies and procedures to identify and refer trafficking victims to appropriate support services.
- Open a shelter and provide funding to NGO care services for the protection of victims.
- Increase transparency in the regulation of nightclubs and promote awareness among clients and the public about force, fraud, and coercion used to compel commercial sex.
- Investigate and prosecute allegedly complicit “officials” in trafficking and convict complicit “officials.”
- Provide alternatives to deportation for trafficking victims.
- Acknowledge and take steps to address conditions of forced labor, including among foreign university students.
- Take steps to eliminate all recruitment fees charged to workers and foreign university students by recruitment agencies and investigate claims of non-payment of wages, withholding of passports, and illegal fees charged by agencies and employers.
- Regulate and monitor the university system for the recruitment of students, including by agents, sub-agents, and moneylenders.