21 Iraqi refugees arrive in Czech Republic

The fourth group of 21 Iraqi Christian refugees arrived in the Czech Republic on Sunday afternoon, said Martin Frydl from the project's organizer Generace 21 endowment fund.

The group includes nine children, six women and six men, said Frydl. According to the original plan, 23 people were to fly to Prague, but two of them, a widower and her daughter, decided to stay in Iraq at the last minute.

The 21 people are divided into two groups upon their arrival. Six people left to Smilovice near Trinec, north Moravia where the previous group of 14 Iraqi refugees were accommodated. Another 15 people will find a temporary home in a hotel in Prague- Branik neighbourhood.

Like their predecessors who flew to the Czech Republic in January and February, the newly arrived refugees will be acquainted with Czech culture, society and language as part of their integration process. After about two months, they will move into standard flats. Then they will be granted asylum in the Czech Republic and could start looking for jobs with the help of the project's organizer.

Before flying to the Czech Republic, these refugees underwent security checks by Czech intelligence services, interviewed by the Czech authorities and examined by doctors. Most of them have the international refugee status.

The Czech government in 2015 approved the Generation 21's proposal to accept 37 Christian Iraqi families, a total of 153 people. With the arrival of the fourth group refugees, the number of Iraqi Christian refugees has amounted to 89 in the Czech Republic.

Generace 21 is organising and funding the project with a 15-million-crown (about 625,000 U.S. dollars) budget with the aid of its partners and supporters. Enditem