Author
| Capacity and occupancy of the asylum reception system: (2025) | ||
| Centre | Capacity | Occupancy at end (2024[1]) |
| Airport reception centre (detention type) | 36 | 0 |
| Zastavka reception and accommodation centre (partly detention type, partly open) | 202 | 39 |
| Kostelec accommodation centre (open) | 277 | 38 |
| Bělá Jezová accommodation centre (open) | 180 | 18 |
| Havířov accommodation centre (open) | 228 | 39 |
| Total | 923 | 134 |
Source: Data provided by the RFA on OPU’s request.
In 2024 the capacity of reception and residential centres was on average 18% utilised, calculated based on persons physically present. Including those officially registered but residing outside the centres, the occupancy would be 28% on average.[2] In the Czech Republic, reception centres for asylum seekers are primarily managed by the central government. The MoI is responsible for asylum policy, setting operational standards, and overseeing all facilities, while the RFA, a budgetary organization under the MoI, operates and manages all reception centres, including accommodation, basic services, and administration.
In addition to accommodation provided directly in asylum facilities, the law allows for accommodation outside asylum facilities as part of the general reception scheme. Specifically, the MoI may ensure accommodation for asylum seekers with external accommodation service providers where the capacity of asylum facilities is exhausted or where accommodation outside an asylum facility is considered necessary in view of the circumstances of the applicant’s stay. This accommodation is organised on the basis of contracts concluded by the MoI with service providers.
Such accommodation outside asylum facilities remains integrated into the statutory reception system and does not constitute a parallel or separate scheme. It serves as a complementary measure to standard reception facilities and is used primarily as a capacity or necessity-based solution, rather than as a distinct form of reception with different legal status. The law does not further specify the concrete types of facilities (such as hotels, private flats or emergency shelters), but it provides the legal basis for their use through contractual arrangements within the existing reception framework.
In 2025, there were no other types of accommodation used as the capacities of reception centres were not full. Altogether there were 1,037 asylum seekers coming to the reception or accommodation centres in 2025.
There is the airport reception centre in the transit zone, which is a de facto detention centre with no access to the outside facilities. There are of course border police stations with detention cells for people crossing the borders illegally both at the land borders and the airport Prague border. No access to NGO lawyers or private lawyers to such centres is provided.
Asylum seekers benefiting from the housing and reception services of the RFA cannot choose which centre they will be placed in. This is up to the RFA officials to decide. The stage of the procedure does not have any relevance for the decision.
National state funding and EU funding is provided for the management of the reception centres. OPU does not have any information about difficulties in accessing public funds for these purposes.
[1] Information provided by the RFA. At the time of writing of this report, statistics for 2025 were not available.
[2] European Migration Network, EMN ANNUAL REPORT on Asylum and Migration, 2024, available here.