opu.cz | What was achieved

In 2010, Mr A.M. applied for his permanent residence permit; it was revealed during the procedure that due to his employer´s negligence, he had been working without work permit for two months. This was the reason why the authorities launched extradition procedure against the foreigner who lives in the Czech Republic with his wife and 4 children (all of whom study at the primary school and university). Based on the report that the foreigner made and during which OPU assisted, the extradition procedure was cancelled, and a few months later, after repeated plea, the foreigner and his entire family were granted permanent residence status in the Czech Republic.

The employer of Mr O.C. from Ukraine, terminated his employment by mere telling him that “doesn´t have to go to work anymore” which made it impossible for the foreigner to register himself at the Job Centre as a job seeker. After consulting the matter with the Job Centre concerned and the Job Inspectorate, an appeal to the employer was written with the assistance of OPU, asking him to terminate the contract in accordance to the law and provide his former employee with sufficient certificates. The employer eventually did answer to the written plea and met the demands of Mr O.C., who then registered at the Job Centre and got a new job shortly afterwards.

Municipal Court sentence n. 6 A 11/2011 – extensive detention in the Reception centre for international protection applicants Ruzyně airport – the court ´s priority decision made within 7 days

The applicant for international protection, who was victim to a rape assault in her country of origin, should have been released immediately from the closed airport centre to an open asylum centre in the Czech territory as a so-called vulnerable applicant, in accordance to Art. 73 Par. 7 Act 325/1999 Coll. on Asylum. The closed airport centre is not appropriate for such persons due to its characters (impossibility to leave the building, window-less rooms behind bars, impossibility to receive sunlight), given their psychological situation. The Ministry, however, did not identify the applicant´s vulnerability. After legal action filed through OPU, the Municipal Court did comply to its objections and cancelled the decision which made it illegal for the applicant to enter the territory, all this in a record period of 7 days, as instructs the novelized formulation of Art. 73 Par. 5 of the Asylum Act, valid from 1/1/2011. In its decision, the court criticises the absence of identification mechanism that could help the Ministry of the Interior to examine any case of vulnerability. The applicant was released to an open asylum centre after the court´s decision.

Ivory Coast – the court has cancelled ministry´s decision three times – Hradec Králové Regional Court´s sentence n. 28 Az 24/2010

Since 2006, OPU has been representing an applicant for international protection from Ivory Coast. Despite repeated court´s decisions, complying with objections of the OPU and returning the same case back to the Ministry of the Interior to repeated examination of the applicant´s possibility of safe return to Ivory Coast, the applicant is repeatedly given negative international protection decisions. Most recently, OPU represented the applicant at the successful court´s proceedings in December 2010 and in March 2011, the applicant shall be introduced to materials for the Ministry´s decision. The decision, now the fourth one, is much-expected. OPU registers other cases of international protection applicants that are being prolonged due to similar “cycles” of the international protections proceedings up to a few years.

Sergei from Belorussia, applied for international protection - the European Court of Human Rights granted interim measures:

OPU was contacted by UNHCR with a request from Mr Špelda – the legal attorney of Sergei from Belorussia. Sergei was to be deported to Belorussia where he feared he would be arrested, imprisoned and tortured because of his political activities. He therefore applied for international protection in the Czech Republic. OPU took to the European court of human rights asking for immediate granting of interim measures which would forbid the Czech authorities to deport Sergei. The interim measures were granted within few hours. Following a proposition of his attorney, Sergei was granted presidential pardon for persons convicted of criminal offense.

NN. from Congo, applied for international protection – granted humanitarian transfer to another member state:

NN. was held by the police in Congo and while in detention repeatedly raped. She was admitted to the Reception Facility for asylum seekers at the Prague Ruzyně airport (closed facility without possibility of leaving the premises) in a bad psychological condition. The legal department of OPU in cooperation with the SUZ MVCR (Refugee facilities administration of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic) successfully provided a regular psychological care and a transfer to an open facility. Furthermore, OPU succeeded in getting NN. in touch with her husband who in the meantime applied for asylum in another member state of the EU. Eventually, in cooperation with the appropriate department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (the department responsible for the Dublin system) and with a non-governmental organization of another EU member state, OPU agreed with the member state dealing with her husband’s case to immediately take over NN.’s case for humanitarian reasons.

