Over the decades various people sought by the police have fled to the TRNC, including Turkish Cypriot Asil Nadir, the tycoon behind the collapsed Polly Peck business empire whom Britain wants to try on fraud charges.

The new money laundering law and a planned casinos law will help bolster the battle against organized crime.

The TRNC, home to fewer than 200,000 people and subject to international trade restrictions, boasts more than 40 casinos, an important part of its allure for visitors from Turkey and southern Cyprus where gambling is prohibited.

Iraqis, Palestinians and others enter the TRNC on a regular ferry service from Syria and then try to cross into the south to claim asylum in the EU. Many are deported as economic migrants