Czech Foreign Minister welcomes falling asylum applications in Canada
Czech Foreign Minister welcomes falling asylum applications in Canada
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said on Sunday that a fall in the number
of asylum applications by Czechs in Canada could help stave off the threat
that Ottawa will reintroduce visas. Mr Kohout said that applications had
fallen in recent weeks. “It is a very positive signal which Canada is also
taking into account,” he said in a tv interview on Sunday.
Canada is reported to be on the verge of reintroducing visa requirements for
Czechs because of the surge in applications for asylum, largely from the
Czech Roma community. While not ruling out a comeback for visas, Mr Kohout
said it should not happen in the next days. He said other procedures such as
electronic registration or stepped up airport controls could help avoid such
a step. Mr Kohout added that he expected the EU to impose visas requirements
on Canada in reply to any move against the Czech Republic. If this did not
happen, Prague would lodge a complaint with the European Court of Justice
for lack of solidarity, he said.
Czechs lodged 1,720 applications for asylum since the start of the year
according to figures from the Canadian embassy in Prague. The newspaper Dnes
reported on Saturday suggested that many Roma who left for Canada now wanted
to return.
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Czech Foreign Minister welcomes falling asylum applications in Canada
Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said on Sunday that a fall in the number
of asylum applications by Czechs in Canada could help stave off the threat
that Ottawa will reintroduce visas. Mr Kohout said that applications had
fallen in recent weeks. “It is a very positive signal which Canada is also
taking into account,” he said in a tv interview on Sunday.
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