Prague, July 24 (CTK) – The Czech police detained 2376 illegal migrants in Czech territory from January to June, but most of them were labourers from Ukraine, Moldova and Russia and only 124 were migrants heading for another EU country, according to the data that the Interior Ministry released on its website.
During the first six months of last year, 2244 illegal migrants were arrested in the Czech Republic.
As for the refugees streaming to Europe, 69 people from Iraq, 15 from Nigeria, 10 from Syria and 30 from other countries were detained in the first half of the year.
At the end of May, 542,746 foreigners legally stayed in the country, half of them having permanent residence in it. Most of the foreigners were Ukrainians (122,000), Slovaks (114,000), Vietnamese, Russians, Germans and Poles.
About 44 percent of foreigners with temporary residence arrived to get a job in the country.
In the first half of the year, 774 foreigners requested asylum in the Czech Republic, including 205 Ukrainians, 87 Georgians, 46 Russians, 43 Vietnamese and 41 Iraqis.
The number of foreigners seeking jobs in the country is increasing, the ministry said.
Czech firms have been complaining about lacking staff. The unemployment rate in the country has been the lowest in the EU.
The ministry said the number of refugees arriving in Europe via migrant routes has dropped to the level before the year 2012, in other words, before the migrant crisis.
According to the ministry, 56,197 illegal migrants came to Europe, mostly by sea (44,845).
Interior Minister Jan Hamacek (Social Democrats, CSSD) said fighting illegal migration, improved border protection and aid to countries from which migrants may be coming has been successful.
“Let’s stop scaring people and look at the facts. Numbers do not lie,” Hamacek tweeted.
