ALERT: Українці, увага! Тут ви можете знайти важливі посилання з інформацією про ваше перебування в Чеській Республіці.

Published on March 23, 2022 News

UNICEF representatives discussed with the ombudsman the assistance to Ukrainian children in the Czech Republic

Philippe Cori, UNICEF Deputy Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, presented to Czech Ombudsman the UN Children's Fund's capacity to deal with the challenges of the arrival of people affected by the war in Ukraine. Majority of people arriving are children and their relatives. Over the next three years, UNICEF will provide support to the Czech Republic and other countries receiving people affected by the war. The Ombudsman, together with ministries and representatives of regions and municipalities, is one of the key institutions for UNICEF to identify where and in what form the aid to Ukrainian children should be directed.

UNICEF is planning to support existing governmental or regional aid systems as well as the activities of NGOs. Therefore, the Ombudsman agreed with UNICEF representatives to prepare an overview of the issues that, from his point of view, should not be forgotten in the context of the arrival of already 100,000 children and their families. He will also draw up a list of organisations that are helping people arriving from Ukraine in the South Moravian region and throughout the country. "For us, such a guarantee is extremely important, it will help us to identify trustworthy organisations and projects that we will support," explained UNICEF Deputy Regional Director Phillipe Cori at the meeting, adding that UNICEF is ready to offer, for example, training on child protection or prevention of exploitation and human trafficking. 

Unlike Poland or Slovakia, the Czech Republic does not have a national human rights institution for children, the so-called children's ombudsman. The Czech Republic is one of the last countries in Europe not to have a children's ombudsman. It is all the more evident these days, when the majority of refugees are children, that such institution in our country is lacking. The Ombudsman tries to help children within the framework of his statutory competence "However, this mainly concerns the control of the actions of the authorities, so the possibilities to address systemic issues are limited, including in terms of personnel or funding," Ombudsman Stanislav Křeček reminded at the meeting with UNICEF representatives.

The Ombudsman also described how his Office has been involved in assisting the newcomers. The Office's staff helps with the registration of Ukrainians at the Brno Asylum and Migration Policy Department of the Ministry of the Interior as well as at the Regional Assistance Centre at the Brno Exhibition Centre. The emploees also organized a collection of toys and snacks for children waiting to be registered. One of the lawyers specialising in foreigners' law is available at the Office every day. These experts are ready to help newcomers with more complex problems related to their stay in the Czech Republic.

Since the beginning of the war, the ombudsman has been providing an overview of important links and information in Ukrainian on the website. It draws attention to the dangers of exploitation and human trafficking. He has also created several special leaflets including questions and answers directly for children

The Office of the Ombudsman will offer several Ukrainian children a place in its children's group. It also plans to recruit Ukrainian-speaking teacher so children can more easily overcome the language barrier.

The ombudsmen of the Visegrad Four countries have previously said in a joint statement that their countries are likely to receive the largest number of refugees from Ukraine and states have to be prepared to help people fleeing the war: "As ombudsmen of these states, we believe that it is our legal and moral duty to provide effective and timely support and assistance to Ukrainian citizens and all people fleeing war-torn Ukraine to our territory, with special attention to the most vulnerable groups of people, such as children, the elderly, people with disabilities or pregnant women," the ombudsmen from Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, together with the Slovak ombudswoman, said in the statement.

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