Prague, Jan 21 (CTK) – A total of 1,525 people applied for Czech asylum last year, which is 369 more than in 2014, and they were most often the citizens of Ukraine, Syria, Cuba and Vietnam, according to the fresh statistical data released by the Interior Ministry’s section of asylum and migration policy.
The share of Ukrainians among Czech asylum seekers was the largest of all for a long time. Last year, they submitted 694 applications.
The second largest group were Syrians with 134 applications, followed by Cubans with 128 applications.
A total of 71 people were granted Czech asylum last year, and another 399 were granted subsidiary protection, which is granted for a period set beforehand, unlike asylum.
Subsidiary protection is mainly granted to unsuccessful asylum seekers who would face a threat if they returned to their homeland.
In 893 cases, the Czech authorities either turned the asylum applications down or halted the asylum proceedings.
Another 660 applications were still waiting for assessment as of the end of 2015.
Between 2010 and 2013, the annual number of Czech asylum seekers stood below 1,000, but in the previous years it sometimes reached several thousands. A record number of over 18,000 applications was submitted in 2001.
