Austrian: We motivate refugees to leave Prague
What do you say to the ultimatum of the Prague mayor Zdeněk Hřiba from the coalition pirates that if you do not start preparing the division of refugees into the regions by Tuesday, Prague will close the assistance center in Vysočany?
I don’t take it that way, coalitions or non-coalitions. I understand that we have our problems at all levels of the crisis. Prague has been the most exposed region from the beginning and the admission of other people to Prague has many complexities. However, we and the mayor were then able to agree on a specific solution, which, after all, was the case with the tent town in Troja and its operation.
So sometimes some statements are stronger than the case itself. I’ll talk to the mayor this weekend. I don’t think the ultimatum will help at this time. There are more busy regions here. We need to find the inter-regional solidarity we are trying to achieve. I just want to pretend that the firefighters and I transported refugees to other parts of the republic and we tried to relieve Prague. And now, as a state, we are looking for more properties to accommodate people from Central Station. We also prove that we can help Prague.
You spoke in connection with refugees staying at Prague’s main railway station about their placement in some two stone properties. Are they in Prague or outside?
They should be Prague houses. If we are really talking about people who are waiting for identification, or verification of possible dual citizenship, at Prague’s main railway station, then it is best to use some real estate in Prague. One of them is purely state-run, but they are not classic dormitories, but buildings that would have to adapt in some way. Everything is better than having mothers with children lying on the ground.
I don’t know if it will ever work out so that no one is at the main station. But we definitely do not want mothers with children or people in the aisles to lie there.
The tent town in Troja has a capacity of 150 people, but it is said that 500 to 600 of them stay at the main railway station.
It’s like ever. We did a local survey there on Friday and there were about 300 people at the station. It spills over, some are leaving, others are coming. It also happened to us that even people who were offered accommodation in another region simply withdrew to Prague.
So the houses mentioned by you serve those who do not fit into the town?
Yes. But it’s not classic accommodation, just like in that tent town. This is accommodation such as waiting for those foreigners to be checked by the Hungarian side to see if they have not only Ukrainian citizenship but also their citizenship.
How long do you want to have the problem of the impending humanitarian crisis at Central Station solved?
I don’t know if it will ever work out so that no one is at the main station. But we definitely do not want mothers with children or people in the aisles to lie there. So now there will be a relief of 150 people in tents in Troy, and I hope that we will gain more capacity within the next week. So if we reach accommodation for 300 people, for example, the situation is solvable. In addition, those people will not stay in the tent city permanently, the staff will of course change there.
Do you already have any feedback from Hungary about that dual citizenship?
The Hungarians promise to do their best to have the systems quickly. I do not want to say that for the Czech Republic preferentially, but simply briskly. The director of the Hungarian Aliens Police solves this problem directly.
Do you already have any numbers about screened foreigners with dual citizenship?
I do not have exact numbers, but there were already such findings from Hungary. In the first phase more often than in the second. That is why we have asked for speed and at the same time for a proper check whether this is really the case. We expect information to be provided to us on an ongoing basis. Our police send them the names of people for verification on an ongoing basis, so they respond on an ongoing basis.
We will tighten the issue of the second and sixth benefits, which will provide stricter proof that these people actually live in the Czech Republic and that they are accommodated there.
There have been several ambassadors who have been dealing with refugees these days. Did it happen?
Yes. Firstly, it was a meeting with the Ukrainian ambassador regarding the operation in Prague, where we asked how information can be better provided, communicated and the non-profit sector involved. How to work with people in the field and explain to them the possibilities and not to fall victim to some fraud.
And then I also talked to the Romanian ambassador, with whom we talked about the whole context of the migration crisis. Little is known, but the Romanians have the longest border with Ukraine and almost a million newcomers on their territory, but most of them do not stay. In this context, too, I pointed out that even a refugee who holds a Romanian passport is not entitled to humanitarian benefits.
How do you deal with the abuse of these benefits?
There have already been cases where foreigners arrive, take a benefit and leave the country again. It is solved in two ways. We will tighten the issue of the second and sixth benefits, which will provide stricter proof that these people actually live in the Czech Republic and that they are accommodated there. This is a matter for the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.
And also for the first benefit, we want the principle that at a time when it is guaranteed by the state, people are demonstrably given food and the most basic needs, so the financial humanitarian benefit could be replaced by providing basic needs.
So you mean in kind instead of money? Is this also a measure against the abuse of benefits?
Certainly. It’s against the motive of people to come here just for the sake of motive. This means that because of the shelter and food provided, probably few will come here and it will definitely not be the target of any fraud.
