The Czech Asylum System
At the end of this month, the Consortium of Refugee Assisting Organisations in the Czech Republic, ends its three year activity in the country. It was established to set up a unified and consistent system of delivering services to refugees coming to the Czech Republic. On Wednesday, the third annual national seminar of the Consortium was held in Prague mainly focusing on legal trends and developments in the country's asylum system, the social and psychological developments, and the integration of recognised refugees and foreigners. In this week's Talking Point, Dita Asiedu speaks with Martin Rozumek from the Organisation for Aid to Refugees - one of the organisations under the Consortium, to find out how the asylum system has developed in the past three years:
So what would you say needs to be changed?
"I would say, we definitely need to improve the integration of recognised refugees in the Czech Republic and our main problem at this time is the detention of some of the asylum seekers in the Czech Republic."
Asylum seekers have complained that it takes too long for the authorities to process their applications. How long does it take, on average?
"It is very difficult to say the average time but some reports have said it takes some 180 days for the first decision to be made. I would definitely say that there was an improvement in the process of first instance proceedings of asylum claims. But it's very individual. We also observed cases when it took more than two years, sometimes even three years to get the first decision on an asylum claim. But sometimes it's very fast - within one month."
I believe most of the decisions are rejections...
"Of course the majority of decisions are rejections. Last year we had 103 positive decisions out of approximately 8,500 applications. This year, we are already at 140 recognised refugees and we expect a little less than ten thousand new applications for asylum in the Czech Republic this year."
Are these statistics similar to those we will find in neighbouring post-Communist countries?
"It's very individual and difficult to compare it with neighbouring countries. It's different every year. In 2001, we were definitely the number one country in the number of asylum applications in the region. This year, we had half of the figures from 2001 but we are still one of the most popular countries for asylum seekers in this region."
Why do you think is that?
"I think the system is not that bad because the twelve refugee centres that are operated by the ministry are not that bad. The basic care is provided by the state and the additional services by NGOs. So, I don't think we have any major problems in health issues or accommodation issues and our society, I think, is also quite friendly to asylum seekers and recognised refugees and we have not observed tensions, only in a few cases such as the Kostalec refugee camp."
Then why do you say that integration is difficult?
"We have problems in engaging cities and municipalities that should offer new flats or reconstructed flats for recognised refugees. And of course, there is the language barrier. It is difficult for a newcomer to learn the Czech language.
How many refugee camps are there here in the Czech Republic?
"We currently have twelve camps and five detention centres that also accommodate some asylum seekers in the Czech Republic."
Can you tell us what these refugee camps look like?
"It's also very individual. Some of the camps are former Soviet Army barracks, which are mainly in forests and they are not in pleasant locations at all because it's quite far to the cities and it's not easy for asylum seekers to live there. But on the other hand, we also have camps that are in the middle of cities and villages and I think that's more comfortable for them."
And how many refugees are usually in these camps?
"It's also very different. Small camps accommodate up to 150 asylum seekers and then there are big camps that accommodate 300-500 seekers."
Do the asylum seekers get to leave the camps?
"Yes. They are free to leave the centres and can even stay in private accommodation from the start of their wait for a decision on asylum. So, there is no restriction on the freedom of movement, with the exception of the detention centres of the Czech police."
Now, we also get a lot of reports from the border police that asylum seekers have been caught, trying to cross the borders into Austria or Germany illegally. How often does this happen?
"In fifty percent of cases, asylum seekers still want to find asylum in a country other than the Czech Republic. There are several reasons for it. One is, of course, the issue of integration and another could be that we do not have many ethnic communities. There is no big Pakistani or Sri Lankan community in the Czech Republic. So, it's easier for asylum seekers and refugees to come to Germany or the UK and find their communities. Of course, it's also because of the economic situation in the Czech Republic. It's difficult for some refugees to come and stay in the country. If they have relatives in Germany or France, then it's more attractive for them. There are many reasons and I would say the percentage of asylum seekers who decide to stay is higher every year. I remember when I started working for asylum seekers five years ago, nearly ninety percent of refugees disappeared, went to another country. Now, it's approximately fifty percent of refugees who usually leave."
You just mentioned nationalities, where are most refugees from?
"They are still from countries like Vietnam, Slovakia, Ukraine, Chechnya, Romania..."
Would you say that most of them are from the former Soviet Union?
"Yes. Ukraine, Moldova, Chechnya, and we cannot forget the Roma from Slovakia as well."
What are some of the main reasons given for the rejection of an application?
"Simply that the asylum applicants do not meet the criteria of the 1951 Geneva Convention that are very strict. You have to have the claim for a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of five reasons stated in the Geneva Convention. So the refugee definition is very strict and only a few meet the criteria."
What can asylum seekers do when they do not agree with the rejection?
"They can appeal the decision to the regional courts with our help. I must admit that these courts are operational in asylum matters only since January this year. The judges are very good and they surprised us very much because within a short period of time they were able to absorb a lot of information, issues and make very good decisions. So, I think there definitely was an improvement in our asylum system."
You mean, there was a success story since the beginning of the year?
"The judges can only send the case back to the interior ministry. They cannot grant asylum but they can say that the ministry made a mistake and send the case back. But we were sceptic about the judges at the beginning because they were not familiar with asylum or refugee issues at all. But after a few months they improved very much and have sent about fifty cases back to the ministry and that's not bad!"
