烏克蘭裔移民在捷克融入過程之研究 - 政大學術集成

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(1)International Master’s Program in International Studies National Chengchi University. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. A Study on the Integration Process of 政治大 Ukrainian Immigrants in the Czech 立 Republic. er. io. sit. y. Nat. n. HSU POPOVA aHELENA iv l C YUNG-FANG LIN Advisor: n hengchi U. June, 2017.

(2) Abstract Since the split of the Czechoslovakia, the number of foreigners in the Czech Republic has been growing. The majority of immigration to the country is due to economic reasons. Although it has been expected that the majority of immigration to the country is temporary, the statistics show that the number of foreigners, who is settling in the Czech Republic permanently, is increasing. This thesis summarizes the immigration and integration policies in the Czech Republic in the time period 1993-2017. The second part of this thesis focuses the integration process of Ukrainian immigrants, who are the largest immigrant community in the Czech Republic. The author. 政治大 applies the assimilation theory and mainly three dimensions of integration (socio-economic, 立. ‧ 國. 學. cultural, and political) to examine the level of integration of the Ukrainian immigrants. Many researchers claim that Ukrainians are temporary immigrants, who would eventually go back to. ‧. Ukraine. The author suggests that due to the economic and political situation in Ukraine, many. Nat. sit. n. al. er. io. Czech society.. y. Ukrainian immigrants have settled in the Czech Republic permanently and have integrated into the. Ch. i Un. v. Answering three research questions helps to understand the immigration situation in the. engchi. Czech Republic and the integration level of the Ukrainian community. The author has studied relevant literature and has conducted semi-structured interviews with Ukrainian immigrants. The author has concluded that Ukrainian immigrants have integrated into the Czech society to some extend. They are still employed in their “niche” sectors, but not discriminated in pay. They have positive attitudes towards Czech values and norms, but still follow their Ukrainian traditions and holidays. The author suggests that improvement in Czech language skills and obtaining a legal residence status improves the integration of immigrants. Key words: Immigration, Integration, Czech Immigration Policy, Ukrainian Immigration, Assimilation theory.

(3) Abstract. 1993. 2017. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v.

(4) Table of Contents Chapter 1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….. 1. 1.1 Research Motivation and Purpose ………………………………………………………….. 1. 1.2 Research Questions ………………………………………………………………………... 3. 1.3 Literature Review …………………………………………………………………………... 5. 1.3.1 Immigration Literature …………………………………………………………... 5. 1.3.2 Integration Literature……………………………………………………………... 9. 1.3.3 Assimilation Theory ……………………………………………………………... 10. 1.4 Research Method …………………………………………………………………………... 13. 1.5 Organization of Thesis Chapters …………………………………………………………... 18. Chapter 2 Immigration and Integration Policy Context …………………………………... 19. 2.1 Immigration Overview …………………………………………………………………….. 20. 政治大 2.1.1 Work Permit Application Procedure ……………………………………………. 立. 25 27. 2.2 Czech Immigration Policy …………………………………………………………………. 28. 2.3 Czech Integration Policy …………………………………………………………………... 36. 2.4 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………. 40. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. 2.1.2 Illegal Employment ……………………………………………………………... y. 41. al. er. 3.1 Ukrainian Migration and Social Profiles …………………………………………………... io. 41. sit. Nat. Chapter 3 Ukrainian Immigrants in the Czech Republic………………………………….. v ni. n. 3.2 Ukrainians as a Diaspora …………………………………………………………………... Ch. engchi U. 3.3 The Impact of Ukrainian Migration ……………………………………………………….. 47 51. 3.4 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………. 53 Chapter 4 Integration Process of Ukrainian Immigrants………………………… ……….. 55. 4.1 Integration Process Overview ……………………………………………………………… 55 4.2 Socio-economic Integration ………………………………………………………………... 57. 4.3 Cultural Integration ………………………………………………………………………... 61. 4.4 Political Integration ………………………………………………………………………... 65. 4.5 Attitudes of the Czech Citizens Towards Immigrants ……………………………………... 67. 4.6 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………. 72. Chapter 5 Conclusion………………………………………… ……………………………... 74. References ……………………………………………………………………………………... 80. Appendix: Interview Questions ………………………………………………………………... 85.

