Author
The Asylum Act requires that the asylum seeker is informed in writing about their rights and obligations at least two working days before lodging their application for international protection (under the Czech Asylum Act lodging of the application is the ‘provision of data relating to an application for international protection’).[1] This information should be provided in the mother tongue of the applicant or another language that they understand . It should include the explanation of the consequences of withdrawing the application (explicitly or implicitly) and informing them of their right to seek help at any time from legal aid providers, refugee-support organisations, and UNHCR . The Ministry shall also inform the applicant about the possibility of requesting information relating to the course of the asylum procedure that concerns the applicant’s personal situation. If it is not possible to include this information directly in the notice delivered to the applicant before lodging the application, the Ministry shall provide the written information to the applicant within a reasonable time, no later than 15 days from the date the applicant lodged the application for international protection.
The document with all the information that the applicant gets is available here. The document is quite long – 10 pages – so asylum seekers can easily be overwhelmed by the amount of information provided at the very beginning of the procedure.
Alternatively, the information on the procedure and the rights and obligations of the applicant can be provided by legal aid providers. There are currently two different legal aid providers available for asylum seekers: (a) NGOs (OPU and SIMI) and (b) a private law firm contracted by the MoI ( see Legal Aid ). The MoI prioritises legal aid provided by the law firm. The written information given to the asylum seekers contains a brief mention about the possibility of benefiting from legal aid provided by the selected law firm. The asylum seekers are also given a pamphlet about the legal aid provided by this law firm. Information about this law firm are also provided in every asylum facility and on the website of the MoI. However, there is no mention of the possibility of using the legal aid provided by NGOs.
There is no other written information provided during later stages of the procedure. Additional information is provided to applicants in detention[2], applicants who are making an application in a place where their liberty is restricted[3] (prison, pre-trail detention, etc.), applicants from safe countries of origin[4], applicants filing further subsequent applications[5] and applicants under Dublin procedure.[6] There is no information specifically tailored to the needs of unaccompanied children.
Information on Dublin
Asylum seekers are not systematically informed about the application of the Dublin Regulation. Only if the MoI assumes that another State would be responsible for assessing the application, the applicant receives a special document which includes information about the Dublin procedure. This document includes all the necessary information about the functioning of the Dublin system, information relevant for the determination of the responsible State, deadlines, grounds for detention, etc. On the other hand, it is written in a very formal, technical language which can make it not fully understandable for all the asylum seekers. It is thus necessary that the provision of this information is accompanied by the possibility to seek legal consultation with a lawyer.
Information at the border
As per section 3a(2) of the Asylum Act, asylum seekers should receive information on how to apply for asylum even prior to lodging their application, provided by police and NGOs. In practice, this information is provided in the form of flyers placed in police cells. However, these police cells are for persons departing from Czechia, not for persons arriving. There is no legal aid or monitoring of the premises for persons who have arrived in Czechia prior to being transferred to the airport reception centre. NGOs only have access to those who have already lodged their application. There is no interpretation at the border zone prior to lodging the asylum application.
UNHCR provides flyers at the reception centre. There is no systemic information provided prior to lodging the asylum application besides a UNHCR notice board on the wall before the border control. Furthermore, UNHCR faces crucial budget cuts after its US-AID program was suspended.
[1] Section 10 (1) of the Asylum Act.
[2] See Annex 1 of the information available here.
[3] See Annex 2 of the information above.
[4] See Annex 4 of the information above.
[5] See the information available here.
[6] See the information available here.