On the occasion of the EU Anti-trafficking Day, the European Commission held a panel at EU Programme Support Office in Nicosia in November. The opening speeches of the panel were made by Mr. George Markopouliotis, the Head of the European Commission Representation in Cyprus, and H.E. Mrs. Kathleen Doherty, the Ambassador of the United States of America in Cyprus. During the panel, Sweden’s National Rapporteur Kajsa Wahlberg talked about the Swedish model which criminalises the buying of sex. In addition to this, Özge Uğraşın, a human rights lawyer and President of the Refugee Rights Association, presented the local situation and provided recommendations. Hilary Johnson, a speaker from the US Embassy in Cyprus presented the US Department of State’s 2017 Trafficking in Persons report findings. The presentations were followed by a question and answer session.

EU Anti trafficking Day serves as an occasion to bolster Europe-wide commitment for ending trafficking in human beings, to raise awareness, exchange know-how and best practices, and take stock of what has been achieved.  Trafficking in human beings is a grave human rights violation and it is prohibited by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. 
Trafficking is very often linked with organised crime and is considered as one of the most profitable criminal activities worldwide. Women and girls represent 56 % of victims of forced economic exploitation and 98 % of victims of forced commercial sexual exploitation. “There is no human trafficking if there is no money involved and no demand" reminds the EU Anti-Trafficking Coordinator.
The European Union's policy for addressing trafficking in human beings is comprehensive focusing on prevention, protection of victims, prosecution of criminals, and the developing partnerships with the various actors involved. This approach is human rights based, victims centred, gender specific and child sensitive.

Human Trafficking in the Turkish Cypriot community

MAGEM (Mağusa Youth Centre) engaged in research on Human Rights within their EU funded Project ‘Youthopia’ granted under the Civil Society in Action IV Grant Scheme. MAGEM issued a report (accessible on this link) that emphasises the need to end impunity through first defining trafficking as a crime and criminalise all practices covered in the definition of trafficking such as debt bondage, forced labour and forced prostitution.
Based on the research findings MAGEM also recommends forming a ‘Human Trafficking Task Force’ consisting of related bodies, NGOs and other agencies in order to fight against trafficking in a cooperative and comprehensive manner. This Task Force they argue, should focus on determination of priority areas and requirements, as well as the planning of action and technical support for implementation of such activities as screening and identification of victims of human trafficking; provision of service and assistance to the victims; investigation of cases; training; awareness raising and technical-legal assistance. MAGEM's report also indicates the importance of establishing safe and adequate shelters for trafficked persons and developing a fully-fledged communication strategy for raising awareness on the dangers and consequences of human trafficking as well as for prevention of stigmatisation and xenophobic attitudes towards victims of trafficking. In this respect, MAGEM recommends developing modalities for strengthening islandwide cooperation as well as with transit and origin countries