(5) Figures Figure 1.1 Park’s Race Relation Cycle ……………………………………………………... 10. Figure 1.2 Integration dimensions and criteria ……………………………………………... 14. Figure 1.3 List of Interviewees………………………………………………………………. 16. Figure 2.1 Percentage of foreigners in selected EU countries ………………………………. 20. Figure 2.2 Total number of foreigners in the Czech Republic ………………………………. 21. Figure 2.3 Number of foreigners by residence status in the Czech Republic by years ……... 22. Figure 2.4 The most frequent citizenships of foreigners in the Czech Republic ……………. 23. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v.

(6) Chapter 1 Introduction. 1.1 Research Motivation and Purpose In the era of globalisation, migration has become a widely discussed topic among political leaders, researchers, and citizens. People migrate for a variety of reasons. Some are trying to gain valuable international experience by studying or working abroad, some are looking for better living. 政治大. conditions and economic opportunities, some get married abroad and are migrating for family. 立. reasons, and some are migrating involuntarily because their country is overtaken by war. Although. ‧ 國. 學. immigrants bring economic contributions and experiences to the host society, the local population. ‧. often seems to be uneasy about the higher number of immigrants in their country, because they are. sit. y. Nat. afraid of increase in unemployment and crime rates, decrease in wages, and other fears connected. io. al. er. with immigration. Therefore, governments are trying to protect their borders by limiting who can. n. come to their country, for how long, and for what reasons. In order to receive a visa, a residence. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. status or a work permit, applicants must satisfy requirements. Governments create integration policies to help immigrants become a part of society and decrease the tension between them and the local population. The role of researchers is to study, describe, and understand this phenomenon, understand the problems, and hopefully offer solutions to them. There has been plenty of literature written on immigration and integration policies, and whether fears connected with immigration are true such as that immigration decreases wages and increases criminality. This thesis is focused on the immigration situation and integration policies in the Czech Republic in the time period 1993-2017. In the year 2015, when a migration crisis occurred in Europe, the Czech Republic was one of the countries that was strongly against the acceptance of !1.

(7) refugees. In order to understand why there is a fear of immigrants, it is important to understand the migration situation in the Czech Republic, its history and its background. It is important to point out that the Czech Republic is a relatively new immigration country, before the split of the Czechoslovakia and opening of the borders, it was mainly an emigration country, so it does not have much experience with immigration, compared to the Western European countries. In comparison to the Western Europe, the percentage of foreigners in the country is still low, around 4 percent (CSO 2016), but from the perspective of the Czech Republic, it has grown considerably since the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993, and will most likely continue to grow. In this thesis, the overview of the migration situation in the Czech Republic will be provided. 治政 including the historical background since 1993, statistics大 of immigration, migration policies, 立 ‧ 國. 學. integration policies, and the attitudes of the Czech population towards migration based on surveys collected by the reputable agencies. The second part of the thesis will be focusing on the major. ‧. immigrant group in the Czech Republic, Ukrainians. Although Ukrainians are considered to be. sit. y. Nat. seasonal workers and temporary migrants, the data from the Czech Statistical Office show that the. n. al. er. io. numbers of Ukrainians receiving permanent residence permits and citizenship are increasing.. i Un. v. Moreover, based on experience from Germany, Austria, Belgium and Netherlands temporary. Ch. engchi. migrants may become permanent residents over time (Entzinger and Biezeveld 2003) Using qualitative analysis such as secondary data review, literature analysis, and semi-structured interviews of Ukrainian immigrants living in the Czech Republic, the level of integration of Ukrainian immigrants into Czech society will be analyzed. Most academic literature perceives Ukrainians in the Czech Republic as temporary economic immigrants working in unskilled jobs. Ukrainians are the largest immigrant community in the Czech Republic and the number of Ukrainians settling in the Czech Republic permanently is growing and with the unstable economic and political situation in Ukraine, the numbers of people willing to immigrate to the Czech Republic will most likely increase in the future. !2.

