Drahonice, North Bohemia, Nov 7 (CTK) – Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan (ANO) is satisfied with the living conditions in the detention facility for migrants in Drahonice, he said after visiting the facility Saturday.
Pelikan previously said the conditions in the refugee centres were too strict.
He said he can see the improvements that have been made in the Drahonice former prison after it was recently handed over to the Interior Ministry.
“I am satisfied. It is a big difference from what I saw some time ago,” Pelikan said.
He said a psychologist was available to the foreigners and a fitness centre was being built in the compound.
Pelikan admitted that conflicts between the foreigners were common in Drahonice.
“When you put in one place so many people from various countries and in rather difficult life situations, conflicts will naturally arise,” he said.
He said the Prison Service staff was used to deal with such situations in a professional way.
The Drahonice centre is only for adult men.
Some nongovernmental organisations, Ombudsman Anna Sabatova and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights criticised the conditions in which refugees stayed in Czech detention centres.
Minister for human Rights Jiri Dienstbier said previously that is was against law to demand that the refugees pay for the accommodation and meals in the detention centres.
Pelikan was the only member of the government who did not oppose the mandate refugee quotas two months ago.
Earlier this week, wardens of the Prison Service started guarding the facility, replacing the police patrols. Members of a private security agency who were hired continue working in the Drahonice compound.
About half of the 240 beds in the Drahonice centre for illegal migrants is currently occupied.
Local people organised a petition campaign against the opening of the refugee centre in Drahonice. Usti Region governor Oldrich Bubenicek (Communists, KSCM) did not want the former prison to be turned into a facility for refugees either, arguing that the region was overburdened with problems.
The Usti Region has many underprivileged places and it fights one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, which also raises crime.
Some locals continue having fears, while others calmed down thanks to the presence of police officers.
“The situation seems calm here,” said Vera Hornova who lives next to the detention centre.
The facility has been operating since early October.
Another reserve facility for refugees is to be opened in Balkova, some ten kilometres away from Drahonice. This facility is situated in the Plzen Region, however.
Other detention centres for migrants are in Bela pod Bezdezem, central Bohemia, and Vysni Lhoty, north Moravia.
