Trafficking in persons for sexual and/or labour exploitation continues to be one of the most serious crimes in Cyprus and internationally. However, it is encouraging that in the US State Department’s 2025 Annual Report on Human Trafficking in the World, covering the period April 2024 – March 2025, which was published in September 2025, the Republic of Cyprus remained – for the fourth consecutive year – in the commendable Tier 1 category of countries that meet the minimum criteria for the elimination of human trafficking.
The report, which separately evaluates the situation in the government-controlled areas and the occupied territories, notes, among other things, that “the Cypriot government continued to make serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period, which included investigating, prosecuting, and convicting more suspected traffickers and providing support services to more potential and identified victims.”
A completely different picture is described by the US State Department concerning the occupied territories, where, according to the report, the dozens of nightclubs in the area “operate as brothels that coerce women into trafficking.” The Americans indirectly but clearly indicate that this crime occurs with the tolerance and cover of the occupying “authorities,” since, as stated in the report, “Turkish Cypriot ‘representatives’ did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any trafficker in 2024, did not identify any human trafficking victims, and did not provide victim protection services.”
It is noted that in the US report, occupied Cyprus is referred to as “the northern area of Cyprus administered by Turkish Cypriots, who declared it an independent ‘Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus’ in 1983.” It is added that “the United States does not recognise the ‘TRNC,’ nor does any other country except Turkey.” The US State Department’s report includes a detailed assessment of the anti-trafficking efforts of governments in 188 countries and territories, including the United States.
A reference to the US report was made by Police Inspector Eleni Michael, head of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Office (ATPO) of the Crime Fighting Department at the Police Headquarters, last Friday, 17 October 2025, at an event organised by the Cyprus Stop Trafficking organisation in Nicosia, on the occasion of the European Anti-Trafficking Day, which is 18 October each year. Speakers at the event also included Paraskevi Tzeou, Executive President of Cyprus Stop Trafficking, who focused mainly on labour exploitation, and Turkish Cypriot researcher Mine Yucel, who briefly described trafficking in the occupied territories. Androula Christofidou Henriques, Honorary President and founder of Cyprus Stop Trafficking, also made a short intervention.
Tourist visas, false promises, debt bondage…
Regarding the government-controlled areas, the US report, which is based on reports and data from both the state and non-governmental sectors, records, among other things, that “traffickers exploit Cypriot drug addicts and young women with disabilities to commit crimes, such as distributing illegal substances and social welfare benefit fraud.”
It is added that “human trafficking for sexual exploitation occurs in private apartments and hotels, on the street, and in bars, pubs, cafes, massage parlours, and cabarets. In 2024, foreign victims identified in Cyprus were from Romania, Somalia, and Sri Lanka.” It is also mentioned that “traffickers exploit women, primarily from Eastern Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, for sex trafficking.
Traffickers exploit the short-term tourist visas available to Ukrainians and Russians to recruit young women for sex trafficking in bars and private establishments, while they recruit some sex trafficking victims with false promises of marriage or employment as barmaids or receptionists. Traffickers subject foreign workers, mainly from North Africa and South and Southeast Asia, who enter the country on short-term work permits, to forced labour in agriculture. After the permits expire, traffickers continue to exploit migrant workers through ‘debt bondage,’ with threats and the withholding of wages and documents. Domestic workers from India, Nepal, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka are particularly vulnerable to human trafficking. Unaccompanied children, migrant children, Roma, and asylum seekers are particularly vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labour. Roma children are vulnerable to forced begging.”
The ‘Police’ are allies of the traffickers!
Regarding the occupied territories, the US report notes that the “Nightclubs and Similar Entertainment Venues Law of 2000″ stipulates that nightclubs can only provide entertainment, such as dance shows, but Turkish Cypriot ‘representatives’ (i.e., the ‘police’ and officials of the pseudo-state) rarely enforce it.”
