Czech government comes out against refugee quotas

At the weekend, the interior minister mooted a plan for the Czech Republic to accept up to 10,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war in their country. Most consider helping refugees a moral responsibility, but the country says it has neither the capacity nor the finances necessary. Instead, the Czech Republic made clear it would prefer to help on the ground or by continuing to provide material aid.

Milan Chovanec, photo: CTK

Following Monday’s cabinet meeting, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec made clear that the Czech Republic is not ready for an influx of thousands of refugees, nor will it accept a binding EU quota – an issue to be discussed by EU ministers on Friday. Rather than at home, Czechs have made clear they want to help directly in areas in the Middle East, as well as provide financial aid and resources. Interior Minister Milan Chovanec:

“We are prepared to negotiate with our partners but our primary aim is to show solidarity by sending medical teams and providing material and financial aid. After that, we will assess whether we can take refugees. Even then, we will not have the capacity for thousands. We don’t have the room or the finances, and this is something which will have to still be discussed.”

Martin Rozumek, photo: Czech Television

The Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka on Monday stressed that the government had agreed that EU quotas were not a solution and questioned the ability to provide a new start for refugees. Critics aren’t having it: many say in the past the Czech Republic had a strong track record in helping and that that is what the country should be building on now. According to Martin Rozumek of the Organisation for Aid to Refugees, the country could do more. But holding a referendum on the question, as the interior minister at one point suggested, made no sense, Mr Rozumek made clear, not least because such a vote would most likely be marred by growing Islamophobia.

“We have our own experience in Czech society being very much against anything to do with Islam or to do with Muslims. But I would remind people that in the past we accepted some 3,000 refugees from Bosnia who were also Muslims and their resettlement was very successful. We also accepted 1,000 people from Kosovo, also Muslims. But after 9/11 and now Islamic State, I think now many Czechs would come out against.”

Members of the minority communities here, meanwhile, have expressed disappointment the Czech Republic isn’t taking a different approach. Rashid Khalil is the head of the Kurdish Civic Association in the Czech Republic:

Syrian refugees, photo: CTK

“Any kind of help is welcome, but I think that the Czech Republic is behind other parts of the world and countries in Europe, such as Germany, France or Great Britain, which are providing asylum to Syrians. I would be happier if the Czechs took a similar approach.”

Since the start of the conflict, more than two million Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries in the region, and another million, still in the country, reportedly have been displaced.