Lawyer laments lack of human trafficking law prosecutions
NOT a single person has been prosecuted under much-heralded human trafficking laws introduced in the TRNC more than two years ago, a human rights lawyer has said.
Fezile Osum, of the Human Rights Platform, said that police are reluctant to prosecute suspects under human trafficking legislation passed by MPs from all parties in March 2020 as an amendment to the TRNC’s Penal Code, and following Parliament’s adoption of the United Nations Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Protocol in April 2018.
Police “lack the necessary capacity” to deal with human trafficking cases, preferring to charge suspects under lesser offences, she said, adding that there is no dedicated anti-human trafficking unit in the TRNC.
Ms Osum made the comments on Tuesday at a “Together Against Trafficking in Human Beings” panel discussion in Lefkoşa hosted by the European Commission to mark the EU’s “Anti-Trafficking in Human Beings Day”.
Others on the panel were Kiersten Strachan of the US embassy in South Nicosia and Katerina Stephanou from the Step Up Stop Slavery non-governmental organisation.
The European Commission’s director general for structural support, Mario Nava, also gave a short speech at the event, with oppositions MPs Sıla Usar İncirli, Fikri Toros and Armağan Candan of the Republican Turkish Party, and Jale Refik Rogers of the People’s Party among the audience.
Speaking about the scale of the human trafficking problem on the island, Ms Osum said that so far there have only been three complaints of human trafficking made to the police in the TRNC.
She said that despite “all the proof” of human trafficking existing in the three cases, police were only considering one of them as a possible human trafficking offence. Ms Osum said that the case is still being considered and is likely to be referred to a higher court for a decision on how it should be prosecuted, but that in the meantime she is “not hopeful of a conviction any time soon”.
She explained that there are two main types of human trafficking taking place – sex trafficking and labour trafficking – but that most of the victims are “not aware” that they have been trafficked.
Other problems that Ms Osum highlighted include “a lot of victim blaming and shaming” and “intimidation” of lawyers by the police, as well as the general attitude of the Cypriot population to the victims, and the lack of a shelter in North Cyprus for human trafficking victims.
She added that currently 70 per cent of the cases involve Nigerian citizens who arrive on student visas, particularly females who are lured to the TRNC from rural areas on false pretences and “locked in apartments” and forced into prostitution.
“We need to tackle racism and xenophobia,” Ms Osum said. “The majority [of trafficking victims] are black women. . . Most people think these women want to be prostitutes.”
“Nightclubs” are another problem, Ms Osum noted, adding the freedom of women there is “limited” and that it is very difficult for lawyers and other experts to gain access to help the women in such places.
She also said that the existing legal framework for human trafficking “only deals with the crime, but not the rights of the victims” and that a “budget needs to be allocated to deal with the problem in the North”.
Ms Osum stated that the “frozen conflict” in Cyprus “also adds to the problem” with human trafficking victims escaping from one side only to be exploited again on the other side.
MP Jale Refik Rogers, who spoke from the audience, said that when she raised the issue of human trafficking with the previous head of the police force, she was given the “excuse of a lack of personnel”.
She said that the “success of the domestic violence unit” should be replicated to combat the trafficking of people into the country, but added that the new police chief is against officers becoming “specialised” in one subject.
Mrs Rogers also said that the university application process for students from abroad needs to be made “more stringent” but that there is a “big group of politicians who don’t want to accept that there is a problem with universities”.
Panel member Katerina Stephanou said that judges and lawyers also need to become specialised in dealing with human trafficking cases.
She added that the official identification of a person as a trafficking victim is “extremely important” for them to receive help, and that workers such as airline staff and teachers at universities should be given training to help spot potential victims.
American embassy official Kiersten Strachan quoted from her country’s most recent Trafficking in Persons Report, which said that the TRNC “does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so”.
However, she “commended the Turkish Cypriot community” for the measures that have been taken, describing the 2020 Penal Code amendments and Parliament’s adoption of the UN TIP Protocol as “wonderful”, while noting that the US embassy has “very good partners on the ground”.
‘STILL A LOT OF WORK TO DO’
The European Commission’s Mario Nava, who gave the opening remarks at the event, said: “When it comes to the Turkish Cypriot community, I am very pleased that human trafficking is now considered a crime. However, despite this progress there is still a lot of work to do.
“There is also a need to improve bicommunal cooperation by exchanging information and learning from each other, which also helps to pave the way towards the reunification of the island.
“What fills me with some optimism is that there are many committed people and organisations in the Turkish Cypriot community determined to continue to combat human trafficking and the EU will continue to support these initiatives.”
Mr Nava explained that the EU “Strategy on Combating Trafficking in Human Beings” focuses on “reducing demand that fosters trafficking, breaking the business model of traffickers, protecting, supporting, and empowering the victims, with a specific focus on women and children”.
A statement from the European Commission said that “as part of the EU Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community, the European Commission announced a one million-euro call for the Turkish Cypriot community in 2018 dedicated to improving the situation on the ground and supporting projects aimed at eradicating human trafficking”.
The statement added: “Currently, the European Commission is providing financial support to the Human Rights Platform, an association of several civil society organisations, which continues the important work to strengthen multi-stakeholder coalitions to combat trafficking.”
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