Number of Ukranian refugees in Czechia nearing 200,000

Statistics from mobile phone operators indicate that the number of Ukrainian refugees is reaching the 200,000 mark, Interior Minister Vít Rakušan said at a meeting of the lower house’s security committee on Thursday. The Interior Ministry has so far issued over 108,000 year-long humanitarian visas. In order to facilitate the process for Ukrainian refugees the government on Wednesday extended the deadline by which they must register from three to thirty days and approved a bill under which they will be able to work in the country without a labour permit. Four fifths of the refugees who have come to the Czech Republic are women, and more than half of the overall number are children.