(8) The aim of this thesis is to provide readers with overview of immigration and integration policies in the Czech Republic, introduce the Ukrainian immigration and to explore the integration process of Ukrainians in the Czech Republic. Even though integration is a major topic in the political agenda across Europe, measuring the integration of immigrants can be challenging, because there are debates across literature what the integration means and what are the criteria can be used to measure it. One of the major theories explaining assimilation and integration of foreigners is assimilation theory. The author will be using four dimensions to evaluate the integration process, as proposed by Entzinger and Biezeveld (2003) namely: socio-economic, cultural, political, and the attitudes of the recipient society.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學 ‧. 1.2 Research Questions. sit. y. Nat. In order to understand the migration situation in the Czech Republic, it is important to. n. al. er. io. understand the context, the history, and the migration policies since the split of Czechoslovakia in. i Un. v. 1993. The first question of the research is: What is the immigration and integration policy in the. Ch. engchi. Czech Republic since 1993 until present (2017)? The statistics on migration and the important migration policies will be explored to understand how many immigrants are living in the country, where do they come from, what are the requirements to stay in the Czech Republic and how those requirements have been evolving through the years. The integration policy and government efforts to integrate immigrants will be explored in the second part of Chapter 2. With the foreign population rising, the Czech government needs to resolve how to integrate the immigrants living in the Czech Republic. In this part, the integration policies proposed by the government will be studied and evaluated. Answering this question will also help to understand the legal environment in the Czech Republic and how easy or difficult it is to immigrate there. !3.

(9) The second research question is: What is the Ukrainian immigrant situation in the Czech Republic? This question will help to understand the reasons for high emigration rates from Ukraine, why Ukrainians came to the Czech Republic, why they work in unskilled jobs mostly in construction and cleaning, and what is the impact of Ukrainian migration, especially temporary migration on Ukrainian society. Answering this question will help to understand the background of Ukrainian immigrants in the Czech Republic. The final research question will focus on the integration process of Ukrainian immigrant community. The final question is: To what extend have Ukrainian immigrants been integrated into the Czech society? The Ukrainian immigrants are perceived to be temporary immigrants, who. 治政 are not expected to stay in the country permanently, but大 the statistics show that every year 立 ‧ 國. 學. Ukrainians are the largest recipients of permanent residence and Czech citizenship. Through semistructured interviews, the author will study how do Ukrainian immigrants perceive themselves in. ‧. the Czech Republic and how well they think they have integrated into the Czech society. The author. sit. y. Nat. will explore the integration from socio-economic, cultural, and political perspectives. The attitudes. n. al. er. io. of local population towards Ukrainian immigrants will be also included in order to understand, how. i Un. v. the host society accepts and supports the integration of immigrants, because the attitudes of local. Ch. engchi. population may affect the integration outcome. If the first question is looking on integration from the government perspective, the third question will be looking on integration from the perspective of immigrants.. !4.

(10) 1.3 Literature Review. 1.3.1 Immigration Literature Immigration is a political issue in Europe due to the problems of aging of population and shrinking workforce and Europe being a popular immigration destination (Sides and Citrin 2007). Europeans, however, seem to be concerned that the immigrants, especially those from a distanced culture, cannot assimilate and share the same values as Europeans (Citrin and Sides 2008). Those concerns and fears are also fueled by terrorist attacks (Hansen 2007, cited in Citrin and Sides 2008).. 政治大 countries expect assimilation approach. 立 Immigrants, who would like to settle permanently, are. The immigration and integration policies differ across the European Union, but the majority of. ‧ 國. 學. required to prove their language abilities, and knowledge of national history in order to prove that they can assimilate (Citrin and Sides 2007).. ‧. Researchers have been studying the attitudes towards immigrants in Europe and particularly. y. Nat. io. sit. in the Czech Republic. Sides and Citrin (2007) did a survey about the attitudes towards immigration. er. in twenty European countries and found out that the majority of Europeans are overestimating the. al. n. iv n C numbers of immigrants in their countrieshand care about their e n g c h i U cultural unity. These findings are similar to the situation in the Czech Republic. They also studied the European opinion towards immigration and found out that the Czech Republic is one of the countries who strongly values its cultural homogeneity and is unfavorable to immigrants. There has been plenty of research on why some citizens are negative towards immigration and even hostile, while the others seem to be more accepting in their attitudes. Research shows that education is one of the variables that influence acceptance or non-acceptance of immigrants (Hainmueller and Hiscox 2007, cited in Ceobanu and Escandell 2010). Educated locals tend to have a more sympathetic view of immigrants due to the education's liberalising effect because educated !5.

