Minister of Labour and Social Policy Rasim Ljajic opened a shelter for victims of human trafficking in Novi Sad today, located in the Safe House for women, the first institution of this type to have been opened as part of the social care system in Serbia.

Opening the shelter, Ljajic specified that from 2009 until mid-2011 a total of 284 cases of human trafficking have been registered in Serbia, of which 72% were women.

The Minister noted that the victims are subjected to sexual exploitation, while the kidnapped ones are forced to do physical labour or some other work, or to beg.

The shelter can accommodate six victims of trafficking for a period of six months, he said, adding that the project is implemented by the government, the local self-government, NGOs and international organisations with the financial support of the UN and the Belgian and Swiss governments.

Similar shelters may soon be opened in Subotica, Nis, Pozarevac, Kraljevo and other towns.

Trafficking in human beings has been known in Serbia since the 1990s, but until 2004 it was assumed that only foreign nationals were involved, primarily women, he said.

However, over the past seven years domestic criminals are taking part in this crime and there is an increasing number of victims from Serbia, including the Roma, while one third are children.