Labour exploitation predominant form of trafficking in Cyprus

Cyprus has been named among countries in which labour exploitation emerged as the predominant form of trafficking, GRETA report says. 

According to the latest annual report from the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (Greta), published on Tuesday, in Cyprus the proportion of identified victims of labour exploitation grew from one third of the total of identified trafficking victims in 2013, to two thirds in 2015.

This makes Cyprus one of European countries in which labour exploitation has emerged as the predominant form of trafficking.

According to the main findings of the report trafficking for labour exploitation is on the rise across Europe. In several countries, it has overtaken sexual exploitation as the main form of human trafficking and official figures underestimate the true scale of the problem and there have been few successful prosecutions and convictions.

The main findings of the report state that trafficking for labour exploitation is on the rise across Europe. In several countries, it has overtaken sexual exploitation as the main form of human trafficking, and official figures underestimate the true scale of the problem, Greta said, adding that there had been few successful prosecutions and convictions.

Based on Greta’s country-by-country monitoring work, the report says that labour exploitation has emerged as the predominant form of trafficking in several European countries including Belgium, Cyprus, Georgia, Portugal, Serbia and the United Kingdom.

According to the Office of the Commissioner for Administration and Human Rights, there are some 30,000 migrant women in Cyprus employed as domestic workers. Until recently, domestic workers were obliged to work for a certain time with the same employer, but a ministerial decision simplified the procedures for changing employers and removed the minimum time requirement.

From 2011 to 2014, 11 cases of suspected human trafficking among domestic workers were investigated by the Cypriot police, leading to 17 persons being identified as victims of trafficking.
In Austria and Cyprus, labour inspectors have the right to inspect private households, but rarely do so in practice,” it said.

It added that in Cyprus, there were three cases of private companies investigated for labour exploitation from 2011 to 2013, including a number of Indian nationals and one Sri Lankan who were identified as victims of human trafficking by the police.