Prague, Aug 3 (CTK) – The Czech foreigner police uncovered 197 illegal migrants from Friday till Monday morning, which is a record high number during a weekend, foreigner police spokeswoman Katerina Rendlova told CTK yesterday.
The numbers of detained illegal migrants have been rising. Since mid-June when the police tightened checks, 996 refugees have been detained in the Czech Republic.
On Sunday alone, the police detained 46 migrants. Their daily average number has increased to 42, Rendlova said.
A total of 467 foreigners are now placed in the refugee detention centre in Bela pod Bezdezem, central Bohemia, and 194 are in Zastavka u Brna, south Moravia.
The Interior Ministry will debate a rise in the capacity of the facilities these days, Rendlova said.
In mid-July, the government approved the opening of detention facilities for refugees in Vysni Lhoty, north Moravia, and Balkova, west Bohemia. It will also extend the capacity in Bela pod Bezdezem. The total number of beds in them should be raised to 1,200 by the year’s end.
The Interior Ministry expects 5,000 to 7,000 illegal immigrants to come to the 10.5-million Czech Republic next year and some 3,500 are expected this year.
The situation in the Bela facility where the detained foreigners were rioting last week has been calm since the police intervention on Friday, Rendlova said.
“The foreigners do not protest any more and they behave in compliance with the local rules,” she said.
However, some 40 officers from a special riot unit stay at the site preventively.
Citizens of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan prevail among the detained immigrants.
Most of them get to the Czech Republic from Greece via Hungary and Austria and almost all say their target country is Germany.
The government might discuss the tightening of border checks on August 20, Interior Minister Milan Chovanec said.
President Milos Zeman said on Sunday the military would be able to send some 1500 soldiers to the border.
