U.S. Dep't of State, 2025 Trafficking in Persons Report: Cyprus

CYPRUS (Tier 1) The Government of the Republic of Cyprus fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continued to demonstrate serious and sustained efforts during the reporting period; therefore, Cyprus remained on Tier 1. These efforts included investigating and prosecuting more alleged traffickers, convicting more traffickers, and providing support services to more potential and officially identified victims. Unlike previous years, judges did not issue any suspended sentences and granted restitution for victims for the first time.

The government allocated significantly more funding to anti-trafficking shelters, streamlined the process for victims to access public benefits, and established a victim-centered interviewing room. Although the government meets the minimum standards, it identified fewer victims, and authorities lacked efforts to proactively identify victims and implementation of formal identification procedures, particularly for asylum-seekers, and as a result, the government did not take effective measures to prevent the inappropriate detainment of potential victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked. Social Welfare Service (SWS) continued to not respond in a timely manner to referrals of some potential victims and failed to refer all potential victims to police for official identification procedures, particularly after working hours or on weekends. Additionally, SWS responded slowly to requests for renewing residence and work permits, and the government did not disburse financial assistance to victims in a timely manner.

PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: Vigorously investigate and prosecute trafficking crimes, and seek adequate penalties for convicted traffickers, which should involve significant prison terms. Train judges at all levels of the judiciary to take the severity of trafficking into account when issuing sentences. Allocate sufficient resources to enable police to effectively investigate all trafficking crimes and SWS to refer all potential victims to protection services in a timely manner. Proactively identify victims by screening for trafficking indicators among vulnerable populations, including refugees, asylum-seekers, and agricultural workers.

Allocate sufficient resources for victim protection and reduce delays in providing victim assistance, including access to health care, rental disbursements, and financial assistance. Increase training for government personnel, particularly SWS officials, on victim identification, assistance, and referral. Strengthen the capacity of the Labor Inspectorate to identify and refer victims of forced labor to law enforcement and protection services. Improve victim-centered investigations and prosecutions and implement witness protection measures when necessary.

Train judges on restitution in criminal cases, establish procedures to seize assets from traffickers, and create effective methods to allocate restitution in a timely manner. Inform all identified victims of their right to pursue compensation and encourage them to do so.

PROSECUTION

The government maintained anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts. Laws 117(I)/2019 and 60(I)/2014 criminalized sex trafficking and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties up to 25 years’ imprisonment for offenses involving an adult victim and up to life imprisonment for offenses involving a child victim. These penalties were sufficiently stringent and, with regard to sex trafficking, commensurate with those for grave crimes, such as rape. In 2024, police investigated nine cases involving 20 suspects (three cases of sex trafficking, six cases of labor trafficking, including two involving forced criminality), compared with 12 cases involving 13 suspects in 2023.

The government prosecuted 16 alleged traffickers (five for sex traffickers, four for labor trafficking, and seven for an unspecified form of trafficking), compared with seven prosecutions in 2023. The government reported 30 prosecutions initiated in previous years remained ongoing. The government convicted seven traffickers (three for sex trafficking and four for labor trafficking, including three for forced criminality), compared with six convictions in 2023. Unlike previous years, judges did not issue any suspended sentences.

Judges sentenced one sex trafficker to eight years’ imprisonment and five traffickers between three years’ and one year imprisonment, and one trafficker received a fine of €2,500 ($2,600). The government did not report any new investigations, prosecutions, or convictions of government employees complicit in human trafficking crimes. The Ministry of Justice and Public Order maintained the Anti-Trafficking Unit (ATU), which conducted proactive investigations and used special investigative techniques. Observers reported prosecutors relied heavily on victim and witness and testimonies but also utilized forensic evidence and other evidence collected through surveillance, undercover operations, telecommunications data, financial investigations, and internet and social media data.

The government did not consistently ensure the continued inclusion of victim testimony after foreign national victims and witnesses returned to their countries of origin, at times hindering successful prosecutions. Court proceedings often lasted up to three years; however, the government maintained internal instructions to prosecutors to prioritize and expedite trafficking cases. The government maintained institutionalized training programs at the Cyprus Police Academy and Academy of the Attorney General’s Office that trained police officers and prosecutors on trafficking issues. The ATU also trained police officers and labor inspectors on various anti-trafficking issues.

