Police probe human-trafficking link in buffer zone twins’ case

Police on Wednesday were investigating whether human traffickers assisted the entry to the Republic of two unaccompanied three-year-old twin girls, one of whom was found wandering alone in the buffer zone.

Both girls were handed over to their parents who are reportedly being held in the north after they attempted to illegally cross to the government-controlled areas along with a group of migrants in the early hours on Tuesday.

In their attempt, they were seen by officers working in the north and lost two of their three children due to limited visibility, AlphaNews reported.

The first child, aged three, was found by members of a UN patrol at about 4am on Tuesday wandering alone in the buffer zone near Athienou in the old road of Pyroi -Larnaca.

Her twin was found later that day at Pournara migrant reception centre in Kokkinotrimithia. Police said she was taken there by another woman who realised the girl’s parents had stayed on the other side.

Both children were separately handed over to their parents at the Ledra Palace crossing in the presence of UN and welfare officers.

Police are investigating whether human traffickers are involved in the case, since evidence emerged that two buses, one with men and another with women and children, arrived in Pournara that day. It is estimated the buses started from the buffer zone, carrying people from the northern part of the island.

The woman who helped one of the two twin girls arrive in Pournara is expected to give a second statement to the police on Wednesday.

Police spokesman Christos Andreou had said the woman is an illegal migrant from Nigeria who appears to have crossed from the occupied areas at the same time as the family with the twin girls tried to cross.

Under circumstances that have still not been clarified, it seems the woman took one of the children with her and were picked up by an unknown person in a car which took them to Pournara in Kokkinotrimithia, Andreou had said.

In his statements to Alpha TV on Wednesday, the officer said initially “we could not cross-check the information and to date the persons who picked up the migrants and transported them elsewhere are unknown”.

He added the woman “confirmed that a vehicle had picked her and the child up and some other foreigners who were passing through at the time”.

Andreou said authorities are making efforts to identify the traffickers, as is done in all cases where migrants cross into the free areas through the buffer zone. He said trafficking of migrants takes place daily in Cyprus.

“In this case, too, according to her allegation, there is a vehicle in which a driver and a passenger were present, who seem to be involved in trafficking of persons.

“Our aim is to trace the identities of these persons and proceed with the investigation,” Andreou added.