A woman has been sentenced to four years in prison for human trafficking in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), the first such sentence in this territory recognized only by Ankara, an official told AFP on Wednesday. lawyer.
The victim is a Nigerian woman in her twenties who arrived in northern Cyprus on a student visa, with the aim of studying and working there, said Fezile Osum, who works with Human Rights. Platform, an association located in the northern part of Nicosia.
Human trafficking criminalized since 2020
A member of the European Union, Cyprus has been divided since the 1974 invasion by northern Turkey in response to a coup by Cypriot-Greek nationalists who wanted to attach the Mediterranean island to Greece.
The victim was
“forced into prostitution”
by another Nigerian woman who demanded money from her because she said she had helped her with the formalities for
“her visa and her university”.
She was manipulated with
"voodoo rites"
and
"was very afraid of being cursed"
if she disobeyed the woman, said Fezile Osum, who said Human Rights Platform had provided legal aid to the young woman.
The other Nigerian was sentenced to four years in prison, according to Fezile Osum, whose association obtained on Monday a copy of the judgment announced on December 13 but not yet made public, she said.
Authorities in Northern Cyprus began to criminalize human trafficking in 2020 but so far no convictions had been registered, the lawyer pointed out.
The US State Department does not formally classify the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRCN) in its annual report on human trafficking but has indicated that this territory could be in the same category as countries such as Afghanistan or North Korea.
Human Rights Platform assisted 23 Nigerian women victims of sex trafficking in 2022, all of whom arrived in the North on student visas.