Martin Rozumek
According to Radio Prague, during the war in Yugoslavia and the Kosovo crisis, the organization helped those who were saving their lives by leaving the Balkans, now it deals with the problems of refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, visiting migration camps in the republic, providing them with legal and other assistance. "A migration crisis without migrants" – this is how Martin Rozumek assesses the situation with refugees from North Africa and the Middle East in the Czech Republic, which has not escaped the migration fears growing today in many EU countries. There are practically no people from these regions in the territory of the Czech Republic.
– Do you also encounter refugees from the former Soviet Union countries? Probably most often these are forced migrants from Ukraine?
– Ukrainians are the most numerous group of foreigners living in the Czech Republic, there are about 100,000 of them. At the same time, it cannot be said that their number has increased significantly, because it is quite difficult to get here from Ukraine. Through the Visa Point system, it is very difficult to obtain any visa – student, business, or work. The situation has improved somewhat for Ukrainians who have come here from eastern Ukraine, where the military conflict continues, when obtaining refugee status. Some of them are trying to obtain not refugee status, but a "tolerance visa".
The Czech Republic often accommodates people who flee from regions affected by armed conflict. Several people have received refugee status, and the number of those who were granted international protection last year is already dozens of people. Many more – about 800 people – received a "tolerance visa".
– What does the term "vízum strpění" – "tolerance visa" mean?
– This visa is granted when a person, for reasons beyond his or her control, cannot return to their homeland. This could be an armed conflict or serious health problems. Czech state authorities quite often accommodate Ukrainians from regions affected by armed conflict – that is, they recognize that returning there poses a danger to them.
– How is this status granted?
– The state recognizes that a person living in a territory where there is an armed conflict faces serious problems and therefore can stay in the Czech Republic for some time after receiving a "tolerance visa". Both this type of visa and the status of international protection have a limited validity period. Protection is from one to three years, and the "tolerance visa" is usually short-term first, and then for a longer period, even for a year. So here, Czech authorities accommodate people.
– What support does the Czech Republic provide to people who have received this type of protection?
– Those who have applied for refugee status can stay in refugee centers, but for the first six months they do not have the right to work. So from this point of view, Ukrainians are not too interested in obtaining it. State support for people who have received protection here is minimal, one might say almost zero. However, because unemployment in the Czech Republic is very low, most of these people find work relatively easily. Of course, problems such as discrimination in the labor market remain: Ukrainians often face exploitation, do not receive a full employment contract, work for someone or work illegally. That is, workers from Ukraine are often used here as cheap labor, placed in deliberately unfavorable conditions.
– Currently in the Czech Republic, there is a government-level program to attract labor resources from Ukraine. Perhaps this will change the situation of these people for the better?
– Whether the person is a refugee or not is not the determining factor there. The officially approved part of the project speaks of 500 highly qualified specialists. Among them there are refugees, but they do not need to apply for this status here – they can apply for a work visa, which is granted to them under the program. At the same time, the second part of the project, which involves bringing an additional 3,000 less qualified workers here, has not yet been officially approved. This program has faced resistance from trade unions, who believe that the arrival of these foreigners will lower the cost of labor.
I think, however, that this project will also be implemented for objective reasons, because unemployment in the Czech Republic is low, and labor is needed in many areas, not only where high qualifications are required. We lack bus drivers, truck drivers, a whole range of working professions – welders, etc., so I think this program also needs to be implemented.
– You mentioned that you have also encountered refugees from Russia. Who are these people who are trying to find asylum in the Czech Republic?
– From Russia, those who have fallen out of favor with the regime want to obtain refugee status here. For example, Mr. Vorotnikov from the art group "Voina", who might also file such a petition. I can also give an example without naming names: we recently successfully helped one Russian family because they held an action dedicated to the occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968. There are not very many such people, but I think journalists and various public activists can obtain asylum here, because in today's Russia, opposing the Putin regime is a big risk. The legal system in Russia is biased, and courts cannot be called independent, so in Europe there are many people from Russia who have every right to obtain refugee status.
For several years now, Russia has been among the countries that in our jargon we call "the largest producers of refugees," since people leave en masse, and very often they have reasons for doing so. And these reasons include not only that someone wants to take possession of their property, but also that they are disliked by the regime, and laws in their homeland simply do not work in their cases. There are such examples among refugees in the Czech Republic. There are not many Russians among them, but they often successfully obtain this status.
– Who else from among the citizens of the former Soviet countries is trying to find asylum in the Czech Republic?
– Often these are Belarusians, who receive a positive response because the Lukashenko regime is in power in the country. Next come citizens of Central Asian republics, since in this region democracy can hardly be spoken of anywhere. So Uzbeks and Kyrgyz come here. Now many people from Tajikistan have entered Poland, so I expect that some of them will appear here as well. Individuals come from countries such as Armenia, Georgia, Moldova. Sometimes they receive humanitarian asylum, more often they are denied.
In general, if the applicant's homeland has an undemocratic regime – for example, the same ruler for many years suppressing opposition – then those seeking asylum in the Czech Republic, for instance from Central Asian countries, often receive it.