Project Introduces Recognised Refugees to Their New Home in the Czech Republic

Text: Petra Jaceňková

Leaflet: Slovo 21

Slovo 21 has issued a publication Czech Republic: Your New Home for international protection holders. The organisation will also offer them integration seminars in eight languages all around the republic.

People who are forced to leave their home country and seek protection in another country need to prove a great determination. They also face a lot of fear as they need to rebuild their whole life from scratch.  They have to leave behind their families, houses, works, and all social contacts.

Once they arrive in the Czech Republic, they start a new life journey. They need to arrange housing, start working to provide for basic livelihood, find school for their children, learn Czech, and try to understand how things work in a new unknown environment. They establish completely new social ties with local people. This will allow them to gradually integrate and find a new home in the new country. At first, dealing with everyday situations may be very difficult and confusing for these people. It is therefore important to help them make the first steps, so that the process of their integration into normal life is as smooth as possible.

The three-year project New Home in the Czech Republic was launched in Autumn 2018. Its aim is to raise awareness among international protection holders on the values and practical issues of life in the Czech Republic, their rights and responsibilities. The project is implemented in cooperation with the Department for Asylum, Migration, and Integration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior (OAMP) and the Refugee Facilities Administration (SUZ).

The key to a good life of the international protection holders in the Czech Republic is an active approach towards integration and a knowledge of Czech. The new guide as well as the integration courses make integration easier, they offer help with finding a new home and getting involved into social life here,” says Pavla Novotná, director of the OAMP.

The publication will be available in Czech, English, Arabic, French, Ukrainian, Spanish, and Turkish. Two more translations will be made based on the demand. If there is a legislation change during the implementation of the project, the publication will be updated. There will be useful information about local cultural habits and traditions, as well as areas of everyday life such as education, employment, business, healthcare, social assistance and social security system, housing, transport, etc.

Starting from Autumn 2019, integration seminars for international protection holders in at least eight languages will take place in all Czech regions. During these seminars, the lecturers will encourage the participants in acquiring intercultural skills for life in the Czech Republic. In order to guarantee high quality of the seminars, the lecturers and interpreters have already started their training and the supporting methodological materials are being prepared. The eight-hour seminars will take place during one day and they will be free of charge for international protection holders. The Slovo 21 organisation which coordinates the projects will reimburse  travel expenses of the participants for their journey to the seminar venue. Babysitting will be provided for the participants’ children if necessary. At each seminar, there will be a guest to make the one-day session more interesting. This will be a foreigner who has been living in the CR for some time and who has undergone a similar experience as the seminar participants.

For whom are the seminars intended? For anyone over 15 years of age who has been granted international protection (asylum or subsidiary protection) after 1^st January 2017.

How to register for the seminar? Through a website which has been running since September 2019 – www.novy-domov.cz. On the website you can find information about the project and a registration form.

It is also possible to register by writing an email to info@novy-domov.cz.

 

Since 2012, Slovo 21 has been successfully implementing adaptation and integration courses for third country nationals. Almost 6,000 people have already taken part in these courses and their feedback is very positive. For more information, see //www.vitejtevcr.cz/.

The project is financed under the national programme of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the budget of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic.