Over 700 foreigners make use of government’s repatriation scheme

Over 700 foreigners have so far made use of the Czech government’s scheme to repatriate those recently made redundant, an official from the Interior Ministry has said. According to Hana Malá, some 550 Mongolians have applied for a free air-ticket home and 500-euro cash payment, which the government has been offering jobless foreigners since February. The second largest group of foreign workers to make use of the scheme are those from Uzbekistan, Ms Malá said. Some 37 Vietnamese nationals have also applied to be sent home. The Czech government would like to repatriate 2,000 workers who have recently been made redundant over the next seven months. It has set aside some 60.7 million crowns (2.6 million USD) in a bid to encourage unemployed foreigners to return home.