“We Are Not Living Off Prostitution”
THE ASSOCIATION of Night Club Owners (SYNKENTHEA) has blasted Minister of Interior plans to stop issuing visas to non-EU women coming to Cyprus to work at cabarets.
SYNKENTHEA’s President Antonis Hadjiantonis said that foreign circles, particularly from the United States, are pushing for these measures, which the cabaret-owners consider unjust.
“We are not living off the profits of prostitution and we are being unjustly slandered. The authorities are at war with us, following instructions by the USA, which – for political reasons – is trying to present Cyprus as a country where foreign women are being exploited,” Hadjiantonis told a press conference in Limassol yesterday.
Hadjiantonis warned that if the measures are implemented, the cabaret-owners will take “dynamic measures”, as their livelihood would be in danger. The cabaret-owners pointed out that it is difficult to find female EU citizens who are willing to come to Cyprus to work at nightclubs.
The cabaret-owners also complained that they were not consulted when the decision-making process was taking place, even though their interests are directly at stake.
“Why are they ignoring us and what role did the USA and some foreign circles play? Even members of the Holy Synod were called at Parliament during the discussion of the issue of prostitution and exploitation, but we were not called,” Hadjiantonis said.
SYNKENTHEA described as ‘myth’ that women working in cabarets are pushed into prostitution. Hadjiantonis said that police statistics indicate that out of the 192 prostitution cases in the last three years, only 42 involved cabaret employees.
“As for the cases that involved women working in cabarets, only 22 cases went to court and in none of these cases was a cabaret-owner found guilty,” he added.
Hadjiantonis also lashed out at the police, suggesting that police officers are taking inappropriate measures against cabaret-owners. “We want the police to stop using people with criminal records, in the same way they do with drug cases, in a bid to trap cabaret-owners, even resorting to using photocopied banknotes,” he said.
“We don’t think that the 100 establishments of our members throughout Cyprus are causing that much panic in a country plagued by drugs, free-riders, financial scandals, gambling and bingo, so why don’t they leave us alone to live within the law with our families?” he added.
