No human trafficker in north Cyprus was investigated or prosecuted in 2023, nor was any victim offered any shelter, a US State Department report published on Tuesday last week revealed.

It identified a huge spike in the number of women who were deported after they spoke up after their treatment, which shot up from 11 in 2022 to 805 in 2023.

The findings detailed in the 2024 Trafficking in Persons Report exposed a series of concerns over the situation unfolding in the north, including “inhumane working conditions” and conflicts of interest from those supposed to be cracking down on the crime.

“Nightclub owners and bodyguards blackmailed victims, made death threats, forced victims to use drugs, and prevented victims from receiving any medical assistance,” the report said.

It highlighted 743 women were reported to be working in nightclubs in 2023 with observers reporting that nightclubs act as brothels, commonly forcing women into sex trafficking.

A ‘Nightclub Commission,’ composed of police and ‘government officials’ who regulate nightclubs, held monthly meetings and offered recommendations to the ‘interior ministry’ regarding operating licenses, changes to employee quotas, and the need for intervention at a particular establishment.

“However, in practice, inspections focused on the sanitation of kitchens and interviews with women working in nightclubs always took place in front of nightclub bodyguards or staff, preventing women from speaking freely.”

Additionally, nightclubs are a source of tax revenue for TRNC, and media reports from 2015 estimate nightclub owners paid between 20 and 30 million Turkish lira ($675,970 and $1,014,000) in taxes annually, the report said.

This “presents a conflict of interest and a deterrent to combat trafficking.”

The report cited observers raising concerns over allegations that complicit Turkish Cypriot representatives were involved in organized criminal groups associated with nightclubs and that “some representatives maintained connections with nightclub managers, owners, and operators, which further stymied efforts to address concerns.”

A trafficking hotline offered by the ‘social services’ was not always operating and inadequately staffed, according to the report.

Victims of human trafficking were afraid to use the hotline amid fears it was linked to ‘government’ officials.

The report also highlighted abuse towards foreign university students who are lured to the north with false promises of work and scholarships.

“Traffickers force female students into sex trafficking in apartments and male students into forced labor or coerce students to commit crimes such as transporting or selling drugs. Local business owners deceive newly arrived students into working in nightclubs, casinos, hotels, and other places of employment under inhumane working conditions with little or no pay.

“Migrants, asylum-seekers, LGBTQI+ persons, and refugees and their children are also at risk for sex trafficking.”

The report urged for investigations and prosecutions over complicit ‘officials’ in trafficking and the importance of convicting them.

It called for procedures to identify and refer trafficking victims to support services as well as opening a shelter to provide funding to NGO care services for the protection of victims.

Women most commonly exploited came from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa in sex trafficking in nightclubs.

Where forced labour is concerned, traffickers exploit men and women in the industrial, construction, agriculture, domestic work, restaurant, and retail sectors.

Victims originate from Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and South and Southeast Asia. Migrants, especially those who cross into the north after their work permits in Cyprus have expired, are vulnerable to labour trafficking. Romani children and Turkish seasonal workers and their families are also vulnerable to labour exploitation and trafficking.

The report for Cyprus raised the alarm that traffickers are getting suspended sentences, if convicted. 

Cyprus Mail