Filenews 3 January 2024 - by Despina Psilou
98 people have been victims of modern slavery, which can take the form of sexual, labour or other exploitation, in the last four years.
These are data from the Ministry of Interior, which it publishes today in the framework of the Strategy and National Action Plan for the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons and for the Protection of Victims 2023-2026.
In this short period of time, the Police have identified 98 people as victims, of which 24 men, 65 women and 9 minors. Of these, 33 were victims of sexual exploitation, 26 of labour exploitation, 8 of forced marriage, 12 of criminal acts, 2 of begging, 2 of illegal adoption and 15 of combined sexual and labour exploitation. The main nationalities of the victims were Egyptians, Romanians, Cypriots, Bulgarians, Cameroonians and Nepalis. In this four-year period, a total of 24 individuals have been convicted.
Experience shows that sexual exploitation and exploitation at work are the most common forms of trafficking in persons in our country. In the four-year period 2019-2022 there has been a decrease in official victim identification, despite the fact that reports of potential victims have shown an increasing trend.
It is worrying that in the four years there has been an increase in trafficking in persons for the purpose of crime. However, since 2020 there has been a decreasing trend regarding trafficking in persons for labour exploitation, for marriages of convenience.
According to a memorandum from the Ministry of Interior, trafficking in persons is a volatile, difficult to control and organised crime committed by individuals or organised networks of traffickers and traffickers. The aim of traffickers and traffickers is to exploit a human being, which they achieve through threats, violence, coercion, kidnapping, deceit, deception and deception.
Exploitation takes various forms, such as forced prostitution, pornography, begging, street selling, forced labour or work under inhuman or degrading conditions, coercion to commit minor offences/serious offences, forced marriage, organ harvesting, illegal adoption, etc.
In Cyprus, sexual exploitation and exploitation at work are the most common forms of trafficking in persons. Recent years have seen new forms of exploitation, such as trafficking for begging and marriage of convenience.
Recognizing the complexity of the issue and the need for a comprehensive approach to trafficking in persons through the establishment of an integrated framework covering all levels and aspects of the problem, the Ministry of Interior has drawn up a National Strategy Plan and Action Plan (NAP) for the three-year period 2023-2026.
The Plan 2023-2026 is a continuation of the corresponding Plan implemented in the period 2019-2022, and includes revised actions as well as new ones, aiming at upgrading and better managing the problem, with the main focus on the protection and support of victims.
The total of 38 actions of the National Action Plan are divided into four axes, as follows:
1. Strengthen prevention and reduce risks of victimization.
2. Suppression of crime.
3. Protection, support and reintegration of victims.
4. Cooperation and coordination.