(11) people have broader knowledge, acceptance of diversity, critical thinking, and they also tend to have experience living in diverse communities, at least during their studies. This effect, however, is more prominent in the Western education system than in the post-Communist countries. Work position is another variable influenced by education, as highly educated locals do not compete with immigrants in the labour market because most immigrants work in the secondary market and occupy low-skilled jobs. The research shows that low-skilled workers and unemployed tend to be more hostile towards immigrants because they feel more endangered by the migration inflows (Esses et al 2001, cited in Ceobanu and Escandell 2010). Economic recession may also influence the attitude towards immigrants, because in time of recession even higher social standing might. 治政大 cited in Ceobanu and Escandell have unfavorable views towards immigrants (Kunovich 2004, 立 ‧ 國. 學. 2010). This can be seen in the Czech immigration policy as well, because when the unemployment rates start to grow, the immigration policy becomes more restrictive.. ‧. Many Czechs are anxious about the immigration flows in the country and their feelings are. sit. y. Nat. similar to the European attitudes. The main concerns are that migration inflows will decrease wages. n. al. er. io. for the locals, cause the rise of unemployment, generate tensions in the society and that immigrants. i Un. will abuse the social system (Zaiceva and Zimmermann 2008).. Ch. engchi. v. The concern that the immigration increases unemployment rates and decreases wages is not supported by research. The research shows that the growing numbers of immigration does not have effect on the unemployment rates in the Czech Republic as immigrants often take unqualified jobs in the secondary market (Horakova 2000). Markov et al (2009) also argues that Ukrainians employed in the secondary market do not pose competition for the locals. For the Czechs, however, immigrants are still perceived as competitors on the job market, even though this perception is not supported by data (Leontiyeva and Vavra 2010). Dybscak and Galuscak (2010) did a research on how immigration affects wages in the Czech Republic. They concluded that even though there was an increase in immigration between !6.

(12) the years 2002 and 2006, the wages were not affected, so they came to the conclusion that immigrants did not affect wages in the country. However, their research in other countries shows mixed results. Some studies show the negative impact of immigrants on wages, especially in sectors where many immigrants are employed (Borjas 2003; Borjas, Freeman and Katz 1996). Other studies show no impact on wages (Ottaviano and Peri 2006). Ottaviano and Peri (2006) pointed out that immigrants and natives are not perfect substitutes and cannot compete on the labour market, especially with the educated natives. The impact of immigration on wages was described by Borjas (1995). He explained the impact of immigration on the United States economy using a function consisting the capital and. 治政大 on the economy is positive, work. His study pointed out that although the impact of immigration 立 ‧ 國. 學. there is a zero-sum game, and it is important to understand who wins and who loses. The process is simple, cheaper foreign labour decreases the cost of production for firms, so the firms can produce. ‧. more at the lower cost. Therefore, businesses generally welcome foreign labour while the local. sit. y. Nat. labour is against because foreign labour increases the competition and lowers their wages.. n. al. er. io. Cahlikova and Strielkowski (2013) pointed out that with enlargement of the European Union in. i Un. v. 2004, countries with strong unions such as Germany and France restricted the entrance of labour of. Ch. engchi. new members, while countries with strong lobbying such as the Great Britain allowed labour from the new EU member countries to enter their labour market, and as the result their economy showed growth. Cahlikova and Strielkowski (2013) used Borjas model to calculate the economic impact of Ukrainian immigration in the Czech Republic and found out that it does not create a negative impact, and generally, has a positive impact on the Czech economy. They pointed out that the impact of the immigration on wages depends on the economic situation in the receiving country. For instance, the presence of low-skilled foreign labour usually increases the production output and improves country's economy and wages, so has a positive effect. This argument is supported by !7.

