Prague, Sept 16 (CTK) – The Czech police have detained 2848 refugees who entered the country illegally and 57 people suspected of smuggling refugees since the introduction of stricter checks due to the current migration crisis on June 17, foreigner police spokeswoman Katerina Rendlova told CTK yesterday.
She said it is still unclear whether the migration wave would decrease during the winter, which occurred in the past several years as the journey is more difficult and more risky in winter.
However, this year the situation is different because a high number of refugees have set off on their journey and they have already reached Europe or are outside its border, Rendlova said.
The suspected people-traffickers included 12 Hungarians, nine Swedes, eight Syrians, six Germans, four Austrians and Iraqis, three Romanians, two Jordanians and one suspect from Afghanistan, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Lithuania, Slovakia and Turkey.
Rendlova said the people-smugglers had different motivations. The Hungarians did it to make profit, while non-Europeans who were granted German or Swedish citizenship or permanent residence tried to help their relatives or friends achieve the desired destination.
Under Czech law, people organising illegal crossing of the border may be sent to prison for up to 12 years. Rendlova said courts usually imposed prison sentences of only a few years in prison on people-traffickers, or even lower, sending them to 6 to 18 months in prison.
Most suspected people-traffickers were arrested in South Moravia, bordering Austria, and the Plzen and Usti regions, bordering Germany, Rendlova said.
From January to August, 6092 illegal foreigners were revealed on Czech territory, which is two times more than in the same period last year. Most refugees are only passing through the Czech Republic on their way to Western Europe.
Stricter checks have been introduced especially in regions bordering Austria. The police controls focus on roads and railroads. New police officers have recently been sent to guard the Czech-Austrian border in reaction to the reintroduction of checks at the border between Austria and Germany.
Last night, the police detained 34 migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan in southern Moravia.