According to the report, “Turkish Cypriot ‘representatives’ reported that 27 nightclubs in the Turkish Cypriot-administered area employed 98 women in March 2025 (compared to 743 in 2023), while observers reported that the nightclubs operated as brothels, which usually coerce women into trafficking. Turkish Cypriot ‘representatives’ seized the passports of foreign women working in nightclubs and issued them ‘visas’ for ‘escorts’ upon their entry into the Turkish Cypriot-administered area. Although human trafficking has been criminalised since 2020, Turkish Cypriot representatives did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any trafficker in 2024. They also did not identify any human trafficking victims and did not provide victim protection services.”
The above was confirmed in her intervention at the Cyprus Stop Trafficking event by Turkish Cypriot researcher Mine Yucel, who stated, among other things, that the Nicosia “municipality” shelter intended for victims of domestic violence is the only available shelter in the occupied territories, which occasionally hosts a limited number of human trafficking victims, depending on space availability. She stressed that “no systematic campaign targets the prevention of human trafficking, awareness-raising, education, or the regulation of high-risk sectors such as agriculture, domestic work, or entertainment, and what does happen is the identification and deportation of foreigners who have overstayed their ‘visas’.” She added that “in the northern part of Cyprus, there is no anti-trafficking coordinating body, which makes trafficking exclusively a ‘police’ matter – there are no public services available for human trafficking victims, and there is no public shelter or helpline. There is no referral mechanism, nor is there a public victim identification mechanism.
Identification is almost entirely reliant on ‘non-governmental’ organisations, particularly the Human Rights Platform, which conducts ad hoc checks based on international protocols. Only those victims who actively seek help are identified, and even then, deportation remains the standard outcome, which prevents approximately 80% of potential victims from coming forward due to fear of deportation. Deportation remains the default response, even for identified victims. Due to the traumatic experience, human trafficking victims also choose to be deported.”
Victims are ‘fished’ online with false promises of high pay
“Labour exploitation is one of the most common forms of human trafficking in Cyprus and continues to be a dark aspect of our modern society, with traffickers adapting their tactics to the new realities of 2025,” said Paraskevi Tzeou, Executive President of Cyprus Stop Trafficking, among other things. She added that “while the official registration of victims of labour exploitation has shown a declining trend from 2020 to today, reports of potential victims are increasing, suggesting that the problem remains deep and is evolving. At the heart of the issue is the exploitation of vulnerable groups, mainly migrant workers and asylum seekers, for whom the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) recently, in April 2025, called for more protection. The lack of transparency in recruitment procedures and the need for a workforce in specific sectors, such as agriculture, construction, and the HoReCa sector (i.e., tourism and catering businesses – hotels, restaurants, cafes), create fertile ground for unfair practices.”
Ms. Tzeou emphasised that “beyond classic methods, such as the retention of travel documents and the coercion of victims to work to repay exorbitant transportation and accommodation ‘fees’, traffickers are adopting more sophisticated tactics, such as digital deception and fictitious positions. With the digital upgrade of businesses being a priority and the labour market becoming more fluid, traffickers are now using the internet and social media to post false, attractive job advertisements.
Potential victims are ‘fished’ online with false promises of high pay and good conditions but discover they were deceived as soon as they arrive in Cyprus. Practices of depriving victims of means of communication and housing them in isolated areas, often in places with unacceptable sanitary conditions, remain, making it difficult for victims to contact the authorities or claim their rights. Furthermore, the increased use of flexible and part-time employment, while institutionally a positive development, can be abused. Exploiters present contracts as ‘flexible,’ but in reality, they impose exhausting hours and uninsured/undocumented work, avoiding control and legal wages.”
Finally, Paraskevi Tzeou mentioned that “with the approval of the Employment Framework for Foreign Workers in February 2025, a Tripartite Advisory Committee was established to monitor its implementation. Nevertheless,” she underlined, “asylum seekers remain particularly vulnerable, as the uncertainty of their legal status makes them easy targets for exploitation, with very low wages and a lack of basic rights.”
