The issue of integration of foreigners has become relevant for the Czech Republic as well
According to Radio Prague, an open public discussion was held in Prague last week on the topic 'Integration of Foreigners – How to Permanently Include Key Actors and the Local Community.' The discussion, consisting of several segments, was attended by representatives of a number of integration centers for foreigners as well as volunteers working directly on the ground.
For example, one of the tasks of integration centers for foreigners is to actively involve local self-government bodies and district administrations in cooperation in this aspect. Alen Kovacevic, coordinator of branches of the Prague Integration Center, said that until recently this was a very difficult task, as it was unclear whether these bodies were even interested in the topic of integration.
'This has changed over the past year, largely due to the current situation in the world. If district administrations are not active, we still try to find individuals there who are not indifferent to this topic. Our task is to make the topic of integration of foreigners into Czech society be perceived as really important. In some district administrations this is already happening, but far from all. For example, in local self-government bodies, coordination of integration of foreigners is often linked to the functions of coordinators for drug prevention or crime prevention. Therefore, the topic of integration of foreigners itself often gets lost and is not a key issue,' says Alen Kovacevic.
What does cooperation between, for example, a district administration and the integration center for foreigners look like? 'Of course, primarily as part of involving district administrations and local self-government bodies in the project, we offer them what we can offer officials. For example, to facilitate their work in case of need for intercultural translations – in registry offices or other institutions – we provide translation services. We also offer training for employees on pre-agreed topics – intercultural issues or issues of types and possibilities of stay for foreigners in the Czech Republic. We also conduct similar work from the other side. For example, we try to reach school principals to help, if necessary, the other side – children and foreign parents who need to integrate. Here we also offer a range of services – for example, interpreter services at parent-teacher meetings when a student does something wrong and his, say, Vietnamese parents do not even understand what is expected of them.'
According to Alen Kovacevic, an important role is also played by placing information for foreigners in the local district press. However, this is not always an easy task – convincing editors of the importance of such material. Nevertheless, the effect is sometimes unexpectedly positive.
'In our practice, there is also a very positive example. Through the magazine 'Penguin,' published by the administration of Prague 4 district, we presented the organization of Czech language courses for Russians, Ukrainians, and Vietnamese. Thanks to this material, our courses filled up within a month. We did not even have to additionally advertise the course, nor did our employees need to disseminate information on the ground. We were pleasantly surprised that such a local publication is read by migrants,' concludes Alen Kovacevic, coordinator of branches of the Prague Integration Center.