CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

DALIBOR JÍLEK CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ of Russian and Ukrainian emigrants to obtain a personal certificate of residency. 59 The letter deliberately omitted the term “refugee”. This concept was replaced with a term that didn’t have a substitute linguistic role and was communicated in a dissimilar meaning. The term referred to a person who has left their home state and arrived in the territory of another country to permanently live there. Whereas, a refugee was forced to leave their country of origin due to persecution and, unlike an emigrant, was at least de facto a protected person. The letter required that all Russian and Ukrainian emigrants , that had not yet been able to prove themselves with a certificate of residency, apply for the document within 10 days of issuance of the decree by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They were obliged by a strict, non- statutory duty. Emigrants which were in the Great Prague district could file their application directly at the Russian Passport Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 60 All other emigrants had to apply for the certificate through local political administration or the state police organs. 61 The circular of the Ministry of Interior ordered that personal certificates of residency would only be granted to those persons who arrived in Czechoslovakia before 1 October 1923 . This date was substantial and therefore it deserved a diligent examination. In practice at that time, it was subjected to a thorough administrative inquiry. The applicant had to submit a confirmation or other evidence that they had arrived before the critical date. Emigrants that arrived in Czechoslovakia after 1 October 1923 without a visa issued by a Czechoslovak diplomatic mission or consulate were not allowed to obtain a residency permit and had to leave the state territory immediately. Up to that date, Russian and Ukrainian emigrants could benefit from a residency permit as well as material or nonmaterial subsidies.Another fundamental legal matter was the duty to report. Austrian and later Hungarian legislation imposed on persons the duty to report any non-national that had taken up residence. Reporting non-nationals in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia was established by Regulation no. 33 of the Reich Code on 15 February 1857, by the Ministry of Interior and the Supreme Police Office. In Transleithania, the duty was later laid down by Hungarian Statutory Art. VI dated 11 March 1903. Both legal acts were transposed into Czechoslovak law since they did not oppose its spirit or its content. According to the dual Austro-Hungarian legislation, the persons who provided short term shelter to non-nationals were bound to report their arrival and departure within 24 hours to the competent authority. On the other hand, the Passport Regulation no. 215/1921 Coll. imposed a duty for other addressees: non-nationals with permanent or short term stay in Czechoslovakia. 62 Non- nationals were under the duty to submit their passports to apposition of a visa ( apposition du visa ) to a district political administration according to their place of residence, unless their passport was already issued with a visa by a Czechoslovak embassy. 63 59 Inflow of Russian and Ukrainian Emigrants (Příliv ruských a ukrajinských emigrantů). Circular of the Ministry of Interior no. 69.508-5, 11 October 1923. Official gazette of the Ministry of Interior of the Czechoslovak Republic , Praha, Rolnické tiskárny, 1923, ročník V, p. 425. 60 The Russian Passport Department was located in the Tuscan Palace in Hradčany, Prague. 61 Inflow of Russian and Ukrainian Emigrants (Příliv ruských a ukrajinských emigrantů). Circular of the Ministry of Interior no. 69.508-5, 11October 1923. Official gazette of the Ministry of Interior of the Czechoslovak Republic , Praha, Rolnické tiskárny, 1923, ročník V, p. 425. 62 Regulation no. 215/1921 Coll., 9 July 1921 issuing transitional police-law provisions on passports. 63 See the last sentence in section 3 of the Decree.

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