A total of over 38,000 refugees reported to the foreign police, and Prague is experiencing an onslaught
Updates: 05.03.2022 10:47
Released: 05.03.2022, 09:57
Prague – On Friday, about 5,400 refugees from Ukraine invaded Russia in the Czech Republic reported to the foreign police. The number of reports was lower than in the previous three days. This follows from the information published on Twitter today by the Ministry of the Interior. A total of 38,505 people fleeing the Russian invasion were reported. However, Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN) told the media on Friday that, according to estimates, there are already over 50,000 refugees from Ukraine in the Czech Republic.
On Thursday, February 24, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine. In the week since the invasion began, more than 1.2 million people have fled Ukraine, according to the latest information from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). That is almost three percent of the Ukrainian population. So far, thousands of people come to the Czech Republic every day. According to the interior, the highest number of reported refugees was so far on Wednesday, March 2, at almost 11,000 people. The ministry issued nearly 12,000 special visas for invaded people on Friday. A total of 33,899 of these visas have already been issued.
Due to the conflict in Ukraine and the arrival of refugees, assistance centers have been set up throughout the Czech Republic to provide accommodation, logistics, humanitarian aid and transport in addition to registration and medical examinations of visitors. For example, the Prague center at the Vyšehrad Congress Center, which opened on Friday morning, handled 2,600 refugees at midnight. The onslaught was huge even at night, he said twitter Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates). According to Hřib, those who speak Ukrainian and can come and help with interpretation at the weekend are welcome. A list of all assistance centers is available at website interior.
Refugees must register with the Aliens Police within three days of arrival. If they live in a facility, the landlord will report them. After that, people have 90 days to process a visa, which they can apply for at asylum and migration policy workplaces throughout the Czech Republic. Thanks to special long-stay visas issued by the Ministry of the Interior, people from Ukraine will automatically be included in the public health insurance system. They can also obtain a work permit with them.
A platform has been set up to coordinate assistance to refugees from Ukraine in the Czech Republic Help Ukraine. It currently has about 15,500 offers of assistance on the web, to which dozens of organizations and institutions have access. The platform is managed by a consortium of non-governmental organizations working with migrants in the Czech Republic.
At midnight, the Prague Center for Ukrainian Refugees in the Congress Center in Vyšehrad handled 2,600 refugees, of which 390 people were accommodated. The onslaught was huge even at night, he said twitter Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates). He added that anyone who knows Ukrainian and can come to the weekend to help with interpretation is welcome. The mayor wrote around 10:30 ČTK that thousands of people were waiting to register on the spot. City Hall spokesman Vít Hofman previously said that the situation was calmer than on Friday.
“At 6:00 we checked in the last people from yesterday (Friday). However, many new ones are still coming in the morning. But the situation seems a bit calmer than yesterday (Friday),” said Hofman. According to Hřiba, however, great interest persists. “Thousands of people are currently waiting at the site to register,” he wrote.
The mayor added that the refugees, who did not have accommodation, left for the refugee facilities administration hostels outside the capital, where they were checked in by other regional assistance centers. “If the capacity inside the Congress Center is in a large hall, there are people in it waiting to register so as not to wait outside in inclement weather,” he added.
The center in Vyšehrad started operating on Friday morning, moving there from the central building of the Municipal Library. Center staff help Ukrainians with 70 counters to process documents and provide basic assistance. They can also be vaccinated against covid-19 at the Congress Center. The center works together for Prague and the Central Bohemian Region, in the Municipal Library the city opened it on Tuesday and on Wednesday evening the crisis staff decided to move it in order to increase capacity.
The building has facilities with a rest area so that people, often tired after a long journey, have the opportunity to relax. There are three children’s corners for families. The center is supplied by the Food Bank and the primary material assistance is provided by the non-profit organization People in Need. In addition to Ministry of the Interior officials and police officers, there are also employees of the General Health Insurance Company and the Czech Red Cross, as well as interpreters and psychologists.
The Assistance Center for Ukrainian Refugees at the Brno Exhibition Center is once again issuing registration numbers to everyone. Markéta Chumchalová from the regional press department told ČTK this morning. Due to the large onslaught and the filling of capacity, only people who did not have secured accommodation received numbers on Friday. According to Chumchalová, however, the onslaught subsided. Ukrainians are fleeing the war, their country has been invaded by Russia.
The situation improved on Friday night. “The onslaught has fallen. Registration numbers are now given to everyone, check-in is smooth. There are units of people in the front lines,” said Chumchalová. At the center, refugees can process the registration, which is required within three days of entering the Czech Republic. It is also possible to arrange visas with health insurance, but also accommodation and have the opportunity to register with the employment office.
The center has been operating since Wednesday, with hundreds of people filling it from the beginning. On Friday, the region informed that it was waiting for check-in day and day and a half. On Friday, the issuance of registration tickets was stopped due to full capacity and was limited to refugees who do not have the facilities and accommodation. Some refugees in the Czech Republic have relatives and acquaintances and came to them.
