Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said Tuesday in Novi Sad that 30 people were arrested and 21 criminal charges filed for human trafficking in Serbia over the past nine months.

At a conference dedicated to the EU Anti-Trafficking Day, Dacic said at Vojvodina's Assembly that during that period, 73 people fell victim to the most horrendous, frequent, and profitable of all crimes, apart from arms and drug trafficking.

President of the European Affairs Fund Predrag Novikov, President of the Vojvodina Assembly Sandor Egeresi, head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Vincent Degert and head of the OSCE Mission in Serbia Dimitris Kypreos also addressed participants of the conference organized by the Fund and the Serbian Ministry of the Interior.

Dacic underlined the importance of prevention, as the principal task of the state, provincial, and local authorities, as well as non-governmental and international organizations.

Human trafficking, which entails sexual exploitation, forced labour, forced begging and stealing for someone else's good, is one of the most serious crimes against humanity and human rights, Dacic stressed, adding that this day is being marked in 70 towns across Serbia under the slogan 'Human beings are invaluable'.

According to Degert, human trafficking is one of the most horrible crimes against human rights and dignity, and that all international community is investing efforts into countering it, in line with the regulations and action plans drafted by relevant authorities.

He said that prevention is of utmost importance, as well as subsequent assistance to the victims so as to help them heal their wounds and reintegrate into the society. Noting that a half of the identified victims are minors which makes this crime even more despicable, Degert stressed that in order to tackle this global issue, all states and institutions must act in concert.