Brochure of the Prague Integration Center
The website icpraha.com publishes information in languages such as English, Russian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and Mongolian. Center staff help train migrants to live in the Czech Republic, completely free of charge. On Radio Prague, Ekaterina Gazukina and Miroslava Danilyuk talk about their work.
– When did the project under Prague's patronage, where you work, appear?
– The Prague Integration Center is an organization that has existed for five years; it was established by the administration of the Czech capital in 2012.
– Who is your program intended for? Simply for those moving to live in the Czech Republic or for refugees?
– We target foreigners who have so-called 'integration potential.' That is, people who are here legally, who have a long-term visa. The center works with foreigners from non-EU countries. These can also be migrants who have already obtained refugee status.
The center works with people who have recently arrived, do not know the language, and are poorly oriented in an unfamiliar environment. However, it is often also people who have lived here for a long time but for various reasons remained isolated – they did not maintain contact with the outside world, lived within their closed community, and all everyday or legal issues were handled for them by intermediaries providing such services. That is, people did not know how to solve such problems on their own.
– One of your center's programs is Czech language courses. What other programs can you name?
– For example, so-called 'intercultural meetings.' We call this a 'Czech conversation club' for Russian speakers, that is, not courses where we teach grammar, but communication. This can be in the form of games, practicing certain life situations that a foreigner might encounter. For example, how to communicate with government officials, doctors, police. We hold such trainings once a week, and entry is free.
All our activities generally correspond to the overall concept of integration of foreigners, which was adopted by the government and is updated every five years. At the same time, the concept has certain priorities – what a migrant must learn to become a full member of this society. First of all, it is knowledge of the Czech language, knowledge of their rights and obligations, orientation in the local environment – knowledge of the culture, customs, and traditions of the country, and establishing good relations with Czech society. When designing our programs, we start from this.
The main services provided by the Prague Integration Center include legal consultations, consultations with social workers, the aforementioned Czech language courses, accompaniment when visiting government institutions, and interpreting services. We also hold socio-cultural seminars covering specific topics – for example, how to file a tax return. We explain how the healthcare system works in the Czech Republic. We also hold cultural events, but our main activity, of course, is consulting.
– What problems do your clients come to you with? On what issues do you most often have to advise them?
Employees of the Prague Integration Center
Miroslava Danilyuk and Ekaterina Gazukina
(left to right). Photo by Anton Kaymakov
– When providing legal assistance, we most often have to deal with document processing, legalizing the stay of foreigners in the country – how to extend the period of stay, change its purpose. When people come to us asking to extend a visa, we explain that it is no longer the visa that is being extended, but the so-called 'pobyt' – permission for a longer stay in the country. In addition, when the ministry takes a long time to decide on issuing such permission, our center has the right to contact them with a request to speed up the review process and even file an appeal in case of refusal.
– How often do you have to 'fight' for a person in this way?
– There are quite a few such cases. Unfortunately, people often turn to us when the matter has already gone quite far, and all other channels have been tried. Very often this happens literally at the last moment, just a couple of days before all deadlines expire. However, even in such a situation, our lawyers try to help them. The only thing the center's lawyers cannot do is officially represent the person's interests, handle their case. Their task is to 'assist,' provide necessary information, help in drafting applications, which the person, however, must submit independently. In case of a negative response, they can contact our lawyer again, and the case will move forward. A certain degree of initiative and independence is required from the client.
– What does the service you call 'accompaniment' look like in practice?
– These services are provided by so-called intercultural workers, who can accompany the client exclusively when visiting a government institution. This is only oral translation, assistance in communication with a government official – we do not solve problems for the client, for example, when applying for benefits, etc.
It is important for us that a person strives to solve their problems independently, without relying on someone else.
– The last notable event related to your field of activity is the easing of the visa regime with Ukraine, that is, the abolition of short-term entry visas to the EU for citizens with biometric passports. Has this affected the flow and composition of your clients?
– Rather, the answer here will be negative. To a greater extent, we felt an influx of clients after the conflict with separatists began in eastern Ukraine, and many people were forced to leave their homes. Many then came to Europe and turned to us for help with legalization. In this regard, we followed the evolution of the attitude of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic – the further it went, the stricter the conditions became, and visas were granted to fewer and fewer people. The requirements also became stricter – at first people could come on tourist visas issued by other EU states and successfully apply for a Czech visa. Then the number of people began to be limited, considering applications only from those who entered on a Czech visa. However, at the moment this wave has subsided.
– What does the work of the so-called 'intercultural worker' consist of?
– As a rule, such employees are people who have experience of integration into Czech society, who have lived here for more than one year, know the language, traditions, and culture of the community they work with perfectly, and also have excellent knowledge of the language and culture of the Czech Republic. These 'assistants' help to navigate Czech society. Such an employee must be well-versed in what migrant associations exist in the Czech Republic, maintain contacts with activists, and monitor processes within the diaspora. They also organize informal meetings.
– What brought you to the Integration Center? How did you come to this 'path of helping migrants'?
– I have been teaching Czech for many years, by education I am a translator, – says Ekaterina Gazukina. – And all this led me to want to do a little more.
– And I graduated from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, my specialty is East European studies, – says Miroslava Danilyuk. – I was looking for a job that would not be connected only with the Czech Republic, not only with our region, that is, an organization where not only Czechs and not only migrants work. I learned about the existence of the Integration Center, and it interested me very much. I think my work makes sense, I always wanted to help others and be a link between 'two shores'.