There are firefighters, police officers, as well as representatives of non-profit organizations or insurance companies and the employment office. The spokesman for the South Moravian fire brigade, Petr Příkaský, told ČTK that in the morning 26 refugees took a bus to Blansko, where they will find accommodation. They spent the night in the assistance center, where, in addition to tables, there are also beds or sofas and cots.
Russia invaded Ukraine last week on Thursday. The fighting continues on the tenth day and has claimed many lives. More than a million people have already fled Ukraine. Tens of thousands are in the Czech Republic.
Since the beginning of its operation, the Regional Assistance Center for Assistance to Ukraine (KACPU) for the Hradec Králové Region has handled 1,321 refugees from Ukraine. Most of them have accommodation arranged in advance and have a place to go, 59 visitors have so far used the help in the form of accommodation. Regional firefighters Martina Götzová told ČTK. The center in Hradec Králové has been in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week since Friday, which accelerated registration, the spokeswoman said.
Center in the county town from Wednesday, March 2. From Friday morning to this morning, 717 citizens of Ukraine registered in it, 34 of them needed accommodation.
“Furthermore, it is true that most visitors have already arranged accommodation, and should be taken care of so. In the Hradec Králové region, the fire brigade registers more than 3,000 places of free accommodation capacity,” the spokeswoman said.
Registration confirms the finding, issuance of refugee status, insurance arrangements, or accommodation. In addition to administrative assistance, people fleeing the war there will also receive medical assistance.
The Regional Assistance Center for Assistance to Ukraine (KACPU) in Liberec helped 122 refugees on Friday and 12 of them provided accommodation. Since the start of operations on Tuesday, it has provided services to 872 people, of whom 107 were accommodated. Governor Martin Půta (Mayors for the Liberec Region) informed about it on social networks today.
“The Regional Assistance Center for Aid to Ukraine serves as a main rescue and relief point for war refugees from Ukraine after their arrival in the Liberec Region.
The center operates in building D of the regional office daily from March 1, including weekends from 07:00 to 19:00. Outside this time, the building also has temporary accommodation for up to 50 refugees.
Even today, refugees have formed a long line in front of the Regional Assistance Center for Assistance to Ukraine in the Zlín Hospital complex. According to estimates by firefighters involved in the operation of the facility, there could have been up to 200 people in the morning. People fleeing Ukraine before the war can get the necessary documents at the center. It has been operating in the regional city since Thursday, 180 people checked in on the first day, 260 on Friday, Lucie Javoříková, a spokeswoman for the regional fire brigade, told ČTK today.
The center is open daily from 07:00 until 19:00. If its operating hours are not extended, or the staff is strengthened, Javoříková will have the maximum capacity, the center’s staff will be able to handle around 300 people in the coming days. “Conflict situations do not arise. The process of handling people is still going on,” the spokeswoman said.
According to her, the vast majority of people who already have accommodation in the region with someone come to the center so far. “Yesterday (Friday) the first nine people who took over the Administration of Refugee Facilities, which housed them, dealt with them,” Javoříková said.
At the center, refugees can get their first registration, visa, insurance, accommodation and other humanitarian aid. They can use two heated stands in the neighborhood to wait. They also have snacks and a children’s corner. Queues were created in front of the center on Thursdays and Fridays.
People leaving Ukraine who have facilities in the Czech Republic do not have to visit it immediately. They can also arrange the necessary registration within three days of arrival at the Aliens Police Department. Information on reporting the stay of foreigners can be found at website policy. According to the representatives of the region, other documents can be processed gradually.
As of today, the Jihlava Center for Refugees from Ukraine has started operating normally. It originally planned to switch to non-stop operation within the next week, but the change responded to the recommendations of the central crisis staff. Jitka Svatošová from the press department of the regional office in the Vysočina region told ČTK.
“We have been planning to switch to non-stop operation since the beginning of next week, so we have only slightly accelerated it,” she said. She added that refugees can now register in Jihlava at any time. So far, the assistance center only offered administrative services from 7:00 to 19:00. The number of Ukrainians who register in Jihlava is growing. 216 refugees used the service on Wednesday when the center opened. A day later there were 309 and on Friday 389.
Ukrainians fleeing the country due to the war can, for example, obtain registration, visas or health insurance on the spot. Each region offers centers. For example, in České Budějovice at the airport in Planá near České Budějovice. “Every day we register several hundred refugees here, some of them are also looking for accommodation in the region,” Marta Spálenková from the South Bohemian regional office told ČTK.
Numbers of reported refugees from Ukraine:
Date
|
Number of registered
|
02/25/2022
|
936
|
02/26/2022
|
717
|
02/27/2022
|
732
|
02/28/2022
|
4823
|
03/01/2022
|
6769
|
03/02/2022
|
10,731 th most common
|
03/03/2022
|
8400
|
03/04/2022
|
5397
|
Total
|
38,505 th most common
|
Source: Alien Police Service Directorate