ČT: Canada to officially reimplement visa restrictions for Czechs on Tuesday

The Canadian government has allegedly decided upon the reintroduction of visa restrictions for Czechs traveling to Canada and is due to make the announcement officially on Tuesday, reported Czech Television on Friday. Canada has been considering the reimposition of visa restrictions for Czechs for a while, following the high number of asylum claims being made predominantly by Czech Romany traveling to the country. In the first four months of this year, Ottawa received some 1,077 asylum claims from Czechs. Last year, some 861 Czechs sought asylum in the North American state. Visa restrictions were lifted after negotiations between Prague and Ottawa in 2007. Such visa restrictions had already been lifted once in 1997, but were reimposed after a matter of months when hundreds of Czechs flocked to Canada and sought asylum.