2015-10-27 DW: Alleged Czech policy of harsh treatment of refugees 'works'

[Mila A]

Czech authorities regularly place illegal migrants in grim detention centers. The UN has criticized the practice that some believe is proving effective in keeping refugee numbers low.

The government of the Czech Republic is operating a policy of treating migrants harshly in a deliberate bid to keep their numbers down. Martin Rozumek of the Organization for Aid to Refugees said the Czech police are not required by European Union rules to intern migrants who don't have valid papers automatically. "It should be a last resort, if no other measures can be applied. But they do it routinely as a first option," he said. "It's not an obligation but a policy of the Czech Interior Ministry and the police - to detain and deter everyone."

His comments follow stinging criticism last week from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein, who also asserted that Prague was operating a deliberate policy of frightening migrants away. The UN official said in a statement that the ex-communist state "systematically" violates the rights of refugees and migrants by holding people in detention camps described by the country's own justice minister as "worse than prisons" for up to 90 days.

While Germany is expecting up to 1.5 million migrants to arrive in 2015, the neighboring Czech Republic - less prosperous and with few ethnic minorities - is by no means a popular destination in this regard. Indeed, the country's immigration authorities have only registered around 1,100 asylum applications since January.
Very few of those detained wish to even set foot on Czech soil as they head westwards to states such as Germany and Sweden, according to local refugees' rights groups.

In his statement the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said it was "particularly reprehensible" that those who find themselves locked up in Czech detention facilities have to pay around nine euros ($10) for every day inside. In addition, new arrivals are routinely strip-searched in an effort to force those hiding cash to hand it over, Al Hussein said.

Pätkitty versio, artikkeli kokonaisuudessaan: http://www.dw.com/en/alleged-czech-policy-of-harsh-treatment-of-refugees-works/a-18808278

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