Legal assistance
All applicants for international protection who turn to us for help are given general information on their rights and obligations on the territory of the Czech Republic (Act No. 325/1999 Coll., on Asylum, as amended), as well as their corresponding rights and obligations regarding the issues of foreigners (Act No. 326/1999 Coll., on the Stay of Foreigners in the Czech Republic, as amended). In certain cases, our lawyers provide individual assistance and help for the entirety of the legal process. In practice this free legal aid means easier and timelier solutions to client problems and easier orientation into their new environment. It anticipates conflict situations and crises, which could stem from unfamiliarity with the legal solutions to asylum issues.
Just as counselling is provided in the Prague office, it is also provided at Ministry of the Interior Refugee Centres, where applicants await the positive or negative decision of the authorities on granting asylum. AIM lawyers also visit Detention Centres for Foreign Nationals, where persons who have somehow broken the laws of their stay on the territory of the Czech Republic are placed. This group of foreigners is especially endangered due to their lack of information and general isolation from their surroundings.
The problems of our clients are solved in cooperation with government agencies, above all the Ministry of the Interior (the Department of Asylum and Migration Policy, the Refugee Facility Administration, the Police of the CR), labour offices and various healthcare and educational facilities. We also cooperate with other non-governmental organisations (the Society of Citizens Assisting Migrants, the Organisation for Aid to Refugees, the Integration Counselling Centre, IOM Prague, the Czech Catholic Charity, La Strada and the Salvation Army).
