PROTECTION
The government sustained efforts to identify trafficking victims. Government officials identified seven trafficking victims in 2014, an increase from six victims identified in 2013. One Colombian adult female victim continued to receive services.The government’s victim assistance bureau partnered with an NGO to provide victims with care and assistance, which included legal assistance, medical care, and counseling. The government operated no specialized shelters for trafficking victims but could use a domestic violence shelter that sometimes restricted victims’ movements. Authorities provided temporary assistance to a female Indian trafficking victim, at the request of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, during her repatriation back to India.The government has never identified any trafficking victims within Curaçao’s legal brothel. Government health officials who provided medical services to women in the brothel did not provide any anti-trafficking training or education materials to ensure potential human trafficking victims knew their rights, indicators of human trafficking, and who to call if they suspect trafficking.Trafficking victims could seek restitution from the government and file civil suits against traffickers, though none did so in 2014.
The government reported it had a policy to provide foreign victims with legal alternatives to their removal to countries where they may face retribution or hardship, but did not report whether it provided any to trafficking victims in 2014. Authorities could grant temporary residency status on a case-by-case basis, but did not report granting such relief to any foreign trafficking victims in 2014. The government did not have a policy to protect victims from being punished for crimes committed as a direct result of being subjected to human trafficking. Officials drafted but did not finalize standard operating procedures on victim identification for all front-line responders. The government developed guidelines on the role of each relevant agency in trafficking cases, but the guidelines were not yet operational.

PREVENTION
The government made progress in efforts to prevent trafficking. Officials launched a “road show” intended to educate the general

public and vulnerable communities about trafficking.Two cabinet- level ministries drafted and signed an anti-trafficking protocol with the business community in November 2014.The protocol offered shorter processing times for work permits to businesses that agreed to adhere to specific anti-trafficking measures. The government made efforts to update a memorandum of understanding with the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which provided ongoing cross- training to exchange best practices with other anti-trafficking officials in the kingdom. The government did not report efforts specifically targeting the demand for forced labor, nor did it have a campaign aimed at potential clients of the sex trade in Curaçao in an effort to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts.The government provided anti-trafficking training or guidance for its diplomatic personnel. There were no known reports of child sex tourism occurring in Curaçao or of residents of Curaçao participating in international sex tourism.

CYPRUS: Tier 2 
Cyprus is a source and destination country for men, women, and children subjected to forced labor and sex trafficking.Victims identified in Cyprus in 2014 were primarily from Eastern Europe and South Asia. In previous years, victims from Africa, Dominican Republic, and Philippines were also identified. Women, primarily from Eastern Europe, Vietnam, India, and sub-Saharan Africa, are subjected to sex trafficking. Sex trafficking occurs in private apartments and hotels, on the street, and within commercial sex trade outlets in Cyprus including bars, pubs, coffee shops, and cabarets. Foreign migrant workers—primarily Indian and Romanian nationals—are subjected to forced labor in agriculture. Migrant workers subjected to labor trafficking are recruited by employment agencies and enter the country on short-term work permits. After the permits expire, they are often subjected to debt bondage, threats, and withholding of pay and documents. Asylum seekers from Southeast Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe are subjected to forced labor in agriculture and domestic work. Unaccompanied children, children of migrants, and asylum seekers are especially vulnerable to sex trafficking and forced labor.
The Government of Cyprus does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. During the reporting period, the government convicted three traffickers and punished them with the most stringent sentences ever issued for a trafficking crime in Cyprus since it was criminalized in 2000. Authorities launched more investigations than in 2013 and achieved the first two convictions for child sex trafficking.The government nearly doubled the number of victims identified and, despite cuts in benefits in other social welfare funding, it maintained financial resources allocated to shelter victims. Reports persisted, however, of substantial delays in the issuance of monthly public allowance checks to some victims. Male victims identified in early 2015 did not receive benefits and relied exclusively on NGOs for care. Experts reported insensitive and sometimes punitive treatment of victims by the Social Welfare Service, with some victims sent to unsuitable and exploitative jobs.

RECOMMENDATIONS  FOR CYPRUS:
Improve efforts to vigorously prosecute trafficking offenses and convict and punish traffickers, including officials who are complicit in trafficking; provide increased services for male victims, including shelter; provide financial allowances for victims in a timely manner; conduct a review of practices employed by the Social Welfare Service in securing employment and accommodation for victims; train Social Welfare Service staff in best practices of victim care; continue to raise awareness of trafficking and victim identification among police and migration authorities and provide training on victim identification, particularly for forced labor; further train judges and prosecutors to ensure robust application of the new anti-trafficking law; continue increasing the use of expert witness testimony in prosecutions of trafficking offenses and adequately protect victims during court proceedings; formalize the national referral mechanism to provide a practical guide that clearly outlines the roles and responsibilities of front-line responders, respective ministries, and NGOs; launch a study of visa regimes for performing artists, students, barmaids, domestic and agricultural workers, and other categories to identify potential misuse by traffickers; and increase screening for trafficking among visa holders in vulnerable sectors.