[ Human Trafficking, Country-by-Country ]

CYPRUS (Tier 1) – Extracted in part from the U.S. State Dept 2023 TIP Report

The Government of the Republic of Cyprus fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.  The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period, considering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, if any, on its anti-trafficking capacity; therefore Cyprus remained on Tier 1.  These efforts included identifying more victims and issuing stricter sentences.  Authorities disseminated internal instructions to prosecutors to prioritize and expedite trafficking prosecutions and allowed victims to testify virtually in trials to mitigate re-traumatization.  The government maintained a robust victim assistance program, including increasing weekly cash allowance for victims and hiring 50 social workers to work with vulnerable communities.  The government organized awareness campaigns after not conducting any in 2021 and allocated funding to hire more labor inspectors to inspect rural and remote areas for forced labor and other labor violations.  Although the government meets the minimum standards and continued to secure convictions, it convicted fewer traffickers and prosecuted fewer defendants.  Social Welfare Services (SWS) continued to not respond to referrals of some potential victims in a timely manner and failed to refer all potential victims to police for official identification procedures.  The government reduced overall funding for victim assistance and did not disburse financial assistance to victims in a timely manner, judges continued to not issue restitution as part of sentencing, and victims have never received compensation from the compensation fund.

Prioritized Recommendations

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers under Law 60(I), including complicit officials.

Proactively identify victims among vulnerable populations, including migrants, asylum-seekers, and agricultural workers.

Allocate sufficient resources to enable police to effectively investigate all offenses and SWS to refer all potential victims in a timely manner.

Allocate sufficient resources for victim protection and reduce delays in providing victim assistance, including access to health care, rental disbursements, and financial assistance.

Seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should include significant prison terms, and train judges at all levels of the judiciary to take the severity of trafficking into account when issuing sentences.

Increase training for government personnel, particularly SWS officials, on victim identification, assistance, and referral.

Reduce delays in court proceedings.

Strengthen the capacity of the Labor Inspectorate to identify and refer victims of forced labor.

Improve victim-centered investigations and prosecutions and implement witness protection measures when necessary.

Implement recommendations made by the Ombudsman and other entities that monitor and evaluate anti-trafficking policies and efforts.

Train judges on restitution in criminal cases, establish procedures to seize assets from traffickers, and create effective methods to allocate restitution in a timely manner.

Inform all identified victims of their right to pursue compensation and encourage them to do so.

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