PLENARY - MINISTRY OF JUSTICE HAS RESPONSIBILITIES FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING - RESPONSIBILITIES DELETED FROM THE DEPUTY MINISTRY OF MIGRATION - Filenews 27/3
Two law proposals by Rita Theodorou Superman, DISY Member of Parliament for the Kyrenia constituency, were voted unanimously by the Plenary Session of the Parliament on Thursday. The law proposals amend the current law so that the responsibilities related to the fight against the crime of trafficking in human beings are transferred from the Deputy Ministry of Immigration to the Ministry of Justice and consequently the issues related to the fight against this offense are deleted from the responsibilities of the Deputy Ministry.
The rapporteur has stated that trafficking in human beings is a flagrant violation of human rights and a form of organised crime. Therefore, the treatment of these issues as crimes and not as immigration issues is considered necessary for the purposes of their better handling, with the aim of taking effective measures to combat trafficking in human beings.
Ms. Superman stressed that the Deputy Ministry of Migration only recently admitted that it cannot carry out such issues and added that the law proposals it submits were made in cooperation with the Deputy Ministry and there will be a smooth transition without delay and further bureaucracy.
Nicosia Member of Parliament Irene Charalambidou said that the Human Rights Committee had expressed strong disagreement when the responsibilities were transferred to the Deputy Ministry, noting that trafficking is not a matter of immigration but of trafficking and constitutes an offense. He also added that the current Minister of Justice understood the issues and with the proposals things are getting in motion instead of waiting for a bill to be submitted.
Independent MP Alexandra Attalidou praised Ms. Superman's role in the issue and recalled that she dealt in depth with the issue of trafficking in the past when she was in the Cyprus Police and was even awarded by the US Government.
The Chairman of the Legal Committee, Parliamentary Representative of DISY, Nikos Tornaritis, also gave warm congratulations for the effort.
The Speaker of the Parliament Annita Dimitriou spoke of a great effort and initiative of Mrs. Superman and welcomed the fact that the proposal is being voted in favour.
