At least seven foreign-born women or their young daughters — many missing for months or years — are believed to have been victims of a man suspected of serial killings in Cyprus, an army officer who the police say confessed this week.

But his arrest, far from reassuring the public, has raised questions about the treatment of migrant workers on the Mediterranean island nation. It also has cast a harsh light on a police response that critics say was grossly insufficient. Most victims were domestic workers from Asia, including one who disappeared in 2016.

“With all these things that they are doing now — searches, retrieving bodies, finding these things — they should have done these things a year ago,” said Lissa Jataas, a Filipina housemaid and the founder of Obreras Empowered, a group that supports domestic workers.

The justice minister resigned on Thursday and the chief of police is facing calls to resign. President Nicos Anastasiades has ordered an investigation of the police response and, to quell international outcry, plans to meet with diplomats from the home countries of migrants who come to Cyprus for domestic work.