Authorities conducted three joint investigations and four prosecutions with foreign authorities.

PROTECTION

The government increased victim protection efforts. The government identified 11 victims, compared with 31 victims in 2023. Of the 11 victims, traffickers exploited three victims in sex trafficking, seven in labor trafficking, and one in an unspecified form of trafficking; four were women, four were men, and three were girls; and six were foreign national victims. A multidisciplinary NRM provided SOPs for identifying and referring victims to services, including an operational manual, written guidance for first responders, and guidelines to specifically support child victims.

The ATU adopted a victim identification manual and conducted proactive identification efforts, but observers reported the ATU lacked sufficient resources to effectively investigate all referrals of potential victims, particularly among the increasing number of asylum-seekers. The NRM required first responders to conduct preliminary identification of potential victims and refer potential victims to SWS. SWS officers provided potential victims with information and notified the ATU, which officially identified victims based on a manual and guidelines. The ATU interviewed 194 potential victims referred by SWS, compared to 192 potential victims in 2023.

SWS maintained the “Unit for Managing Human Trafficking” to coordinate the identification and referral process and act as the point of contact for government services. However, despite the additional staff, SWS continued to respond slowly to some referrals of potential victims and failed to refer all potential victims to the ATU for official identification procedures. SWS maintained officers dedicated to assisting newly arrived asylum-seekers and implementing a screening system, including screening for trafficking indicators. SWS maintained an on-call officer outside typical working hours and on weekends to provide emergency accommodation and financial support to potential victims, but SWS continued to respond slowly or did not respond at all for requests to assist potential victims after working hours or on weekends.

The government trained SWS officers on various victim protection efforts. The law entitled officially identified victims to psycho-social care, health care, translation and interpretation services, education, vocational training, and financial assistance. The government also provided full support to potential victims until ATU completed the identification process; the government provided support to 161 official and potential victims (106 in 2023). Once the ATU officially identified a victim, SWS evaluated the needs of victims and referred them to the appropriate government agencies and NGOs for assistance.

SWS operated a specialized shelter for female sex trafficking victims with the capacity to accommodate 15 victims; the SWS-run shelter accommodated 18 victims (16 in 2023). Victims could stay for one month for a reflection period or longer, as needed. The SWS-run shelter allowed adult victims to leave the shelter voluntarily after an ATU-conducted assessment. The government allocated €450,000 (468,260) to operate the SWS-run shelter in addition to staff salaries, a significant increase compared with €216,000 ($271,590) in 2023.

GRETA and NGOs reported “a high standard of accommodation” in the SWS-run shelter, including living conditions, protections, and reintegration programs, but the SWS-run shelter lacked sufficient recreational and educational activities for victims. The government allocated a weekly cash allowance of €25 ($26) for victims staying at the SWS-run shelter and increased the assistance package for pregnant victims to €1,544 ($1,610), compared with €1,306 ($1,360) in 2023. The assistance package included childcare products until the child was two years old. The government maintained a memorandum of cooperation with two NGOs to manage transitional housing for female sex trafficking victims, which accommodated sex trafficking victims searching for permanent residence after leaving the government-run shelter, and provided longer-term accommodation for female victims in apartments.

The government also partnered with an NGO to provide apartments for male victims. The government allocated €252,000 ($262,230) to the NGOs providing shelter and accommodations, compared with €201,000 ($209,160) in 2023. The government provided a rent subsidy and a monthly allowance for all victims, but victims faced obstacles in securing adequate accommodation because of increasing housing costs and greater demand for low-cost housing. The government allocated €117,430 ($122,230) for rent allowances and financial assistance to trafficking victims through a public benefit scheme known as Guaranteed Minimum Income, compared with €171,454 ($178,410) in 2023.

The government continued to prioritize public benefit applications from trafficking victims over all other beneficiaries, and the government reported streamlining applications to reduce delays. In previous years, observers reported long delays and victims waited several months to receive benefits with no retroactive payments. SWS provided emergency financial assistance to victims facing delays in receiving monthly allowances, but the amount was insufficient to cover basic necessities. The government allocated €20,000 ($20,810) for emergency rent and assistance to cover urgent needs, compared with €33,000 ($34,340) in 2023.

