Umbrella March 2011 held in Prague today for migrant rights

Today in Prague, 80 refugees and members of NGOs belonging to the Consortium of NGOs Working with Migrants (Konsorcium nevládních organizací pracujících s migranty) participated in the 2011 Umbrella March for Migrant Rights. This event on behalf of migrant and refugee rights took place all over Europe in honor of World Refugee Day.

Martin Rozumek, director of the Organization for Aid to Refugees (Organizace pro pomoc uprchlíkům – OPU), delivered a letter to the Government of the Czech Republic at the end of the Prague march. The letter outlines suggestions for improving the situation of migrants and refugees in the Czech Republic.

NGOs working with migrants in the Czech Republic are primarily trying to accelerate and improve the Czech authorities’ decision-making process regarding asylum requests. “The asylum procedure often lasts several years. We would like to see it reduced to just months,” Martin Rozumek told news server Romea.cz. In the letter to the government, the NGOs are asking that asylum seekers in the Czech Republic be allowed to work from the moment they file an asylum claim. Currently asylum seekers must wait until the first year of the asylum procedure is completed before being allowed to work.

Rozumek said the organizers of Umbrella March 2011 wanted to draw attention to the fact that there are currently 42 million people worldwide who are living as either internal migrants or refugees. “Of those, 80 % live in unimaginable conditions. Understandably, we would like the care for these people to improve,” Rozumek said.

The letter to the Czech government also calls for adjustments to EU asylum policy. Human rights activists are embarrassed by the EU response to the current situation in northern Africa. “European countries are closing their borders as a result of the expected influx of refugees, even though the refugees are the result of democratization processes supported by the European Union, including militarily,” Rozumek said, highlighting the connection to NATO air attacks on Libyan targets.

NGOs have criticized all along the fact that the Czech Republic has long granted asylum to only a very low number of persons seeking it. Between 1990 and 2010, Czech authorities granted asylum to a total of just 3 633 foreigners. Last year, roughly 700 people sought asylum here.

From 1948 – 1989, approximately 200 000 refugees fled from then-Czechoslovakia. With only a few exceptions, most were granted international protection in democratic countries.

The Umbrella March left just after 9 AM from the statue of St. Václav on Wenceslas Square and headed for Můstek, circling the Old Town Square before arriving at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. The umbrellas, symbolizing international protection, were meant to emphasize the need to protect refugees. They were distinctively white, symbolizing openness and peace, in order to attract public attention to the problem.

The Umbrella March is a Europe-wide campaign. The European Council on Refugees and Exiles, which organizes the event, wants to draw politicians’ attention to their responsibility to provide protection to people fleeing persecution, torture, and war.