La Strada Documentation Center

Report on Asylum, Detention of Migrants and Trafficking in Human Beings in the Republic of Cyprus

Document number
1939
Date
2008
Title
Report on Asylum, Detention of Migrants and Trafficking in Human Beings in the Republic of Cyprus
Author/publisher
Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe
Availability
View/save PDF version of this document
Document type(s)
Meeting Documentation/Conference Reports,
Keywords
Migrant rights; Migration management; Comprehensive approach to migration; Migration policy; Restrictive migration measures, Irregular Migration, Feminization of migration, Economic migration, Labour migration, Free movement, Undocumented migrants; Undocumented labour;
Summary

The Report was published following a visit of the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner and its delegation to the Republic of Cyprus on 7-10 July 2008, in which they met State authorities and non-governmental organisations to discuss a number of human right issues, in particular asylum, detention of migrants and trafficking in human beings. In the report, published on 12 December, Commissioner Hammarberg takes note of the difficulties that Cyprus is facing due to the significant influx of asylum seekers. He is nevertheless concerned about the bureaucratic obstacles that asylum seekers have to confront to access social support. Concerning detention, Thomas Hammarberg notes that the average detention time pending deportation appears to have decreased, but nevertheless urges Cyprus to keep it to a strict minimum and to ensure adequate detention conditions. He also calls on the authorities to adopt new legislation ensuring that free legal aid is available to asylum seekers and to guarantee effective access to judicial review of detention and deportation decisions. Finally, while he welcomes the entry into force of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings in Cyprus in February 2008, he deplores the fact that the country is still associated with human trafficking, particularly of women for sexual exploitation.

Related documents