Czech capital's second refugee camp accommodates 92 Romani refugees from Ukraine on its first day

The refugee camp in Prague's Malešice neighborhood that began operations yesterday accommodated 92 refugees from Ukraine on its first day; it is designed for the Romani refugees from Ukraine who have been living at the main railway station after being rendered homeless and penniless. There are now 118 refugees living in the other camp in the Troja quarter of the capital that was created in mid-May. 

Firefighters announced the numbers on Twitter this morning. The Malešice refugee camp is offering accommodation temporarily to refugees who were living at the main railway station in unsuitable conditions in the capital. 

Allegedly some are citizens of both Hungary and Ukraine, others lack identification altogether, while still others do not have a stamp in their passports showing when and where exactly they entered the Schengen Zone. At the camp in Malešice, the refugees will wait until their citizenship is confirmed and then will depart, for example, to Hungary by train. 

The camp in Malešice is not intended for refugees who want to remain elsewhere in the capital or who want to travel to some other country. At the same time, the nonprofit organizations that have been aiding refugees have ceased operations at the Prague railway station. 

The Aliens Police is meant to begin working there and refugees will just be given information about their options, as happened at the beginning of the war. Prague is allegedly struggling with a big influx of refugees from Ukraine. 

The Regional Assistance Center for Aid to Ukraine in the Vysočany quarter, which serves both the capital and the Central Bohemian Region, has so far handled over 94 000 refugees. The Mayor of Prague announced yesterday that he has decided to close that center on 15 June because it is overloaded. 

Other Regional Governors have criticized him for this. The Chair of the Association of Regions of the Czech Republic, South Bohemian Regional Governor Martin Kuba (Civic Democratic Party - ODS) described the mayor's plan as a political gesture and a step that is uncollegial. 

Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (Mayors and Independents - STAN) said the Czech Republic will be able to take care of refugees from Ukraine even if the assistance center closes in Prague. The minister also said that he is willing to discuss the situation in Prague with Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) and to negotiate it with Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS).