As Radio Prague notes, 1,500 people is 300 fewer than the European Union wanted. One of the arguments why Czechia is not ready to accept more people is the following: in the near future, thousands of refugees from Ukraine may also come to the republic.
Even before the government meeting began, Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier stated that the danger that emigrants might somehow disrupt peaceful life in Czechia is greatly exaggerated. And in general, discussing the number of refugees is, to put it mildly, undignified: 'We don't have any serious problems with integrating foreigners; hundreds of thousands of people from other countries live here, they have assimilated normally. Discussing whether we will take a hundred more or a hundred fewer seems unworthy to me. Yes, we should talk about the emigration situation, understand what problems may arise. But still, we have certain obligations under international law. We must help people whose lives are threatened in their home countries. We also have obligations to our EU partners. We have already gotten them to accept refugees on a voluntary basis. But 'voluntariness' is not a way to simply reject these people. That would be hypocrisy. If we say we want to help voluntarily, then we must help.'
Jiří Dienstbier still believes that the Czech Republic should be prepared for the arrival of refugees, and quite a few. True, not from the Middle East or Africa. But who, when, and under what circumstances?
'For example, in the event of an escalation in Ukraine, thousands or even tens of thousands of people could come to us. We must be prepared for that. Find them a place to live. But it is wrong to lock people up in camps, create ghettos. So if someone gets asylum and stays in Czechia, they should integrate into society. That will be good for both that person and our country. If the press wrote more often about positive examples of integration of foreigners—and there are many such cases—then Czechs would not have such fear. This fear, which is partly understandable, is based on a lack of experience with people of other cultures and a lack of information,' says Jiří Dienstbier.
Interior Minister Milan Chovanec takes a tougher stance on emigrants than the Human Rights Minister, and his department is already preparing for the reception of refugees: 'The government and the Interior Ministry have selected ten facilities; we will discuss this at the next meeting. I would call these places a kind of 'reserve fund'. For now, I will not say exactly where they are. Security measures will also be strengthened, the foreign police and Interior Ministry staff will be expanded, and additional funds allocated. All this is being done to manage the arrival of one and a half thousand people.'
Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister and ANO movement leader Andrej Babiš is confident that the issue of illegal migration must be addressed by the entire world community, and quickly: 'The emigration problem is somewhat reminiscent of the economic crisis in Greece. There is no concept or strategy to solve it. First, the illegal flow of refugees must be stopped, including by involving the army. The question of who comes to Europe should be decided not by criminal groups, human traffickers transporting refugees, but by governments. And second, the problem that has arisen is a problem for the whole world. It must be solved under the auspices of the UN. But the United Nations, unfortunately, is not fulfilling the function for which it was created. Refugee camps must be set up in the regions from which these people come. The political situation in those countries where regimes have changed must be resolved. The United States, Europe, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia should sit down at the negotiating table. That is, those countries that are affected and have certain influence.'
The church also joined the discussion of the refugee issue. What to do with emigrants and whom should the country accept? This was discussed at the Czech Bishops' Conference. Here is the opinion of Archbishop of Olomouc Jan Graubner: 'If Christians come, it will be much easier to accept these people because their culture has many common roots with our culture.' And the Secretary General of the Czech Bishops' Conference, Tomáš Holub, officially stated that the Catholic Church will participate in providing assistance to refugees: 'We will appeal to our parishioners to accept families of Christian emigrants into their ranks, in agreement with local authorities and in cooperation with regional charities.'
'We want to know not only whether we should accept certain people. We want to know what will happen to the protection of the Schengen borders. We want to know whether we will be able to choose which refugees to accept,' stated Interior Minister Milan Chovanec. 'Will we be able to expel someone if our security services consider them unsafe for the state.'