Temporarily protected Ukrainians organize volunteer trash pickup in Prague neighborhood
![On 4 May 2023, temporarily protected Ukrainian citizens organized a volunteer trash pickup in the streets of the Prague 4 Municipal Department. (PHOTO: Žijeme na čtyřce společně [We Live in Prague 4 Together] )](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fromea.cz%2Fapp%2Fuploads%2F2023%2F05%2Fuklid-ukrajina-768x441.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Ukrainian citizens with temporary protection in the Czech Republic organized a volunteer trash pickup in the streets of the Prague 4 Municipal Department near the Novodvorská residential hotel. The event was attended by representatives of the New Ukraine (Nová Ukrajina), Prague Maidan and Slovo 21 nonprofits, by Czech and Ukrainian citizens, and by the First Vice-Mayor of Prague 4, Irena Michalcová.
The temporarily protected Ukrainians held the event to thank the Prague 4 Municipal Department for aiding people affected by the war. During the gathering, both organizers and those attending expressed their appreciation and gratitude.
Jelena Silajdžič, the director of Slovo 21, was once a refugee in the Czech Republic herself and expressed her support and sympathy for the initiative to aid those who have ended up in a difficult situation and had to flee their homeland. “I am from Sarajevo, and I know what it means to flee your home with your children. You don’t know where or how to begin a new life, but I believe you all have the good luck to be in Prague 4 now, which supports what you need: To be people, not just refugees,” she told the gathering.
Nadia Novakova of the New Ukraine organization, the main instigator of the event, emphasized that the aim was not for people to view temporarily protected Ukrainians as in need of aid and compassion, but to demonstrate that they are able to contribute to society and to work. She also emphasized the support the community receives from the Prague 4 Municipal Department and its First Vice-Mayor.
According to data from the Interior Ministry, at the close of April 2023 there are 225,100 Ukrainians with temporary protection in the Czech Republic between 18 and 65 years of age. Currently approximately 91,000 of them are working.
The proportion of temporarily protected Ukrainians working full-time in the Czech Republic or on some kind of agreement with regular deductions from their salaries to the state is growing. The state receives health and social insurance contributions from 85 % of the temporarily protected workers.
