Czech Republic to grant temporary protection status to Chechen refugeesChechen asylum seekers, most of whom do not comply with the asylum requirements as defined in the UN Geneva Convention, will be granted a temporary protection status in the Czech Republic, says a Czech government resolution passed on April 18.
As opposed to asylum procedures, the temporary protection for the Chechen refugees can be terminated as soon as the situation in Chechnya improves allowing the refugees to travel back home.
According to the UN Geneva Convention, every applicant has to prove individually that s/he was persecuted in her/his home country. Refusal to grant asylum could place a number of applicants in an impasse situation. Therefore, asylum procedures with Chechen refugees in the Czech Republic were suspended two years ago to avoid rejection of their applications and, at the same time, to enable them to stay on in the country. These measures, however, have handicapped those applicants who fulfill the conditions for being granted asylum.
The newly introduced provision concerns several hundred refugees, who will be provided with accommodation, food, medical care and the possibility to work and study. In the past the same measures were introduced in the case of refugees from former Yugoslavia, mainly Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.
Compiled and translated by Prague Watchdog
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