The government continued to fund an NGO-run children’s house to provide education, placement into foster homes, and specialized medical and psycho-social care for child victims of sexual abuse and exploitation, including trafficking. Victims could access free health care at public hospitals but did not have access to the General Healthcare System, which allowed free access to participating private-sector health care providers. Employment counselors trained to handle sensitive cases sought suitable employment for each victim, and benefits for victims did not discontinue until a SWS officer and an employment counselor examined each case. The government maintained a referral system and trained authorities to identify potential victims among people in detention facilities; however, due to inconsistent implementation of formal identification procedures, the government did not take effective measures to prevent the inappropriate detainment of potential victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked.

The government repatriated or granted residence permits and work authorization to foreign national victims; however, the government did not automatically renew residence permits after the completion of court cases and required victims to reapply for residence permits. The government granted 67 adults a residence and work permit (52 in 2023), but the government did not report the number of repatriated foreign national victims (two in 2023). Observers reported the SWS responded slowly to requests for renewing residence and work permits. The government created victim-centered interview rooms, and specialized personnel in the ATU, including a forensic psychologist, conducted interviews with victims before taking an official statement.

Seven victims voluntarily participated in law enforcement investigations, compared with 12 in 2023. Police permitted victims to leave Cyprus and return for trial after assessing potential risks and travel costs. However, victims and witnesses often left the country and did not return before trial because of long delays, hindering prosecution efforts. Police officers escorted victims to court proceedings, and the law allowed courts to hold closed-door trials, provide a partition to separate victims from traffickers, provide remote testimony, and use video-recorded testimonies for children.

The law allowed restitution through criminal cases and compensation through civil suits. For the first time, judges issued restitution for three victims: €4,000 ($4,160) for one victim and €2,000 ($2,080) for two victims. Similarly, the government provided legal assistance to nine victims to pursue compensation; authorities had only approved two applications from victims for legal aid to pursue compensation until 2024.

PREVENTION

The government maintained prevention efforts. The Multidisciplinary Coordinating Group (MCG) to combat trafficking, composed of relevant government agencies and NGOs, implemented and monitored anti-trafficking efforts; the MCG met four times (three times in 2023). The government maintained the 2023-2026 NAP and allocated €220,000 ($238,930) for its implementation. The ATU conducted an awareness campaign targeting the public and vulnerable populations on indicators of trafficking and advertised the hotline number in schools, municipalities, and local communities.

The government continued to conduct awareness campaigns targeting the public, asylum-seekers, and potential victims through flyers and posters written in 17 languages. The ATU maintained an anti-trafficking hotline and an online platform to report trafficking-related information; the hotline received 32 trafficking-related calls and the online platform received 11 trafficking-related reports (none in 2023). The law required employment agencies to hire only workers with employment permits and prohibited withholding payment, confiscating passports, and charging workers for job searches, placement, and maintenance of employment; the Ministry of Labor revoked the licenses of 14 agencies for failure to provide requested documentation (21 revoked licenses in 2023). The MOI maintained contract requirements for employment of domestic workers and defined the process by which the employee or the employer could terminate the contract.

In addition, the contract set a €460 ($480) minimum monthly salary for domestic workers and required employers to be responsible for accommodations, medical insurance, meals, visa fees, travel expenses, and a repatriation ticket. Labor inspectors conducted routine inspections of worksites; however, the government did not report training labor inspectors on identifying trafficking crimes or reporting any potential trafficking crimes to law enforcement. The government made efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts, including by criminalizing the demand and purchase of commercial sex from a trafficking victim. TRAFFICKING PROFILE: Trafficking affects all communities.

This section summarizes government and civil society reporting on the nature and scope of trafficking over the past five years. Human traffickers exploit Cypriots addicted to drugs and young women with disabilities to commit criminal offenses, such as distributing illegal substances and committing welfare benefits fraud. Sex trafficking occurs in private apartments and hotels, on the street, and in bars, pubs, coffee shops, massage parlors, and cabarets known for the availability of commercial sex. In 2024, foreign victims identified in Cyprus were from Romania, Somalia, and Sri Lanka.

