Closed nightclubs workers say they were not coerced
FIVE women affected by the forced closure of four unlicensed nightclubs in the Haspolat area by Lefkoşa Turkish Municipality have denied suggestions that they were being made to work illegally as prostitutes.
The women, identified only by their initials, were speaking to Cyprus Today’s sister newspaper Kıbrıs — accompanied by “minders” from their clubs.
They told the paper they were happy with their jobs as “hostesses” and they had not being coerced into working in the TRNC.
“AL” came from Ukraine 11 years ago and said she had signed her eighth contract to work here.
She said that if she had been forced to work, she would “not have signed [the contract]”.
She said she was “free to go and visit her family whenever she wanted” and added that the women’s living quarters were “very clean”.
“We love our jobs,” she said. “No-one is keeping us here by force. We get our money. When we don’t have any money they give us advance payments.”
She added: “We experienced huge stress when our workplace was closed down.”
Another worker, “AC”, also from Ukraine, said she had first come to North Cyprus in 2016 and was on her third contract with her current employer.
She said women workers were “not being beaten and forced to work as claimed”, adding: “Why would we come back [to the TRNC if that was the case]?”
“AS”, who first came to the TRNC in 2010, supported her colleagues’ views. She said police had increased their checks from once a fortnight to weekly and that she and others had health checks every month. She said her job here allowed her to support a daughter in Ukraine.
Moldovan “AG”, who has been here for two years, said she was now on her fifth contract and was allowed to make visits back to her home country. She said her child and family were now “losing out” because of her loss of income.