Prague, June 22 (CTK) – The Czech Interior Ministry temporarily halted the preparation of the acceptance of 14 seriously ill Syrian children and their families because Czech doctors said the medical treatment of the children is unlikely to be successful, daily Pravo writes yesterday.
In April, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recommended 14 Syrian families to the Czech Republic and the Interior Ministry started checking the asylum applicants.
But the Prague-Motol University Hospital, which is to take part in the children’s treatment, concluded that the recommended patients cannot be accepted due to their health condition, the paper writes.
Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Social Democrats, CSSD) wrote in a report for the government that the children cannot be accepted because their treatment would be either too demanding and expensive or have little chance of succeeding, Pravo writes, adding that Chovanec decided to stop the security vetting of the Syrian families.
The Czech government decided to grant asylum to Syrian families in January. It was expected that the first families would arrive in the country in summer. Now it is clear that they would come in October at the earliest, Pravo writes.
Chovanec proposed that doctors and officials of his ministry go to Amman, Jordan, and select new families together with the UNHCR doctors.
Chovanec argues that this would speed up the whole process. The Czech security services would check the selected asylum applicants during July and August, the final decision would be made in September, and the families could arrive in October, according to Chovanec’s plan that is yet to be approved by the government.
Chovanec said previously the Czech authorities would choose those refugees who could integrate into Czech society as easily as possible.
Czech doctors have been treating children of Syrian refugees in Jordan within the Medevac humanitarian programme for some time. In February, the doctors said they carried out heart operations on 16 children in Jordan, mostly from refugee camps, Pravo writes.
kva/t/pv
