Czech Interior Ministry: Czech Republic is only transit stop for many Chechen refugees

The majority of Chechen refugees who arrived from Poland and applied for asylum in the Czech Republic last year consider it only a stopover before heading on to Western countries, announced Czech Interior Ministry officials at a news conference in Prague on January 30.

Last year, there were more than 4,500 Chechen asylum seekers in the Czech Republic; and 3,500 left without waiting for their applications to be processed.

Last year, 39 Chechens received asylum in the Czech Republic; and there are 143 Chechen asylum seekers presently housed in Czech refugee facilities.

On January 26, activists of the Czech NGO Nesehnuti staged a protest outside the Interior Ministry to draw attention to the Chechen refugees' complicated situation in the Czech Republic. Their slogan was "Don't Send the Refugees Back to War" and they presented the ministry with a petition signed by over 1,400 people who support the renewal of asylum proceedings for a group of 60 Chechens. These asylum seekers have their asylum applications turned down because they illegally crossed the border to Austria. They are now allegedly threatened with deportation back to Russia. The activists regard the Czech officials' behavior not only as inhumane but contradictory to international agreements that the Czech Republic pledged to honor.

These people duly appealed the ministry's decision in the regional court and in the event they lost their case, they can take it to the Court of Appeals, said members of the ministry who attended the press conference. The officials refused to accept the NGO's accusation that they were behaving inhumanely as the expulsion of the refugees was not imminent.