(13) Card (1990) who studied the impact of Cuban immigrants arriving in Florida. Card (1990) found out that there is not any negative impact of immigration on wages and the unemployment rate. Cahlikova and Strielkowski (2013) stated that there is a difference between the impact of migration on employers and employees. For employees, migration means more competition in the labour market, especially for low skilled jobs. The impact might be the highest for the unskilled natives, whose wages might go down due to the competition. But it must be noted that in many developed countries natives are not interested in low skilled jobs. For instance, the Czech Republic has a generous social system, so natives can receive unemployment benefits similar to the wages offered in the secondary market, so locals have no economic initiatives to compete for such jobs.. 治政大 because it decreases their costs Employers almost always win from the presence of foreign labour, 立 ‧ 國. 學. of labour (Cahlikova and Strielkowski 2013). They, however, omitted that foreign businesses might. increase the competition for local firms. As an example, the majority of convenience stores in. ‧. Prague are owned by Vietnamese, because Vietnamese are willing to work long hours including. sit. y. Nat. nighttime, when locals would not. The Vietnamese convenience stores are popular due to. n. al. er. io. convenience, reasonable prices, and the variety, and are the strong competitors to local convenience stores.. Ch. engchi. !8. i Un. v.

(14) 1.3.2 Integration Literature Integration is a two way process, when immigrant becomes a part of a new society (Penninx 2003). More specifically, immigrant integration is a process when immigrants and communities mutually adapt to each other (Jimenez 2011, cited in McDaniel 2013). Based on those definitions it can be concluded that successful integration process can be achieved when both immigrants and the local society cooperate with each other. Uherek (2009) studied temporary and permanent Ukrainian immigrants and their integration in the Czech society. He confirmed that the majority of Ukrainian immigrants come to the Czech Republic for economic reasons, due to the difference in wages between the countries. He found out. 政治大 that the temporary workers do not integrate into the Czech society, have problems to communicate 立. ‧ 國. 學. with the local society dues to the language barriers, work overtime and take low paid jobs in the secondary market, but at the same time they do not complain about their poor working conditions. ‧. and pay. Permanent Ukrainian residents in the Czech Republic view their level of integration based. Nat. sit. y. on their economic success in the country such as having an apartment, furniture, a car. Most. n. al. er. io. permanent residence lack written language proficiency, thus, cannot compete in the labour market. i Un. v. with the local population. Even they could get Czech citizenship, most Ukrainians refuse because. Ch. engchi. they would need a visa to go to Ukraine (the book was written before dual citizenship in the Czech Republic was allowed). Drbohlav and Dzurova (2007) also studied the inclusion of minorities in the Czech Republic, namely Ukrainians, Armenians, and Vietnamese. They used acculturation strategies model proposed by Berry (1992). Drbohlav and Dzurova (2007) found out that the most satisfied and integrated migrants were those with above average knowledge of the Czech language and those not preferring to live close to compatriots, thus, segregating themselves from the Czech society.. !9.

(15) 1.3.3 Assimilation Theory Assimilation and integration can be examined through micro-sociological and macrosociological perspectives, which means individual or group perspectives (Schunck 2014). Most American researches prefer to use the term assimilation, while Europeans mostly talk about integration, which leads to confusion in the literature (Vermeulen 2011). Assimilation theory can be traced back to the Chicago school to describe the immigration to the United States in the 20th century. One of the first attempts to describe assimilation was Race Relation Cycle model by Chicago School sociologist Robert E. Park (Schunck 2014). Park saw competition for resources such as housing or jobs as a major driving force in relationship between. 政治大 immigrants and local population. He described the four stages of interaction between immigrants 立 ‧. ‧ 國. Figure 1.1. 學. and local population: competitions, conflict, accommodation, and assimilation.. Park’s Race Relation Cycle. n. er. io. al. sit. y. Nat. First stage: Competition (in the labour and housing market). Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Second stage: Conflict (local population only allows immigrant to take low skilled jobs). Third Stage: Accommodation (acceptance of ethnic division of labour and stratification). Fourth stage: Assimilation (disappearance of ethnic system of stratification) Source: Schunck (2014) !10.

