Correspondent Radio Prague met with Gozel Aliyeva, director of this public organization.
- I looked through the statistics of your centre's clients and found that the majority of people seeking help are not disabled. Tell me, why does the centre still focus on helping disabled people?
- Because there are not many of them, but they need a large number of consultations. These people require an individual approach, which takes up a huge amount of time. That is why in all our information materials we emphasize that we offer this specialized service. Secondly, there are many organizations in the Czech Republic that provide legal and social assistance to foreigners, but very few or no organizations that specialize in working with disabled people.
- This year your centre launched a new programme to help all foreigners regardless of visa type. What do you offer them?
- We offer special integration courses that help foreigners find work. I do not think that every foreigner must speak Czech perfectly. But on the other hand, until he begins to express himself more or less well, it will be hard for him to find a job. And learning a foreign language is an individual matter. Some will start speaking within two months, while others may find even two years insufficient. Therefore, within the framework of the foreigner integration programme, we offer Czech language courses. The courses are free for a certain group of people - either refugees or people with permanent residence. We would like to provide free language courses to all foreigners, but unfortunately, the state is not ready for that yet.
- Suppose a foreigner speaks Czech well, is in the Czech Republic with a valid visa, but cannot find a job. How can you help him?
- Job searching is done through cooperation between the client and a social worker. Our employee tries to find the job that the client wants. They look through internet pages and classified ad newspapers together. Then they write a résumé together: the social worker advises what to emphasize and what to omit, because we know the psychology of local employers better. The next step is a call to the employer. The social worker explains that a refugee does not need to obtain a work permit, describes the client's abilities, and suggests a meeting for an interview. This is very important because when a foreigner calls, despite Czech society having become more open recently, the attitude toward him will have a xenophobic tinge.
- People with refugee status in the Czech Republic indeed do not need a work permit. How is job search assistance provided to those who do need one?
- It is difficult to help such people. We only remind them of their rights and obligations. If a person with a one-year visa comes to us and says he has lost his job and therefore must leave the country, we recommend that he find a new place as soon as possible and process the documents. We also talk about obligations. If we see that a person is in the Czech Republic illegally, we warn him about the problems. We explain that such a situation is not in the foreigner's favour. But it is better to go abroad, obtain a permit there, and then come back. We know that this is difficult and most often impossible...
- Another new project you mentioned is aimed at attracting volunteers. In particular, you said you plan to send volunteers to help when a foreigner wants to go to the post office. Don't you think an adult doesn't need such services?
- We are looking for volunteers to simply help foreigners. What I said about going to the post office is just an example. Another thing is going with a client to a sporting event. A foreigner may not know that football or hockey matches are held somewhere. Or he knows, but has no idea where to buy a ticket. And a volunteer helps him with that. What you say is, of course, correct, but it does not hold true in all cases. We have clients who are 50-60 years old, and they often do not know or cannot do anything. For people from the former Soviet Union, adapting is not that difficult. But for someone from Afghanistan, Iraq, or Iran, it is hard.
- Why, at the Centre for the Integration of Foreigners, apart from you, the only foreign woman, do only Czech employees work?
- Not every socially minded person can be a social worker. Our employee selection criteria are clear. A person must undergo special training. Some foreigners think that if they have already found a job, they know well how to solve this problem. But it is also about the process of integrating foreigners in the Czech Republic. For that, one must know the laws well and speak Czech excellently.
- You just claimed that a foreigner does not need to speak Czech well to get a job...
- It all depends on what position one works in. For example, the position of a financier does not require perfect language proficiency. The same cannot be said about the specifics of social workers' service.