VZCZCXRO9429
RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHNC #0824/01 2941120
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201120Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY NICOSIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9244
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 5293
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 4080
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1242
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NICOSIA 000824 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, EUR/PGI, G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KCRM KWMN PHUM SMIG CY
SUBJECT: CYPRUS: "ARTISTE" PERMIT ABOLISHED, GOC TAKING 
OTHER STEPS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 105872 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In delivering Reftel TIP Tier 2 Watch List 
Action Plan for Cyprus ("WL Plan"), the Embassy confirmed 
with high-level GoC contacts that the Ministry of 
Interior-issued "artiste" work permit -- the favored conduit 
to traffic women to Cyprus for sexual exploitation in bars 
and cabarets -- would be effectively abolished on November 1. 
 Impresarios seeking to bring foreign women to the island to 
work in these establishments instead will have to solicit 
permits from the Ministry of Labor, which will apply more 
stringent oversight to the process; suspect "businessmen" 
already are noisily protesting the change.  Interior Minister 
Neoklis Sylikiotis has taken to denouncing publicly the 
"shame" of trafficking, while Justice Minister Kypros 
Chrysostomides promises additional resources for the police 
anti-TIP team.  Respective sub-units of the RoC's 
multi-disciplinary anti-trafficking committee will soon 
launch a public awareness campaign, assess conditions at the 
government-run victims shelter with an eye toward crafting 
improved SOPs, and crack down further against human 
traffickers.  End Summary. 
 
----------------------------- 
Artiste Work Permit Abolished 
----------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Sylikiotis, speaking after a September 12 
Ministerial Committee of Employment meeting, announced the 
effective abolishment of the "artiste" work permit -- a key 
recommendation in the WL Plan -- effective November 1.  Media 
first trumpeted that the move would end or severely restrict 
trafficking, only to walk back their claims somewhat after 
further studying the proposal; still, they spun the change 
positively.  During the October 9 delivery of the WL Plan, 
Sylikiotis's deputy, Permanent Secretary Lazaros Savvides, 
confirmed the abolishment and revealed that implementing 
procedures would go to the Council of Ministers for approval 
by October 23.  Under the proposal, the Ministry of Labor, 
following practices in other EU member states, would create 
three types of specialist work permits for "spiritual 
creators," performers, and supporting staff.  There would be 
objective criteria applied in judging qualifications, 
Savvides explained, including applicants' international 
renown and, in the case dance troupes, proof of their prior 
public performances.  (Note:  Our NGO contacts were 
encouraged by the change, reckoning that "artistes" would be 
allowed to switch employers or even employment sectors after 
a dispute with their employer, impresarios would have to 
rewrite their performers' contracts to conform to MOL norms 
and standards, and the MOL would be able to enforce workplace 
rules.  Contacts could even envision bar/cabaret workers 
unionizing in the future.) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
MOI Reaction to Other Elements of T2WL Action Plan 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶3. (SBU) In reaction to the first recommendation in the WL 
Plan -- that the GoC demonstrate vigorous law enforcement by 
upping prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing, Savvides 
proposed a coordination meeting between the Cypriot police, 
Attorney General, and MOI personnel to study next steps. 
Moving to other elements of the Plan, the MOI had completed 
the design work for the TIP demand reduction campaign -- 
Recommendation 3 -- and was selecting a vendor to manage its 
implementation.  One of the NGOs serving on the 
multi-disciplinary committees was already heavily involved in 
the campaign, Savvides noted.  As to Recommendation 4, the 
committee would soon issue a lengthy report, complete with 
recommendations for improved SOPs, on the government-run 
shelter for trafficking victims.  Additional resources for 
the anti-TIP unit, as stipulated in the Plan's fifth 
recommendation, depended on a more favorable police/Ministry 
of Justice budget, Savvides explained.  He expected, however, 
a slight increase in his own ministry's budget for 
anti-trafficking activities.  (Note:  The Justice Minister 
informed the Ambassador on October 14 that the police 
anti-trafficking unit, which was doing "excellent work," 
would receive increased resources shortly.) 
 
¶4. (U) Minister Sylikiotis on October 13 delivered remarks at 
an anti-TIP seminar organized by the European Parliament's 
local office and NGO Mediterranean Institute of Gender 
Studies (MIGS).  Sounding more determined than any 
high-ranking Cypriot official to date, he pledged to attack 
 
NICOSIA 00000824  002 OF 002 
 
 
the TIP problem immediately.  Cyprus had to rid itself of 
this "shame," and required deeds, not words, to do so.  It 
was "unthinkable" that a whole year had passed between 
enacting the new anti-TIP law and the operation of the 
multi-disciplinary committee, the Minister continued.  Soon, 
however, the committee would accelerate its work pace and 
focus on abolishing the "artiste" visa and launching a demand 
reduction campaign.  Sylikiotis acknowledged that changing 
the work permit regime alone would not eradicate TIP, and 
called for greater coordination of government and NGO action. 
 
 
-------------------------------- 
MFA Reaction to T2WL Action Plan 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) The Embassy presented the WL Plan to the Foreign 
Ministry on October 10.  Acting Political Director George 
Kasoulides seemed better informed on TIP than in earlier 
conversations, noting, for example, that Cyprus had not 
secured a single anti-trafficking conviction under its 2007 
anti-trafficking law.  Referring to demand reduction, 
Kasoulides estimated the GOC could double the amount pledged 
for the campaign by the end of 2008, without explaining, 
however, from where the money would come.  He revealed that 
the MFA had been pushing within the multi-disciplinary 
committee to double the number of staff at the shelter, which 
offered victims 24-hour assistance.  Both the MOI and MFA 
wished to increase the number of police investigators 
tackling TIP cases, Kasoulides added.  In regards to 
establishing an International Organization for Migration 
(IOM) office in Cyprus, he pledged that IOM was welcome, and 
should consult the MFA if it encountered any roadblocks. 
Kasoulides concluded by claiming he had seen great changes in 
his colleagues who were tasked to combat TIP, having become 
less dismissive toward victims' reports of abuse. 
 
------------------------------------- 
The Gall of Them:  Impresarios Picket 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Owners and managers of Cyprus's numerous bars and 
cabarets on October 15 conducted a noisy demonstration 
outside the Ministry of Interior, protesting the artiste 
permit's abolishment and arguing that prostitution did not 
occur in their establishments.  The new arrangement under the 
Labor Ministry would require them to file reams of additional 
paperwork and increase their employment costs, they 
continued.  Finally, the "businessmen" lamented that no Greek 
Cypriot woman would dare think to work in a cabaret -- if 
they could not import labor, how could they survive? 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Embassy remains hopeful the GOC's louder 
anti-trafficking rhetoric will convert into additional 
concrete actions; indications look promising, especially 
Sylikiotis's vigor in criticizing TIP and the government's 
heretofore unacceptable performance combating it. 
Abolishment of the artiste permit was a promising first step, 
and shortly we should be able to gauge the work of the 
multi-disciplinary sub-committees tackling other WL Plan 
recommendations. 
Urbancic