Czech courts have ordered the release of some 30 per cent of detained refugees

15. 12. 2015

From the beginning of 2015 until mid-November 2015, 270 asylum seekers  lodged legal complaints against the Czech government for holding them in detention centres. In 90 cases, the Czech courts have ordered the Czech government to release the asylum seekers. 42 complaints have not yet been processed. 136 complaints have been rejected by the Czech courts.

The main reason why the Czech courts have been ordering the Czech government to release the asylum seekers is the fact that the Czech asylum law did not until now contain criteria which would define "high probability that an asylum seeker would abscond". The official reason why the Czech authorities have been placing refugees in detention is the "danger that they might go away".

The Czech asylum law has now been updated and the criteria defining "high probability of absconding" have now been added, so it is to be expected that in future, Czech courts will approve the detention of refugees on the territory of the Czech Republic.

The Czech authorities have been imprisoning the refugees because they say that according to the EU Dublin regulation they are dutibound to deport the refugees to a previous country, i.e. Hungary. However, it is not possible to deport the refugees from the Czech Republic to Hungary because Hungary is overwhelmed with immigrants. This is another reason why the Czech courts have tended to order the Czech authorities to release the refugees instead.

In spite of this, the Czech Home Office has confirmed that it will continue detaining the refugees with a view of deporting them to Hungary according to the Dublin regulation, "because it is the law".

The Czech authorities detained 3313 refugees between 1st January 2015 and 16th November 2015. 1519 refugees were detained so that they would be deported to Hungary according to the Dublin regulation; 1422 refugees were held in order to be deported under the international Readmission Treaty.

The Czech courts have also ordered the release of all those refugees who have been accompanying minors.

Source in Czech HERE

Vytisknout