An increasing trend has been noted compared to last year, both in the number of human trafficking cases handled by the Office for Combating Trafficking in Persons (OCTIP) and in the number of recognized trafficking victims, as well as in the number of reports/complaints of such cases, stated Chief of OCTIP, Police Superintendent Eleni Michael.
She added that there are currently 29 human trafficking cases pending in Cypriot courts, while in the last 3 years, there have been 13 convictions of Cypriots and foreigners for sexual or labor exploitation or coercion into begging. She emphasized that another form of human trafficking, coercion into committing criminal offenses, is now being observed. “We have investigated – she said – cases of sham marriages, three of which are currently under trial.”
Superintendent Michael spoke about the latest developments in the issue of human trafficking in Cyprus during the annual general assembly of the organization Cyprus STOP Trafficking, which took place in Nicosia last Monday, May 27, 2024. “We consider it a significant step – she said – that in recent times, citizens, including journalists, trust the framework of the Police and provide us with information, anonymously or even with their names, through the Police hotline for trafficking in persons 1497, or through the Police website.
Based on this information, we recently investigated a serious case of labor exploitation involving 14 victims and a second case of sexual exploitation that is being tried in the Limassol Criminal Court.” She revealed that the information for this case came from the president of Cyprus STOP Trafficking, Neophytos Neophytou, who was present during the briefing. “Also – she added – we recently investigated a case of labor exploitation involving 7 foreign workers in an agricultural unit, who were forced to live in deplorable conditions without basic facilities and to work endless hours every day, without being paid overtime, while the employer illegally withheld their wages and travel documents.”
The first customer in prison and the “lover boy”
Superintendent Michael made a special reference to the new deception method called “lover boy,” which some traffickers apply, pretending to be in love with vulnerable female victims whom they usually “hook” via the internet. As she said, they persuade them with false promises to come to Cyprus and then exploit them, taking their money under the guise of “love.”
The police superintendent recalled the first case of a client being convicted in a human trafficking case in Cyprus, involving a 38-year-old Romanian man, married and father of two minors. He was sentenced in June 2023 by the Permanent Criminal Court in Nicosia to 3 years in prison for using sexual services from a trafficking victim. His conviction was based on the article of the relevant law of 2014, amended in 2019, which criminalizes the use of sexual services from a trafficking victim, regardless of whether the defendant knew or not that the person was a victim. The author had covered for Phileleftheros the trial of this case, during which two other Romanians had also been convicted for offenses related to human trafficking and others included in the criminal code. The victim was an underage high school graduate who had not yet turned 18. The girl had been convinced by one of them, the “lover boy,” to leave her home in a community in the Famagusta province and her school in Larnaca and go with him to Nicosia. There, he arranged, without her knowledge and against her will, a sexual encounter with the client for 50 euros, which ended up in his pocket… The trafficker was sentenced to 6 years in prison.
