CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND SOLIDARITY WITH REFUGEES … was basically reserved for communists who had to leave their countries of origin due to their political views. The society therefore had only limited experience with welcoming people who needed help. There were thousands of students and workers from the socialistic states coming into the Czech Republic as a part of “international cooperation” agreements especially in the 1970s, 19 and their migration was meant as temporary. The overall number of people who settled as long-term migrants was low and, as a consequence, the society’s experience with otherness was rather limited and the prevailing perception of it was based on temporariness. 20 It would be presumptuous to say that the society felt as though it owed a duty for the help its members received in other countries during the communist period. But it cannot be denied that the approach to migration of people in need in the 1990s differs from today. The difference can be clearly seen in the political debates about assistance to people who were fleeing the wars the in former Yugoslavia beginning in 1991. There were members of the Parliament asking members of the Government about actions that the Czech Republic was going to take to address the issue. 21 There were ministers who acted and the whole Government agreed on the need to help. 22,23 There was almost no public debate about the government decision to help; the newspapers informed about wars widely, but – compared to today’s situation – it paid almost no attention to the arrival of people who needed help to the Czech Republic. People who became beneficiaries of the Czech programme did not have a safety net in an already existing community as there was none. 24 They had to rely on the state authorities in the first months after the arrival as non-governmental organizations were only beginning their work in 1991 and 1992. 25 Socialist Republic grants the right of asylum to foreign nationals persecuted for defending interests of the working class, for participation in a national liberation fight, for scientific and artistic creation, for defence of peace-keeping ”. 19 For more information see BOUŠKOVÁ, P. Labour Migration of Foreigners in the Czech Republic in the 1970s-1990s (Pracovní migrace cizinců v České republice v 70. až 90. letech). In Národní kulatý stůl na téma vztahy mezi komunitami a integrace cizinců. Praha: Ministerstvo vnitra, 2008. Cited in to BARŠOVÁ, A., BARŠA, P. Immigration and the liberal state ( Přistěhovalectví a liberální stat ). Masarykova univerzita v Brně. Brno 2005, p. 217. 20 Brouček mentions 37,000 foreigners with long-term or permanent residency. BROUČEK, S. Češi ve Francii. In Češi v cizině 9 . Praha: Ústav pro etnografii a folkloristiku AV ČR, 1996. There were of course Soviet soldiers who came in 1968 whose stay was technically speaking long-term, but that can be hardly seen as migration stricto sensu . 21 See e.g. the parliamentary question posed by a Member of Parliament (former authorized representative of the government for the refugee issues) Michaela Freiová, online at -http://www.psp.cz/eknih/1992fs/tisky/t0110_00. htm [accessed 26 June 2018]. She also expressed her concerns about the number of state representatives involved, the lack of communication between them, and basically the lack of professionalism within the responsible state bodies. 22 See the reply of the Prime Minister from 3 September 1992 to the parliamentary question posed by a Member of Parliament Gerta Mazalová regarding the financial support of children who lost their parents and who were granted temporary refuge in the Czech Republic. Online at - http://www.psp.cz/eknih/1992cnr/tisky/t0025a00. htm [accessed 15 May 2018]. 23 See Government Resolutions described and analysed below. 24 See PILÁT WHALEN, M. The Experience of the Czech Republic with providing a temporary refuge and with organized voluntary repatriation into Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Final Report of a research supported by the Interior Ministry of the Czech Republic and Office of the UNHCR in the Czech Republic, 1998, p. 6. 25 NGOs were set up later, also in response to the needs of those who were granted temporary refuge in the CR. The first organizations which were aimed at providing support to refugees were – besides UNHCR, that opened its office in the CR in 1992 – the Society of Citizens Assisting Migrants (1990/1992), Organization for Aid to

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