The government is negotiating with Ukrainian refugees about a longer new status
Updates: 17.05.2022 00:09
Released: 17.05.2022, 00:05
Prague – The government at its special session today, which deals with the refugee crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, once demanding a temporary or emergency state. Ministers have a single item on the agenda called “Information on the way forward in dealing with the refugee crisis.” The government could also approve an amendment to the law, which it enforced in March due to the arrival of the first refugees. Following the government meeting, the State Security Council will also meet today.
The Cabinet will probably want the House not to end the state of emergency on May 31, but to extend it by 30 days. The government then plans to use June to enforce some emergency measures. Since the holidays, the government would have managed to manage the waves of migration without a state of emergency, but at the same time it could continue to apply the existing rules.
The aim of the amendment to the Ministry of the Interior is, for example, to continue to restrict the entry and residence of citizens of Russia and Belarus in the Czech Republic by not accepting visa applications. The regulation also specifies the conditions for granting temporary protection, but also to ensure the equal status of Ukrainian refugees with other insured persons in the field of public health insurance.
In connection with the refugee wave from Ukraine, the Interior Ministry is also preparing to tighten refugee controls and the allocation of social assistance. As for the first humanitarian benefit after coming to the Czech Republic, the interior, together with the Ministry of Labor, is creating a system on the basis of which the benefit for people accommodated in mass-type facilities could be replaced by the state paying for food and all security. However, according to Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN), the government may not discuss these matters until Wednesday’s regular meeting.