Ministry wants towns to help solve foreigners' problems

Prague, Dec 2 (CTK) - The Czech Interior Ministry wants to solve the
problem of foreigners losing jobs in the Czech Republic due to the world
financial crisis jointly with the relevant towns authorities, Hana Mala,
from the ministry press department, told CTK on Tuesday.

"The ministry is evaluating the situation and focusing on the endangered
zones with the highest concentration of foreigners," Mala said.

Czech non-profit organisations have pointed out that the government does
not pay sufficient attention to the problems of migrants who lost their
jobs in the Czech Republic and who have neither money nor the opportunity
to find new work in the country.

They say the government does not have any plan to solve the situation.

The Interior Ministry will deal with the situation, Mala said, adding that
next year the Czech Republic would probably increase its spending on help
to these migrants.

However, Mala did not say how much money will be allotted and she also
declined to say how much the number of unemployed migrants in the Czech
Republic will grow.

"The Interior Ministry finances the projects of non-governmental non-profit
organisations and towns aimed at providing consulting services to
foreigners," Mala said.

However, according to NGOs representatives, state subsidies are
insufficient and many organisations are therefore on the brink of collapse
due to the lack of money.

Minister in charge of human rights and minorities Dzamila Stehlikova said
on Tuesday she firmly believed that the introduction of green cards for
foreigners would resolve the situation.

As of next year, green cards for foreigners will be introduced in the Czech
Republic under the amended law on employment.

Green cards will comprise both the residence and work visas. They will
enable foreigners to apply for jobs, but only for vacancies in which no
citizen of the Czech Republic or the European Union showed interest for 30
days.

However, experts point out that the system will not resolve the situation.

Experts and NGOs representatives say that employers may not agree to employ
the foreigners who will arrive in the Czech Republic on the basis of the
valid green card and expecting to take the promised job.

In such a case, their residence permit would expire and they would have to
return to the country from which they arrived.

If the foreigner's residence permit is linked to his job, he or she would
lose the possibility of staying legally in the Czech Republic if they lost
the job, and this happens now already, Jan Litomisky, Czech government
human rights commissioner, told CTK on Tuesday.

"Originally, their stay in the country was legal, but at present it is
illegal because it does not meet the goal on the basis of which the
residence permit was issued," Litomisky said.

These people must report themselves at the foreigner police and the police
could ban them from staying in the country for many years.

"I personally would appeal on the foreigner police to adopt a tolerant
stand towards the foreigners who report to the police voluntarily and who
are ready to accept certain sanctions. If it is necessary to issue a ban on
staying in the country it should be issued for the shortest possible
period," Litomisky said.

At present, the ban is usually one year.

"I think that in some cases even one year is too much," he said.