Prague reopens refugee centre

Prague has reopened its centre for Ukrainian refugees in Vysočany as of Monday morning, the Czech News Agency reports. The centre was closed in mid-June due to the overburdening of the capital's resources, while the decision to reopen was taken only a couple of weeks later at the end of June. According to Prague mayor Zdeněk Hřib, the decision came from a government directive which he deems ill thought out, as in his opinion the state should first have come up with a system for relocating refugees from the overcrowded capital.

The centre by the Vysočanská metro station will be open from Monday to Thursday between 08:00 and 15:00 and on Fridays from 08:00 to 14:00. As before, it will help refugees with the arrangement of residence permits and health insurance. However, Prague will no longer offer accommodation to refugees, with the exception of temporary tent cities and accommodation provided by the Refugee Facilities Administration.

According to Interior Ministry data, since the beginning of the Russian invasion more than four months ago, about 377,000 Ukrainian refugees have received residence permits, of which 89,000 are in the capital.