Director of the Migration Center of the Archdiocesan organization Charita Praha Svetlana Porsche
The Czech Republic also provided resettlers with a one-time financial allowance of 1,800 euros for each adult, and over 700 euros per child. Radio Prague asked the director of the Migration Center, Svetlana Porsche, to tell more about the assistance.
– The Czech Republic plans to accept a total of 250 Ukrainian Czechs from eastern Ukraine this year. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka also previously announced that other groups of ethnic Czechs could possibly move to the homeland of their ancestors in 2016. Do you have any information how many Ukrainian Czechs and from which region are preparing to move to the Czech Republic in the near future?
– We work with our resettlers in the Czech Republic, so, in principle, the resettlers themselves inform us, or the Ministry of the Interior, with which we have signed an agreement on social assistance for our charitable organization, informs us. Therefore, we learn about this about 14 days before these people arrive, from the lists of those who were issued visas or permanent residence in the Czech Republic. So far we have worked with people who moved from Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, and Donetsk regions. Now a group is being prepared that will arrive from Zhytomyr.
– What specifically is the assistance provided by your organization at the moment?
– Our organization helps people orient themselves in the social system and structure of the Czech Republic, register with the Ministry of the Interior, that is, obtain permanent residence in the Czech Republic, register with a health insurance company and obtain health insurance, register with the labor office. Then we help find work, permanent housing. Unfortunately, there have been several cases where we helped people who ended up in the hospital, and now we are dealing with a child who is ill. In addition, we organize free Czech language courses, which are divided into different groups according to language proficiency.
– In your opinion, how is the adaptation process of Ukrainian Czechs going? Are there any moments that were not initially anticipated and now require special attention?
– Of course, we work with each person individually – some find the pace of language learning suitable, others less so. The most such moments, I would say, occur when people did not really imagine the resettlement and that even if they move to better conditions, it brings with it, if not trauma, then psychological stress. Otherwise, in principle, social work is the same as with other clients, so I cannot say that there were any insurmountable difficulties.
In total, more than 90 resettlers were housed in the departmental hotels of the Ministry of the Interior in Červená nad Vltavou. Some had relatives in the Czech Republic, others, with the help of Charita Praha, were able to find housing and work very quickly, so they moved out of these hotels quickly. Within a month and a half, about forty people moved out of the hotel.
– How many resettlers from the first group that arrived in March have found work?
– In principle, it can be said that from the first group, when 46 people arrived from Chehohrad, only a few remained in the hotel, and only because formalities are being resolved now. 45 people now live in other places – in Stachov, Slavkov u Brna, and so on. 33 people are already in the process of getting a job or are employed.
Employees of Charita often have to answer questions asked both by the resettlers themselves and by Czechs offering work or housing to the arrivals, why, for example, their permanent residence documents are being processed so slowly.
– These are problems we encounter, but otherwise I would very much like to thank Czech citizens who responded and greatly help us in solving this project, because many companies directly offer work to Czech resettlers.
– And do you have information that they have already contacted each other and the offered terms satisfied the resettled Ukrainians?
– Yes, the terms satisfy them. I also want to say that it is not us or Czech citizens, but they themselves build their lives in the Czech Republic. Each family and each person builds their life independently, even in a foreign country, – emphasizes Svetlana Porsche.
According to the latest data from the Migration Center, 49 resettlers from Ukraine currently live in the hotel in Červená nad Vltavou, of which ten are pensioners, thirteen are children, and 26 are economically active.