Immigrant Blues: Islam gets legal, the crackdown
Islam, my flatmate from Bangladesh, got a six-month visa this week. That's a step up from before, when the Foreign Police were only giving him one-month visas.
'Ah, something is better than nothing,' Islam said, beaming.
As for me, I've got to go back at the beginning of August. Meanwhile, for those of you who read of our adventures at the Foreign Police last time, read this report in today's Czech press. Seems the police finally started cracking down on some of the shady stuff that goes on there in the wee hours of the morning. Hope that means I'll have it easier next time, but I'm not holding my breath.
Group of foreigners draft own waiting list of stay applicants
By ČTK / Published 17 July 2008
Prague, July 16 (CTK) - The Czech foreigner police Wednesday detained 19 persons who allegedly regularly secured by force a better position for applicants for residence permits who queue outside the foreigner police seat in Prague.
The group of foreigners who did so for reward included one without documents and another one with a forged passport.
Foreigner police spokeswoman Katerina Rendlova said the police action started at 3:30 this morning.
The police checked several people who regularly address the waiting applicants in the afternoon and then offer them places in the queue for the following day according to their own waiting lists for a fee of 500 crowns.
They allegedly use force against the other applicants who did not pay them.
Now the detained people are being questioned. Most of them come from Russian-speaking countries, Reidlova said.
She said the action aimed to solve the situation at the foreigner police that has been unsatisfactory in the long term and to create equal and decent conditions for foreigners to settle their applications.
Critics, however, say the situation is not decent because the foreigners must queue long hours, starting early in the morning, and sometimes even more than one day outside the foreigner police seat since the procedure is very slow.
The foreigners also complain of language problems because most of the police do not know other language than Czech, and that it is not possible to handle the agenda electronically.