A 60 and 25-year-old were detained for five days and appeared in court on Monday on allegations of human trafficking and labour exploitation.

The two suspects were arrested on January 10 after the anti-trafficking unit carried out a check at an agricultural unit in Nicosia. There the officials identified two people aged 21 and 22 who appeared to be victims of human trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation.

The migration department had initially received information over such suspicions and soon alerted the anti-trafficking unit.

Due to the severity of the case and the vulnerable nature of the alleged victims, they have been transferred to a safe unit by the social welfare services.

Cyprus was upgraded in July 2022 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.

The report noted improvements during 2022, after Cyprus had been downgraded the year previously mainly due to a lack of any meaningful convictions for human trafficking offences.