Cyprus upgraded in US human trafficking report

Cyprus was upgraded to tier one status in the US’ annual human trafficking report, noting that “the government made key achievements” towards the elimination of such criminal activities.

Judith Garber, US ambassador to Cyprus, on Wednesday praised the hard work of all members of the anti-trafficking community in Cyprus – with her office further adding that “we applaud Cyprus’ recent successful efforts”.

In its assessment of the government’s improvements, the July 2022 report emphasised that traffickers were convicted for the first time in three years. It further highlighted that additional social workers were hired and arrangements were made for foreign national victims to return to Cyprus to testify, among others.

For its part, the justice ministry on Wednesday acknowledged that the previous report – covering the period from April 2020 until March 2021 – uncovered gaps and shortcomings in efforts to combat trafficking, leading to Cyprus being downgraded to tier two last year.

The latest report said that the government convicted 10 traffickers under the trafficking law, four for sex trafficking and six for forced labour; these were the first trafficking convictions in four years. Judges sentenced one trafficker to eight years’ imprisonment, two traffickers to two years’ imprisonment, and two traffickers to one year and eight months’ imprisonment.

The lack of convictions was one of the main reasons why Cyprus was previously downgraded, an issue which the justice ministry acknowledged and said it worked very hard to address.

However – the latest report said more must be done to prevent lenient sentences from being handed down, pointing to judges having sentenced four traffickers with only a three-year suspended sentence and one trafficker with a fine of €14,950.

It cautioned that: “Such lenient sentences undercut efforts to hold traffickers accountable, weakened deterrence, created potential security and safety concerns for victims, and were not equal to the seriousness of the crime.”

The profile of the human trafficking victims identified in Cyprus during the past year varied widely – with nationals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Nigeria, Romania, Russia, and Syria. In previous years, victims were also from Cameroon, China, Czechia, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Moldova, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The report explained that traffickers subject women, primarily from Eastern Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, to sex trafficking. It found that 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 Ukrainian and Russian nationals 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,” the report added.

Justice Minister Stephie Drakou called on all members of the public to engage with the authorities to further stamp out human trafficking. She reiterated that the hotline 1497 is now available – since March 2021 – for people to report such incidents or find out more information.

As for the north, it said that if the “TRNC” were to be assigned a formal ranking in this report, it would be tier three. The “TRNC” does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so.