In previous years, victims were also from Bangladesh, Cameroon, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Czech Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Moldova, Nepal, Nigeria, the Philippines, Russia, Syria, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. Traffickers exploit women, primarily from Eastern Europe, South and Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, in sex trafficking. Traffickers exploit short-term tourist visas available to Ukrainians and Russians to recruit young women for sex trafficking in bars and private establishments and recruit some female sex trafficking victims with false promises of marriage or work as bartenders or hostesses. Traffickers subject foreign workers – primarily from North Africa but also from South and Southeast Asia – to forced labor in agriculture.

Employment agencies recruit and exploit migrant workers who enter the country on short-term work permits in labor trafficking; after the permits expire, traffickers use debt-based coercion, threats, and withholding of wages and documents to further exploit migrant workers. Domestic workers from India, Nepal, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Traffickers subject asylum-seekers from Southeast Asia and Africa to forced labor in agriculture and domestic servitude. Unaccompanied children, children of migrants, Roma, and asylum-seekers are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor.

Romani children are vulnerable to forced begging.

AREA ADMINISTERED BY TURKISH CYPRIOTS

The northern area of Cyprus is administered by Turkish Cypriots. In 1983, the Turkish Cypriots proclaimed the area the independent “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (“TRNC”). The United States does not recognize the “TRNC,” nor does any other country except Türkiye. In March 2020, “Parliament” amended the “TRNC Criminal Code” to include trafficking.

Turkish Cypriot representatives did not investigate, prosecute, or convict any traffickers in 2024. Turkish Cypriot representatives did not identify any trafficking victims and provided no victim protection services. Turkish Cypriot representatives did not allocate funding or implement prevention efforts to combat trafficking. The “Nightclubs and Similar Places of Entertainment Law of 2000” stipulated nightclubs may only provide entertainment such as dance performances, but Turkish Cypriot representatives rarely enforced this “law.” Turkish Cypriot representatives reported 27 nightclubs in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots employed 98 women as of March 2025 (743 in 2023), and observers continued to report the nightclubs acted as brothels that commonly forced women into sex trafficking.

Turkish Cypriot representatives confiscated passports of foreign national women working in nightclubs and issued them hostess visas upon entry into the area administered by Turkish Cypriots. Turkish Cypriot representatives did not permit women to change employers once under contract with a nightclub and routinely deported victims who voiced discontent about their treatment; Turkish Cypriot representatives deported 14 women after curtailing their contracts (805 in 2023). The “law” prohibited living off the earnings of “prostitution” or encouraging “prostitution”, but nightclub bodyguards accompanied female nightclub employees to their weekly health checks for sexually transmitted infections, ensuring the women did not share details about potential exploitation in commercial sex with police or doctors to facilitate continued illegal activity. The “law” that governed nightclubs prohibited foreign women from living at their place of employment; however, most women lived in dormitories adjacent to the nightclubs or in other accommodations arranged by the owner.

Observers reported nightclub owners and bodyguards blackmailed victims, made death threats, forced victims to use drugs, and prevented victims from receiving any medical assistance. The “Nightclub Commission,” composed of police and “government officials” who regulated nightclubs, met monthly and made recommendations to the “Ministry of Interior” 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. Nightclubs provided a source of tax revenue for Turkish Cypriot representatives with previous media reports estimating nightclub owners paid between 20 and 30 million Turkish lira ($565,540 and $848,300) in taxes annually, presenting a conflict of interest and a deterrent to combat trafficking.

In addition, observers alleged 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. Turkish Cypriot representatives issued 966 six-month hostess “work permits” for individuals working in nightclubs, compared with 1,038 in 2023. Observers reported nightclub owners hired female college students to bypass the cap on the number of employees legally permitted in each club and to avoid taxes and monitoring. Turkish Cypriot representatives reported permit holders came from Algeria, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Morocco, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

In previous years, permit holders also came from Algeria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lebanon, Romania, Tunisia, and Venezuela. Turkish Cypriot representatives have not reported the number of “work permits” issued to domestic workers since 2018 (3,143). Turkish Cypriot representatives did not provide victim-witness assistance to encourage potential victims to voluntarily assist in criminal justice proceedings against traffickers and deported all potential victims. The “law” allowed compensation through civil suits, but experts reported the process was extremely difficult because of insufficient victim assistance, particularly legal assistance.

