A victim of trafficking who was trafficked through a trafficking network in Cyprus has been deported illegally instead of being protected as per the law and according to the European and other international conventions that Cyprus has ratified. The victim arrived in Cyprus in October 2011 after he had paid the amount of 12,000 euro to the trafficking network which is operating under the disguise of “employment agent”. KISA intervened and reported the incident to the authorities about a year ago but no action has been taken so far to dismantle the network. On his arrival, the victim was taken to a farm where he was forced to work for about 14-17 hours per day.
Amongst others, the employer withheld all the victim’s personal documents and did not allow him to go outside the farm. In addition, the victim did not have a bank account or a residence permit, both required by law. The victim contacted KISA’s Migrant and Refugee Centre for help at the beginning of December 2012 but due to our heavy workload we were unable to see him immediately and report the incident to the competent authorities.
The victim was arrested by Nicosia YAM (Aliens and Immigration Unit) and was taken to its headquarters, where he was held for the purpose of deportation. On the same day, after being alerted about the arrest, we sent a letter by fax to the Head of the Office of Combating Trafficking in Human Beings at Police Headquarters whilst a copy was delivered by hand to YAM where the victim was held. In addition, we contacted by telephone the YAM officer who was informed and promised that he would investigate the complaints for trafficking before YAM proceeding to any measures concerning deportation.
Instead of the above, the victim was finally deported on 28.12.2012. In a new communication with the same police officer he claimed that the Office of Combating Trafficking in Human Beings of Police Headquarters was closed for the Christmas holidays and for this reason they had proceeded to his deportation without investigating the complaint for trafficking. Moreover, not only did the police not investigate the case for trafficking but neither did it act to ensure that that the victim would receive his salaries the employer owed him, in violation of the Return Directive, which has been transposed into national law and requires the State to guarantee that all accrued salaries owed by the employer, even if employment is not declared or if the migrant does not have a regular residence or work visa.
Furthermore, the victim has claimed that he and another person in custody were ill-treated in order to force them to hand in their passports to the police so that the latter could proceed with their deportation. KISA condemns this attitude by the authorities and demands:
1. The whole case to be investigated by the police and especially the reasons for which YAM proceeded to the deportation of the victim without taking him to the Social Welfare services to be informed about his rights and without informing the compete Police Office .
2. To develop a policy for ensuring that such practices will not be repeated again in the future.
3. To develop a policy that will ensure the effectively implementation of the law in relation to the migrant to receive any dues from the employer before the forced return of the migrant to his/her country of origin.
4. To investigate the complaints for ill-treatment of the victim by YAM officers KISA Steering Committee