What happens if you’re a refugee and you arrive in Prague? First it depends on what kind of refugee you are. The Czech Republic is still open to Ukrainian refugees, but as of August the city of Prague is closed. While Poland has the most Ukrainian refugees, the Czech Republic has taken the most per capita of any European country. Many Czechs are now protesting against the refugees.
If a Ukrainian arrives in Prague, he/she may stay in the city for 3 days while they figure out somewhere else to register (there must be room for your kids in school). You will most likely spend those three days at KDM (Krestansky Domov Mladeze, if you most know). This is actually where my team is staying as well. It’s a nunnery that was slated to be renovated and has been rented to Dignity (the refugee ministry we are working for) at a nominal charge. There are actually a few exceptions to the “can’t stay in Prague” rule, and one showed up yesterday. A young mother and her baby will be allowed to stay in Prague and I helped transport her to a safe house. And I got to hold a very cute baby!
Other families are at various locations around Prague, and we are spending our days playing with the children at those spots. If you can imagine what is was like to have your lives disrupted. by Covid and then a war, you can imagine that these kids need something to do other than stare at screens. Most were very eager to play and were well-behaved. We had a great time!
The Czech Republic has NEVER been open to Syrian refugees. They pay a yearly fine to the EU rather than accept any. If Syrians arrive, they are put in detention facilities where they are not allowed to leave. Those detention facilities are now full, so the police are simply turning a blind eye and hoping Syrians will move on through to other countries. Any that do arrive here on the train have paid traffickers to get them here only to find out that their journey is not over and they are NOT welcome. In the evenings, our team is serving hot tea and coffee to the Syrian refugees at the train station.
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| the view from our "dorm room" at KDM |
