Uherske Hradiste, South Moravia, July 1 (CTK) – The police in Uherske Hradiste detained members of a dancing group from Benin, guests to the International Folklore Festivals in Straznice, since they probably confused them with illegal immigrants, the Blesk tabloid reports Wednesday.
The foreigners could not present their passports to police officers because they did not take them for sightseeing in the town. Therefore they spent more than two hours at a police station until their identity was checked, Blesk says.
Local inhabitants expressed fears that the African artists might be illegal refugees, Blesk adds.
“They had a performance in Uhersky Brod [south Moravia] on the same day. Then they wanted to look round Uherske Hradiste. However, their guide did not realise that they would need passports,” Straznice festival secretary Petr Horehled told Blesk.
The festival organisers vouched for the Beninese dancers and they gave the police a list of their names and passport numbers. They also promised to send their scanned documents as soon as they returned to Straznice. The foreigners kept them at a campsite.
However, the dancers from Benin took the incident with humour.
Horehled said he had never experienced a similar case during the organising of the Straznice festival in 25 years.
The Czech Republic has tightened security measures on the borders and in trains over the current influx of refugees from Africa.
