But is this fear justified? After all, the majority of refugees, as Radio Prague notes, seek to get to Germany or to northern European countries and perceive the Czech Republic exclusively as a transit country.
In 2015, nearly 900 people applied for refugee status in the Czech Republic, with almost half of them arriving from Ukraine. In terms of numbers, Cubans came second, and Russians rounded out the top three. Overall, compared to previous years, this statistics does not indicate a sharp increase in the number of applicants. Even less predictable, according to some experts, is the situation regarding the increased migration flows this year from North African countries.
Over the past weekend alone, the Aliens Police detained about 200 refugees in the Czech Republic. The Interior Ministry assumes that this year the number of illegal migrants who will end up in the Czech Republic may range from 3,000 to 4,000. Nevertheless, only a minority of them actually seek asylum in the Czech Republic, as evidenced by the relatively low number of applications received from foreigners who illegally crossed the border. This was reported by Pavla Novotná, an employee of the Ministry of the Interior.
The Czech Republic is not among the countries that have become the most sought-after lifebuoy for participants of spontaneous mass movements. This is confirmed by Jan Šrot from the Czech office of the International Organization for Migration: 'The Czech Republic is indeed a transit country; it is not as attractive for refugees from North Africa, the Middle East, as well as many other migrants. This is explained both by economic factors and by the language, which is strikingly different from those spoken by arriving foreigners. Refugees disperse across Europe on the basis of so-called migration networks and choose to live in countries where they have the opportunity to somehow settle down and, above all, to work. Claims that they rely solely on benefits are not supported by research findings; these are rather myths.'
But do migrants who find themselves on Czech territory have any idea of the Czech social system? 'Most of the people illegally crossing the border that we are talking about do not know the situation and rules in the Czech Republic, how high the chance of obtaining refugee status is. They ended up on our territory in some cases only because members of the mafia to whom they paid money redirected the flows of refugees in a different direction than promised. That is why these migrants experience frustration when they are detained in the Czech Republic and, unexpectedly for themselves, placed in camps just a few hundred or even tens of kilometers from where someone is waiting for them. That is apparently why there were riots last week in the camp in the town of Bělá pod Bezdězem, where refugees started a rebellion.'
A few days ago, the German Minister of the Interior stated that half a million refugees could resettle in Germany. Despite this forecast, he assured that even in such numbers, those arriving do not represent a problem that cannot be handled.
According to Jan Šrot, the Czechs are completely worried for nothing about the Czech Republic not being able to cope with the influx of migrants. He recommends that his fellow citizens look at the problem from a different perspective, even an economic one, and illustrates different approaches to migrant integration using the example of neighboring Germany.
'The number of foreigners in the Czech Republic has increased tenfold over the past 25 years, and no significant problems have arisen for the native population as a result,' says Jan Šrot. 'If we did not have these foreigners, the Czech economy would be in a worse state than it is today. We just need to set rules so that the potential of migrants is utilized, and then the presence of foreigners in the republic could, in the long term, also have a positive impact on our economy. It is important, of course, that migration is regulated, and in that case it can have a positive effect.'
You can also learn from the Germans – they strive to ensure that asylum seekers are employed in the shortest possible time and even look among them, for example, for craftsmen that are in short supply.