OPU found employment for an Armenian participant of the project Uplatněte se!

OPU found employment for an Armenian participant of the project Uplatněte se! who had been registered as an employment seeker at the Labour Office for two years. Through a work diagnostics OPU concluded that the participant could find an employment in engineering, specifically in welding metals and other materials. A requalification course in TIG welding technique helped the participant to become an independent contractor. He is currently working with an international engineering company as a welder, precision welding materials for petrochemical and food-processing industry. The participant started as an independent contractor in the region of South Moravia. He is now commuting to work to the region of Moravia-Silesia where the company moved at the beginning of this year.

One of the many achievements of the New Beginning project (EUF 2009-18)

Our client from Chechnya entered the project shortly after having moved into an integration apartment with her husband and two little children. The whole family was in a tough situation. Even though both parents worked in a middle-sized company, they were employed through an agency and worked variable hours which for some months meant only a few days of work. We had met with the client several times and based on our experience with other women form Chechnya, we mutually agreed that she should make use of her cooking skills. After successfully completing a requalification course in cooking, with a reputation of an industrious and conscientious student, she found a part-time employment in a deli department in a grocery supermarket chain. This position helps her with integration into the Czech society. The director of the agency which ran the requalification course spoke of her in kind words: “She was a very attentive student, trying to get as many useful information as possible. Despite a partial language barrier, she gained good knowledge and her devotion is certainly a good example for many of us.”

A client from Georgia decided to participate in our project called ‘Realize yourself’ after she moved to the Czech Republic. She took up Czech classes as she basically didn’t speak Czech when she moved here. Two types of Czech language courses were offered to her: intensive one-to-one course and intermediate group course. The client was further offered assistance during the process of her university diploma recognition. Based on the appropriate university search and filed application, the client was recognized her education. At the moment, she is preparing for entrance examination for master’s degree in economics and attends Czech courses in order to boost up her chances for finding a job and being accepted to the graduate programme. Within the project, the client also visited a workshop on self-presentation lead by a well-known specialist who provided a practical training to her and her colleagues focused on possibilities to join labour market and appropriate ways how to approach potential employers.

Thanks to her intensive self-study of Czech language and its subsequent advanced knowledge, the client could take part in another project of OPU (‘Let’s get to know each other’), during which she participated in the direct realization of project activities, this time as a tutor.

The client took part in the ‘Realize yourself’ project when she had been in the evidence of Job centre for a year. Despite intensive search for work, she’d had no luck with long-term job opportunities. The client wished to work somewhere where her excellent knowledge of a few world languages could be involved. As a part of the ‘Realize yourself’ project, the client attended a self-presentation course where she was provided overall and detailed theoretical and practical information from HR management, how to look for work in a right way and how to approach potential employers. The client felt very happy with the course as she learned and practised many useful information, advice and techniques that she could begin to apply when looking for work. Not long after having completed the course, she found work as a full-time teacher at an International secondary school with classes taught in English.

19.10.2011

Expert activities of OPU in Tajikistan

Director of the Organization for Aid to Refugees, Martin Rozumek, was invited to prepare an analysis of the refugee system in Tajikistan.

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11.01.2011

Information courses for displaced persons

Last year OPU launched a third series of information courses for displaced persons.

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What was achieved

Sergei from Belorussia, applied for international protection - the European Court of Human Rights granted interim measures:

NN. from Congo, applied for international protection – granted humanitarian transfer to another member state:

OPU found employment for an Armenian participant of the project Uplatněte se!

One of the many achievements of the New Beginning project (EUF 2009-18)

Expert activities of OPU in Tajikistan

Information courses for displaced persons

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