Filenews 26 January 2026 by Despina Psyllou
Inadequacy, inaction and confusion of the role of everyone in the face of the crime of human trafficking, in view of what a Channel 4 video about the sexual harassment of British women as well as illegal working and living conditions in Ayia Napa highlighted, was denounced in the Human Rights Committee of the Parliament.
As it became clear during the discussion, the responsibilities for the management of the crime of trafficking in human beings between the ministries of the Interior, Justice and Immigration became a ball. "Human trafficking should not have gone to the Deputy Ministry of Migration," underlined the president of the Committee, Irini Charalambidou, clarifying that the issue of coordination will be reviewed and that the Deputy Minister of Migration and the Minister of Justice will be summoned to Parliament soon. After all, MPs and other participants threw the hot potato at the Ministry of Justice, asking it to take over the coordination.
The Deputy Ministry of Migration is a coordinator and has no action in relation to human trafficking, pointed out its officer Xenia Georgiadis and added: "We are not doing anything about this issue. We have no action", indicating that the Police has the main role.
Taking the floor, the legal officer of the Ministry of Justice, Spyros Yiallouridis, noted that they participate in the multi-thematic on human trafficking.
When asked whether the Ministry of Justice should take over the issue of trafficking, both the Police and the Ministry of Justice refused to take a position, stating that it is a political issue.
In her intervention, MP Rita Superman pointed out that "trafficking is a human rights issue and migration is an additional factor of vulnerability". It was a serious mistake, he pointed out, that this issue left the responsibilities of the Ministry of the Interior and instead of going to the Ministry of Justice, it went to the Deputy Ministry of Immigration. "Only in Turkey is human trafficking under the Ministry of Migration," he pointed out and underlined that the Ministry of Justice did not want to take over.
The president of the Committee, Irini Charalambidou, stated at this point that the Ministry of Justice must answer for the marketing and under the new Minister of Justice.
Following the discussion and taking the floor, Christina Mitidou, on behalf of the Ministry of Labor, reiterated the position that they are not responsible for human trafficking, forcing the Human Rights Committee to prepare a letter asking for answers in relation to inspections carried out by labour officials before the video, but also after the video.
The Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare noted that it did not receive any complaint.
30 people sentenced to 5 years
A total of 30 people were sentenced to 5 years in connection with cases of human trafficking for sexual or labour exploitation, said the assistant director of the Police Crime Fighting Department, Andreas Anastasiadis, while underlining that too many checks were carried out on premises in Ayia Napa.
In 2022, he said, 26 operations were carried out throughout Cyprus, in 2023 there were 37, in 2024 there were 33 and in 2025 there were 18.
From 2021 until today, 30 people have been convicted, while 30 more cases are pending in court.
In addition, he said, three times a year they also carry out actions with Europol, while they also cooperate with other bodies.
In relation to the controversial Channel 4 video, he said that they received a large number of testimonies. "Serious work is being done, we have involved Interpol, Europol, Cybercrime and the Human Trafficking Department. They are all working with all seriousness," he underlined.
For his part, the mayor of Ayia Napa, Christos Zannettos, noted in relation to the video in question that they are waiting for the results of the investigations carried out on the properties mentioned. However, he said, this was an isolated incident.
"We have 45,000 tourists every day and more than 10,000 people are employed. We are not honoured by such incidents, but they are isolated," he stressed.
For our part, he added, as long as we were in charge, we carried out investigations following complaints in relation to the living conditions of employees.
He also said that websites based in the Netherlands put out ads promising work and a bed – not a room – for accommodation. "These incidents also have to do with nightlife and other complaints, such as noise pollution."
Scolding the Commissioner for Equality
Criticism of the attitude of the office of the Commissioner for Gender Equality was made by the MPs for the absence of any reaction in relation to the video.
On behalf of the office of the Commissioner for Equality, the officer Andreas Misos, stated that the Commissioner condemns any act of sexual or labour exploitation. The official noted that the Commissioner is absent abroad, causing the reaction of MPs that she has not participated in any meeting for many months.
Ms. Charalambidou also said that she should have called the Police and the authorities after the video was shown. He also had to prepare a report, he said. However, Mr. Misos replied that it would be a wish list, as Josie Christodoulou does not have an institutional role.
"The Commissioner has selective sensitivity," underlined Ms. Halambidou and asked "what did the Commissioner do? An intervention? A statement?", with the officer responding: "I don't have an answer" and Ms. Charalambidou answering "so he didn't do anything".
Organizations protest against the multi-thematic sessions
The issue of trafficking in human beings is managed through a multi-thematic approach, under the coordination of the Deputy Ministry of Migration. However, it was noted that few assemblies have been held. Specifically, three meetings were held in 2024 and one in 2025, around mid-December, where they discussed the harmonization bill.
The president of the Cyprus Stop Trafficking organization, Paraskevi Tseou, complained that they were not invited to a meeting of the multi-thematic and added that they received an answer from the Deputy Ministry of Migration that other organizations had to participate and that is why they were excluded.
The founder of the non-governmental organization Step Up Stop Slavery, Katerina Stefanou, said that they were not invited in December to the multi-themed event.
