‘Police conducting hotel checks by the book’

Police spokesman Christos Andreou said police have been conducting checks at hotels in accordance with procedures, following complaints from the hoteliers’ association (Pasyxe) about raids causing panic.

Andreou, in a conversation with the Cyprus Mail, addressed a specific raid at a Paphos hotel, highlighted by Pasyxe as causing panic. Andreou clarified that police did not enter the building during the operation, as is customary in most operations aimed at uncovering illegal employment.

Instead, a perimeter of 15 officers was formed around the hotel to prevent individuals from fleeing, due to the fact that when the labour and migration officers enter in plain clothing, individuals working at the hotel generally attempt to flee.

The spokesman further explained that during these operations, police officers do not carry firearms and their primary role is to prevent people from escaping. However, he noted that despite the controversy surrounding the particular incident, no arrests were made for illegal employment, as the employees chose to wait out the operation in their rooms.

“Police cannot enter the rooms,” he explained.

Commenting on the hotel group, Andreou mentioned that several complaints had been filed against them.

He also said that specifically in the Paphos area, arrests related to combating illegal employment in Cyprus had doubled within a year, with 31 arrests made so far in 2024 compared to 14 in 2023.

Also speaking to the Cyprus Mail, the ministry of labour confirmed that they received a letter from Pasyxe regarding the incident in Paphos and addressed the concerns raised by the hoteliers.

In a statement to the Cyprus Mail, Labour Minister Yiannis Panyiotou said: “The extent of the practice of illegal and undeclared work is alarming and must not be underestimated by any party in order to effectively tackle it.

We take it as a given that employers’ organisations will join the state in the fight against illegality in the interest of healthy competition and in the interest of law-abiding employers. Tolerance of those who break the law will allow the phenomenon to be perpetuated, illegal and undeclared workers to multiply, the loss of revenue for the Social Security Fund to increase and illegal immigration flows to increase.

So, for these reasons, we call on all employers to meet their obligations and we expect the social partners to act responsibly and help.”

Speaking earlier in the day, the general director of Pasyxe Philokypros Roussounides reiterated his statements from a day ago, suggesting that the police could have conducted the operations with more discretion.

Roussounides specifically mentioned the incident in Paphos, claiming that around 30 police officers caused panic by entering the hotel.

He argued that even though two individuals with fake IDs were found, it would have been challenging for the hotel owner to detect them, as their responsibility lies in hiring and submitting forms to social insurance.