Some 29 human trafficking cases currently pending in Cypriot courts

An upward trend was noted compared to last year, both in the number of cases of human trafficking handled by the Office for Combating Trafficking in Persons (OCTIP) and in the number of recognized victims of trafficking, as well as in the number of reports/complaints. such cases, said OCTIP head Police Commissioner Eleni Michael.

She added that there are currently 29 human trafficking cases pending before Cypriot courts, while over the past three years, 13 Cypriots and foreigners have been convicted of sexual or labor exploitation or for forced to beg. She highlighted that another form of human trafficking, coercion to commit criminal offenses, was now being observed. “We have investigated – she declared – cases of simulated marriages, three of which are currently being judged. »

Superintendent Michael spoke about the latest developments in the field of human trafficking in Cyprus at the annual general meeting of the organization Cyprus STOP Trafficking, which took place in Nicosia on Monday 27 May 2024. “We consider this as an important step – she said. – that in recent times citizens, including journalists, trust the police cadre and provide us with information, anonymously or even with their name, via the police hotline for human trafficking 1497, or via the Police website.

Based on this information, we recently investigated a serious labor exploitation case involving 14 victims and a second sexual exploitation case which is currently being tried in the Limassol Criminal Court. She revealed that the information about this case came from the Chairman of Cyprus STOP Trafficking, Neophytos Neophytou, who was present during the briefing. “In addition – she added – we recently investigated a case of labor exploitation involving 7 foreign workers on a farm, who were forced to live in deplorable conditions, without basic and adequate facilities. working endless hours every day, without being paid for overtime, while the employer illegally withheld their wages and travel documents.

The first client in prison and the “Lover Boy”

Superintendent Michael made particular reference to the new method of deception called “lover boy”, which some traffickers are using, pretending to be in love with vulnerable female victims, who they usually “hook up” via the Internet. As she said, they persuade them with false promises to come to Cyprus, then exploit them, taking their money under the guise of “love”.

The police commissioner recalled the first case of conviction of a client in a human trafficking case in Cyprus, involving a 38-year-old Romanian, married and father of two minors. He was sentenced in June 2023 by the Nicosia Permanent Criminal Court to 3 years in prison for using the sexual services of a trafficking victim. His conviction was based on the section of the relevant law of 2014, amended in 2019, which criminalizes the use of sexual services from a victim of trafficking, whether or not the accused knew that she was a victim. The author had covered the trial of this case for Phileleftheros, during which two other Romanians were also convicted of crimes related to human trafficking and others provided for in the penal code. The victim was a minor high school graduate who was not yet 18 years old. The young girl had been convinced by one of them, the “lover boy”, to leave her home in a community in the province of Famagusta and her school in Larnaca and go with him to Nicosia. There, he organizes, without her knowledge and against her will, a sexual encounter with the client for 50 euros, which ends up in his pocket… The trafficker is sentenced to 6 years in prison.