Czechia tightens checks on refugees
As reported by Radio Prague, the number of detained illegal migrants previously averaged 30 people per week. This time, from the afternoon of Thursday, when Interior Minister Milan Chovanec announced tighter checks at an extraordinary meeting on migration, until the end of last week, 52 people were detained. Discouraging data also came for the night of June 21–22.
“On the night from Sunday to Monday, another 21 refugees were detained, and over the weekend the number of detainees reached 36 people,” comments the press secretary of the foreign police, Kateřina Rendlová. “Almost all were caught during checks on international railway routes from Austria, especially in the Břeclav region. Another large group was detained in Prague, as well as in Pardubice. However, it should be noted that an increase in the number of illegal migrants was already observed earlier. In response, the foreign police introduced stricter checks at the end of last year. As a result, in the first five months of 2015, more than 2,500 illegal migrants were detained in the Czech Republic, which is 42% more than in the same period last year.”
According to the foreign police, most often it concerns citizens of Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, less often – Somalia, Sri Lanka, Gambia, Pakistan. Stricter checks were introduced in three Czech regions bordering Austria – South Moravia, South Bohemia, and the Vysočina Region.
“These checks are carried out arbitrarily. That is, each region determines the location, time, and frequency of these checks. They are not carried out at former borders, and in no case is it about introducing border checks. In a word, the police check more those places through which refugees usually enter our territory, or through which they leave the Czech Republic,” states Kateřina Rendlová.
In addition to foreign police officers, law enforcement and traffic police officers have also joined the checks. The press secretary of the South Bohemian police, Milan Bajcura, reported that drivers should prepare for frequent inspections.
“We have several dozen police patrols consisting of foreign police officers, law enforcement officers, and traffic inspectors. At the same time, plainclothes workers are also working on site. Drivers should prepare for more frequent checks of cargo and passenger identities,” emphasizes Milan Bajcura.
How long this situation will last, according to Kateřina Rendlová, is still difficult to predict: “It all depends on the further development of the situation with the movement of illegal migrants in all states of the European Union, not only in the Czech Republic. It is definitely a matter of not a few days, but rather weeks or even months,” concludes Kateřina Rendlová.
For most refugees, the Czech Republic is not the final destination. As a rule, they move on – to Germany and Scandinavian countries, where many of them already have relatives.