Prague, Jan 5 (CTK) – A total of 508 ethnic Czechs have returned from Ukraine during the two-year existence of a repatriation programme for the people with Czech roots, daily Pravo wrote on Thursday, adding that most of them have faced no problem in their new country.
Historically, this is the third wave of their repatriation. After World War Two, some 40,000 ethnic Czechs returned from Ukraine and in 1991, almost 2,000 of them from the Chernobyl area.
The current wave has not yet finished, Pravo writes.
Last year, permanent residence in the Czech Republic was granted to 358 people from Ukraine, Pravo writes, quoting the figures from a report drafted by Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (Social Democrats, CSSD).
By last November, 287 people or 102 families came to the Czech Republic. There was a woman aged 93 and a baby aged five months among them, Pravo writes.
Almost 1,200 people have shown interest in the repatriation since the project started. An application was submitted by 756 persons by last November, it adds.
For this, they had to have the certificate attesting their Czech ethnic origin. This is issued by the Czech Foreign Ministry. Last year alone, it received 300 applications and this year,100 more are expected, Pravo writes.
The programme covers all ethnic Czechs in the world. The report said applications for the certificate had been presented by people living in Russia, the USA, Moldova, Serbia and even individuals in New Zealand, Peru, Israel, Japan and Venezuela, it adds.
The first ethnic Czechs from Ukraine came to a hotel administered by the Interior Ministry in Cervena nad Vltavou, south Bohemia, in March 2015.
With some exceptions, the project has been a success story, Pavel Simek, from the Prague Archdiocese Charity which is in charge of assistance services for the new arrivals, told the paper.
“The experience has shown that the arrivals from Ukraine find jobs and housing without any major problems,” Simek told the paper.
At present, there are only roughly 40 people, the latest arrivals, in Cervena, he added.
Although the ethnic Czechs can spend up to six months there, while their stay is paid by the state, the length of their stay is shortening, Pravo writes.
From the original 105 days, during which the arrivals look for jobs, housing and new documents, improving their Czech, the length of their stay has shortened to the average 94 days, it adds.
Jobs are the most valuable affair, Pravo writes.
“We are receiving offers from both state-run and private companies, sometimes including accommodation,” Simek said.
In 2014, the government decided to sponsor the project with 66 million crowns.
The Interior Ministry provides the arrivals from Ukraine with financial help of up to 50,000 crowns per adult and 20,000 crowns per child under 18.
“In 2017, too, the costs will be similar to those in 2016 because we presume that approximately the same number of people will be repatriated,” the Interior Ministry report said.
From Cervena, 84 people have left for Tachov, west Bohemia, as it has a numerous community of ethnic Czechs from Ukraine. Others are to leave for Prague, Cheb, west Bohemia, Ceske Budejovice, south Bohemia, and Milovice, central Bohemia, Pravo writes.
The report said no problem had arisen due to the new arrivals from Ukraine.
“During the whole existence of the programme, not a single case has appeared in which any of the ethnic Czechs would not have fulfilled their duties or faced problems with observance of the Czech law,” the report said.
The ethnic Czechs are mostly descendants of the people who moved to Ukraine before the independent Czechoslovak state was established in 1918. The Russian tsarist regime offered land to them in the 19th century.
