Prague, Feb 5 (CTK) – Seventeen Iraqi refugees, including nine children, landed at the Vaclav Havel International Airport in Prague on Friday as the second of several groups of Christians from Iraq, of whom the Czech Republic plans to accept 153 this year.
One of the refugees, who presents himself as George told journalists that they have not come to eat and drink for free at the cost of the Czech state, but they want to work, each in their own profession.
The youngest member of the group is a six-week-old baby girl.
The first group arrived in late January, the rest are to come in the nearest weeks.
The first group, or two Christian Iraqi families comprised of ten people altogether, have been living in the Okrouhlik recreation facility near Jihlava, south Moravia, since January 24.
The refugees come from Mosul, Iraq, which they abandoned over its occupation by Islamic State. They went to refugee camps in Irbil, Iraq, and further to Lebanon.
The refugees who arrived on Friday should have been part of the first group in January, when, however, unsettled documents delayed their departure from Lebanon.
One five-member family could not leave for Prague over unsettled documents of two children.
On arrival in the Czech Republic, the Iraqis are accommodated in Okrouhlik for two to three months before moving to flats in Jihlava. As from mid-2016, when they are expected to gain Czech asylum, they will be able to move freely across the Czech Republic in search of jobs.
The relocation of the refugees was approved by the Czech cabinet last year.
The Christian refugees from Iraq have been accepted at the initiative of the Czech Generation 21 Foundation, which provides organisational and financial assistance to their relocation.
