Amnesty International condemns Canada’s decision to reintroduce visas for
Czechs
Amnesty International has called upon the Canadian government to lift visa
restrictions for Czechs which it reintroduced in July, pointing to human
rights violations in the Czech Republic. In a joint letter the Czech and
Mexican branches of Amnesty International called on Ottawa to scrap tourist
visas for their countries’ citizens, saying that human rights workers were
‘concerned’ by the approach the Canadian authorities had adopted.
Speaking
to journalists on Tuesday, the head of Czech Amnesty International, Dasa van
der Horst, said that all countries had the right to monitor the entry of
foreigners into their territory and that visas were a legitimate tool for
this. She added that visas should not, however, be used to limit the
possibility of refugees seeking protection abroad. Mrs van der Horst
highlighted cases of human rights violations in the Czech Republic,
referring to the increased activity of far-right extremists targeted mainly
at the Czech Republic’s Roma minority. She said that in light of such
problems, it was ‘important’ for Canada to continue to offer Czech Roma in
particular refugee status.
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