would have ended the 30-year division of
the island by establishing a new "United Cyprus Republic," a
majority of Greek Cypriots voted "no"; on 1 May 2004, Cyprus entered
the European Union still divided, with the EU's body of legislation
and standards (acquis communitaire) suspended in the north

Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 210,000 (both Turkish and Greek Cypriots; many displaced for
over 30 years) (2006)

Trafficking in persons:
current situation: Cyprus is primarily a destination country for a
large number of women trafficked from Eastern and Central Europe,
the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic for the purpose of
sexual exploitation; traffickers continued to fraudulently recruit
victims for work as dancers in cabarets and nightclubs on short-term
"artiste" visas, for work in pubs and bars on employment visas, or
for illegal work on tourist or student visas; there were credible
reports of female domestic workers from India, Sri Lanka, and the
Philippines forced to work excessively long hours and denied proper
compensation
tier rating: Tier 2 Watch List - Cyprus does not fully comply with
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and failed
to show evidence of increasing efforts to address its serious
trafficking for sexual exploitation problem; however, it is making
significant efforts to do so

Illicit drugs:
minor transit point for heroin and hashish via air routes and
container traffic to Europe, especially from Lebanon and Turkey;
some cocaine transits as well; despite a strengthening of
anti-money-laundering legislation, remains vulnerable to money
laundering; reporting of suspicious transactions in offshore sector
remains weak

This page was last updated on 8 February, 2007

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@Czech Republic

Introduction Czech Republic

Background:
Following the First World War, the closely related Czechs and
Slovaks of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire merged to form
Czechoslovakia. During the interwar years, the new country's leaders
were frequently preoccupied with meeting the demands of other ethnic
minorities within the republic, most notably the Sudeten Germans and
the Ruthenians (Ukrainians). After World War II, a truncated
Czechoslovakia fell within the Soviet sphere of influence. In 1968,
an invasion by W