Prague, Feb 4 (CTK) – The police caught 8563 foreigners staying illegally in the Czech Republic in 2015, an increase of 3741 on 2014, the foreigner police informed journalists on Thursday, adding that one quarter of the detained were citizens of Syria.
The number of detained Syrians rose from 142 to 2016 year-on year, which is due to the full-blown migrant crisis in Europe.
The Syrians were followed by citizens of Ukraine of whom 1224 were detained. The Ukrainians usually arrive in the Czech Republic legally, but they exceed the permitted length of stay.
Kuwaitis placed third with 588 persons detained. They often arrive in the Czech Republic as spa guests who do not leave the country by the deadline permitted.
Citizens of Afghanistan and Iraq followed.
The police say the foreigners use the Czech Republic as a transit country only. They enter it from Austria and Slovakia and they are set to continue to other western countries, such as Germany and Sweden.
“The enormous increase was caused by transit migration,” Police President Tomas Tuhy said.
The police detained last year 168 people who helped foreigners illegally stay in the country or cross the border. Out of the number, 118 were people smugglers. Their total rose by 114 year-on-year.
In the previous years, police mainly detained people who helped foreigners acquire false stay permits.
The foreigner police also uncovered more forged passports and other travel documents. The total of 2502 of them was 1532 higher than in 2014.
The number of 467,562 foreigners who stayed legally in the Czech Republic as from the end of last year was 15,639 higher than in 2014.