Turkish Cypriot representatives did not have a NAP and did not conduct any awareness campaigns or research on trafficking. Turkish Cypriot representatives did not enforce labor “laws,” and observers reported Turkish Cypriot representatives were involved and/or made little effort to investigate employers and recruitment agencies charging recruitment fees, confiscating passports, or withholding salaries – all indicators of trafficking – which remained common practices. For example, credible allegations indicated a partially “state”-owned company exploited approximately 600 seasonal workers from Bangladesh and Pakistan that traveled to the Turkish Cypriot-administered area to work on citrus farms during the summer 2024 harvest season. Recruitment agencies charged the seasonal workers an exorbitant recruitment fee of €8,000 ($8,320) to facilitate their travel and employment, and observers reported indicators of forced labor, including passport confiscation, restriction of movement and communication, threats and intimidation, withholding of salary, inadequate housing, and insufficient food and healthcare.

The “Social Services Department” in the “Ministry of Labor” continued to run a hotline for social service complaints, which included trafficking. However, it was not always operational and was inadequately staffed, and experts reported trafficking victims were afraid to call the hotline because they believed it was linked to Turkish Cypriot representatives. Trafficking affects all communities. This section summarizes government and civil society reporting on the nature and scope of trafficking over the past five years.

Human traffickers exploit domestic and foreign victims in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots. Traffickers exploit women from Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa in sex trafficking in nightclubs licensed and regulated by Turkish Cypriot representatives. Traffickers exploit men and women in forced labor in the industrial, construction, agriculture, domestic work, restaurant, and retail sectors. Traffickers control forced labor victims through debt-based coercion, threats of deportation, restriction of movement, and inhumane living and working conditions.

Labor trafficking victims originate from Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and South and Southeast Asia. Migrants, especially those who cross into the area administered by Turkish Cypriots after their work permits in the Republic of Cyprus have expired, are vulnerable to labor trafficking. Romani children and Turkish seasonal workers and their families are also vulnerable to labor exploitation and trafficking. Twenty percent of the total population in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots are foreign university students, particularly from sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia, and the Middle East.

Turkish Cypriot-funded and for-profit universities pay unregulated agents and recruitment agencies up to €1,000 ($1,040) for each successfully recruited student. Agents and recruitment agencies deceive foreign students with false promises of scholarships, free housing, and employment, as well as false claims the students will be matriculating at a college or university in the European Union. Unlicensed moneylenders issue loans to students and confiscate their passports as guarantees, increasing their vulnerability to trafficking to pay off debts. 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, persons who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, and refugees and their children are also at risk for sex trafficking. PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: Eliminate state regulation of nightclubs and promote awareness among clients and the public about force, fraud, and coercion used to compel commercial sex. Investigate all allegations of “official” complicity in human trafficking and hold complicit “officials” criminally accountable through prosecution and conviction.

Vigorously investigate, prosecute, and convict traffickers and seek adequate sentences, which should involve significant prison terms. Establish and implement procedures to identify and refer trafficking victims to support services. Open a shelter and partner with NGO care services for the protection of victims. Provide alternatives to deportation for trafficking victims.

Acknowledge and address conditions of forced labor, including among foreign university students. Eliminate recruitment fees charged to workers and foreign university students by recruitment agencies and investigate claims of non-payment of wages, withholding of passports, and illegal fees charged by agencies and employers. Regulate and monitor the university system for the recruitment of students, including by agents, sub-agents, and moneylenders. On This Page search > < CYPRUS (Tier 1) PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: PROSECUTION PROTECTION PREVENTION TRAFFICKING PROFILE: AREA ADMINISTERED BY TURKISH CYPRIOTS PRIORITIZED RECOMMENDATIONS: Tags Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Cyprus Human Trafficking Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Reports