In the days, you are also trying to motivate refugees only to Prague. What’s going on?
I should have the documents available this weekend. These are motivating factors for people to choose a different part of the republic than Prague. It will really be about specific offers that they can get in a given region and what they will achieve.
Everyone who came to the Czech Republic underwent lustration, everyone was identified.
I also want to talk about this with the mayor of Prague. Because those people are under the European Institute for Temporary Protection, which allows people to move freely. We have no simple legislative means to relocate and relocate someone. So I wonder if it is desirable that we load someone on a bus and take them somewhere against their will. It has to work differently.
Do you have positive motivation?
Certainly. And in many cases it has already come out, which is little talked about. For example, on one exposed night, when ten, and even seventeen thousand refugees came to us, we transported people by bus from the main station to the whole republic, where we provided them with accommodation.
When we told mothers with children that they would be on the ground in the gym in Prague and that they would get beds for their children in the Zlín Region, for example, many of them heard about it. It is necessary to understand that when someone flees to the Czech Republic, they simply go to Prague, because they know nothing else, with all due respect.
You plan to monitor how many refugees live in the Czech Republic and where. What will this system and data collection look like?
Next week we will pilot it in four or five municipalities with extended powers. An investigation will be carried out as to whether or not the people who entered the addresses into the system are there. We will find out some error rate and evaluate how to proceed accordingly. If the data from the registration system are relatively accurate, it could be used in some calculations. If, on the other hand, we see that they are not exactly, we must start securing, which will be tied to some record in the humanitarian benefit.
It will also be subject to registration when collecting the benefit for providing accommodation. The team was to get a very accurate overview of where the refugees really are in the Czech Republic, because they are collecting the benefit first. And secondly, the people who stay are mostly receiving the benefit. Therefore, we collected these data and we would have an accurate idea of the distribution of refugees throughout the Czech Republic.
Not only where are they, but how many are there?
Yes. still here someone, especially from the opposition, states that it is some primary neglect. It’s not. Everyone who came to the Czech Republic underwent lustration, everyone was identified.
If you ask a governor across the political spectrum, unfortunately, they cannot imagine it without a state of emergency.
These people have their names, passports, documents and have registered in the Czech Republic. However, if they did not fulfill the reporting obligation during their free movement in the Czech Republic, they did not log on to another place, then it is necessary to verify whether the originally entered data is accurate. There is no other way, and other European countries do not.
No one now has a perfect idea of where someone lives and lives. But if we want to adapt our systems, school, health and the like, then we must have a much more accurate idea of how refugees stay.
What about visa extensions for Russian students, scientists, artists or athletes residing and working in the Czech Republic? Are you planning an exception for them?
Visa rules are always proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and we are then the executor. As part of the adjustment of the lex Ukraine is preparing an amendment, because there is a need to adjust a lot of things and prepare for a situation where one day there will be no state of emergency. We definitely want to talk about the harshness of the visa ban there.
It cannot be assumed that he will completely back away from him in relation to Russia. Nevertheless, we can talk there about the means to provide people who deserve it with some background in the Czech Republic. So we can expand some range of special options for obtaining the visa, which is planned in that amendment.
I will mention the specific case of a Russian student who has publicly spoken out against the invasion and is now afraid that her visa will not be extended and that she will end up in prison if she returns home. What with this?
I think that there is no problem with extending study visas, once a person has already obtained one.
It is said that you plan to bring a proposal to extend the state of emergency to the government on Wednesday. What are the reasons for this?
We will definitely talk about it. The reason is that we accommodate in non-standard conditions that do not comply with current legislation. Another reason is that you want to issue regulations that will allow the regions some quick operation. For example, in the form of a change in the reporting obligation to three days.
When you do this in an emergency, it is a crisis measure that no court will agree with you and that will pass. But if you do it in the legislative process, it is useless to you, because you will not be able to do it. If you do this in some formidable way under other laws, there is a high probability that, as at the time of the law, the court will drop an important regulation for the counties.
Above all, however, crisis management, access to financial resources at the regional level, would be absolutely difficult. If you ask a governor across the political spectrum, unfortunately, they cannot imagine it without a state of emergency.
From my point of view, there are two ways out of this situation. Firstly, to adjust the lex Ukraine to include some measures that can be used even in this time of crisis. Secondly, and this is a long-term task that we, as the government, also have in the program statement, to amend the crisis legislation so that it is not always necessary to use such an intensive legal means as a state of emergency for a crisis situation.
How long would you like to extend the state of emergency?
Certainly not for more than thirty days, but we will succeed.