Chechens from Polish refugee camps continue to apply for asylum in the Czech Republic

Seventy two Chechens applied for asylum in the Czech Republic today; since April 16 the total number of requests has reached 384.

In questionnaires prepared by the Czech Interior Ministry, Chechens blamed conditions in Polish refugee camps for their decision to go to the Czech Republic.

Czech officials must not reveal the real reasons why refugees apply for asylum here since this information is deemed confidential. According to Polish authorities, Chechens had given up trying to get refugee status in Poland. Both Czech and Polish officials said that these people evidently believe it will be easier for them to get refugee status in the Czech Republic.

Today?s edition of Novinky.cz, a Czech web site, reported that the center for asylum seekers in Vy nИ Lhoty on the Czech-Polish border now holds 700 refugees, half of whom are from Chechnya. They quoted Daniel Topinka, head of the center as saying, ?We are vacating everything possible to make room for these people, who now sleep wherever they can find available space.?

?More and more Chechens keep coming, saying the reason they?re applying for asylum is because of the war in their country. Many more people are waiting on the bridge, while others arrive here by taxi,? explained an official of the Czech Foreigners Police to Novinky.cz this afternoon.

On April 28, TomА  Hai man, director of the Asylum and Immigration Policy Department of the Czech Interior Ministry, will meet with the Polish Foreigners Police in Warsaw to discuss this situation. All information on what transpired during the session will be available afterwards.

According to the Czech Interior Ministry, a total of 8,482 foreigners applied for asylum here last year, roughly half the number as in 2001, chiefly due to an amendment to the Asylum Act. The number of asylum seekers from the Russian Federation last year rose by 7 percent to 628 people. Prague Watchdog, in reading the Czech Interior Ministry?s annual report, discovered that at least 80 percent were either residents of Chechnya or people of Chechen origin.