Legislative work
Work on conceptual changes, lobbying, and communication with the media as well as informing the public-all of this plays a major role in the activities performed by non-governmental organizations that offer assistance to foreign nationals. This is why we concentrate on monitoring the position of foreign nationals in our country and on changing unsuitable, restrictive or discriminatory regulations, just as we focus on changing the attitudes of responsible individuals towards this segment of the population. We have expressed our opinion on three legal amendments, and we pay attention to all legal changes concerning the residency of foreign nationals.
Our activities in 2005
In 2005 we commented on the amendment of the asylum law Act No. 57/ 2005 on asylum, as amended. This was the so called “Euro Amendment” the acceptance of which is connected with the application of EC Decree No. 343/2003 (“Dublin II”) and EC Directive 2003/9/ES prescribing the minimal requirements for accepting asylum seekers. (JA2). We approached senators and members of the parliament and lobbied in favor of our recommendations for improving the legal status of current and future asylum seekers. In the course of the process at least some partial changes to the legislation were made.
In addition to this, we tried to influence the creation of Act No. 350/2005, as amended, where the main changes deal with court investigation into asylum decisions. We actively participated in professional discussions, in negotiation talks with state representatives, lobbied for changes with senators and member of the parliament, wrote various articles and entered into public debate in the media. After substantial effort we managed to at least partially moderate the original restrictive proposition. We also dealt with the legal amendment that changes Act. No 325/1999 on asylum, which was later accepted and published as Act No. 165/2006 (the tenth amendment to the asylum law.)
We also tried to achieve change to legislation through the “Why Do They Have to Stay on the Side” project, which aims at strengthening the work potential of asylum seekers.
In addition to this, we submitted notes on a proposition to Act No. 326/199 (dealing with the residency of foreign nationals in the Czech Republic – the Act was later accepted and became Act No. 428/2005.) We primarily criticized the possibility of expulsion in connection with the ban on traveling, the detention of minor asylum seekers in detention facilities and the newly introduced possibility for the police to mandate that a foreign national must apply for a visa in the country where he or she resides.
The same action was taken in the case of another law concerning migrants- Act No. 161/2006, as amended. In connection to this, we asked for the necessary duration for gaining permanent residency to be reduced from 10 to 5 years. We also required the possibility that permanent residency could be granted sooner than the 5 year waiting period on special occasions. Lastly, we would like to mention our effort to improve the situation of illegal immigrants in the Czech Republic through a one-off regularization.
