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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

More needs to be done to combat human trafficking

cyprus-mail.com

By Natalie Hami Published on September 14, 2011

CYPRIOT authorities have not taken adequate measures to discourage human trafficking and a law adopted in 2007 does not go far enough to protect victims of it, an evaluation report by the Council of Europe’s Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking Human Beings (GRETA), concludes.
In a report published on Monday, GRETA suggested that the authorities should take more specific measures to discourage the practice by targeting the most common forms of human trafficking on the island, these being sexual and labour exploitation.
According to the evaluation this mostly involves foreign nationals.
The report also highlighted that there has not been a single conviction for the criminal offence of trafficking and no victims have received compensation.
Concerning the prosecution of traffickers, the report stresses that there were 11 convictions in 2008 and two in 2009 but they were not convicted of crimes against morality rather than specifically for human trafficking.
Other concerns raised were over the care of women in shelters with some NGOs worried over the lack of vocational training provided in them. The evaluation honed in on the shelter run for female victims of sexual exploitation by the Social Welfare, which provides shelter for one month, during which time victims can engage in activities like cooking and crafts.
Apart from targeting the shortcomings of the Cypriot authorities, GRETA also targets several encouraging aspects in terms of measures that have been taken such as the comprehensive anti-trafficking law adopted in 2007.
However even the law defines “victims of trafficking in human beings” as someone who has sustained damage or financial loss directly caused by the offence of trafficking. According to the report this may have negative implications for their subsequent assistance and protection.
Another significant step forward was the abolition of the “artiste” visa in September 2008, which allowed foreigners in on three-month permits to work in bars, but this turned out to encourage the trafficking of women into the country for sexual exploitation as many who came in on “artiste” visas ended up working as prostitutes.
Furthermore, the Multidisciplinary Coordinating Group for Combating trafficking was established in 2008, involving all relevant national bodies and NGOs. They in turn have drawn up a National Action Plan for 2010-2012.

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