(16) This model has been criticized for being simplistic, linear, and resulting only in assimilation as the last stage (Schunck 2014). However, this was one of the first attempts to describe the relationship between immigrants and the major population. The classic assimilation theory believed that all immigrants would eventually assimilate in the country, and the cultural differences would become non-existent, even if it takes two to four generations (Enzinger and Biezeveld 2003). In fact, most researchers agree that assimilation and integration is an intergenerational process and might take three to four generations (Vermeulen. 政治大. 2011). In the 1960s, it began to be clear that not always the differences between cultures disappear,. 立. because even after several generations, the cultural differences were visible and even reinforced.. ‧ 國. 學. Immigrants communities based on the ethnicity were formed. Gordon (1964, cited in Enzinger and. ‧. Biezevald 2003) suggested that there are two dimensions of assimilation. The first dimensions was structural; it stressed mainly socio-economic participation of immigrants. The second dimension. sit. y. Nat. io. al. er. was cultural; it focused on the culture and identity of immigrants. Full participation in structural. n. dimension did not mean abandoning of the own culture and identity. However, those aspects are interrelated.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Gordon has followed the classic assimilation theory. He presented assimilation of immigrants as inevitable process that depends on time immigrant spend in the new environment. Gordon (1964, cited in Alba and Nee 2009) described dimensions of assimilation: cultural, structural, marital, identity, prejudice, discrimination, civic. He argued that after the structural integration has occurred, the other dimensions will follow such as decrease of discrimination and prejudice towards immigrants. Gordon also introduced “melting pot” model that emphasized structural and cultural assimilation, leading to the widespread intermarriage. Intermarriage has. !11.

(17) become one of the measurable benchmarks of assimilation including socio-economic status, spatial concentration, language assimilation (Waters and Jimenez 2005). Integration also has dimensions. Even though the most attention gets socio-economic (or structural) integration, participating in labour market and education does not mean cultural integration. When talking about cultural integration, the term acculturation comes in mind. Acculturation means taking over some cultural aspects of the local environment and at the same time not completely abandoning own cultural identity such as religion (Enzinger and Biezevald 2003). This phenomenon is explained by transnationalism and globalisation. Alba and Nee were also supporters of assimilation theory. They believed that assimilation. 治政大 and their descendants into the theory is still the best way to describe the integration of immigrants 立 ‧ 國. 學. new society (Alba and Nee 1997). Castles (2007) suggests that the majority of research on the. integration in the nation-state uses assimilation theories. Classic assimilation theory as proposed by. ‧. Gordon, Alba and Nee works best when the core population (“mainstream”) is easily defined. n. al. er. io. low number of immigration, the mainstream is easily defined.. sit. y. Nat. (Brown and Bean 2006). In case of the Czech Republic, which is still a homogenous country with a. i Un. v. The problem is that the majority of assimilation and integration theories were created in the. Ch. engchi. United States and were describing the immigration to the United States during the 20th century, so it is questionable, whether those theories can be used in the European context (Vermeulen 2011). Moreover, even those theories can be used to describe integration in the Western European countries with history of immigration such as France or the United Kingdom, it might not be applicable for the for the Czech Republic case. Even though, in the Ukrainian immigrants in the Czech Republic case, it is still mostly the first generation of immigrants, therefore, it is difficult to conclude the outcome of the integration, it is still important to research this group, in order to monitor the situation and address the policies.. !12.

(18) Enzinger and Biezeveld (2003), in their paper Benchmarking in Immigrant Integration, focus on the integration in the European context. They proposed criteria that would help to compare and evaluate immigration and integration policies in the EU, therefore, it can be used in the Czech Republic as well. They have proposed the four dimensions of integration and criteria, which the author of the thesis used to create questions for the interviews in order to describe integration process of Ukrainian immigrants in the Czech Republic. Based on the assimilation theory, there are structural (or institutional) aspects of integration and cultural ones. The structural aspect includes participation in institutions such as labour market. The cultural aspect includes attitudes and selfidentification. Those aspects are interrelated. Moreover, Enzinger and Biezeveld (2003) divided the. 治政大 Enzinger and Biezeveld (2003) integration in socio-economic, cultural, and political dimensions. 立 ‧ 國. 學. state that there is a consensus that immigration and integration are dependent on each other and successful immigration policies should include integration efforts as well.. ‧. n. al. er. io. sit. y. Nat. 1.4 Research Method. Ch. i Un. v. The qualitative research method is applied to understand the issue of immigration and. engchi. integration in the Czech Republic. The author studied relevant literature on immigration and integration and focusing on the Czech Republic case and Ukrainian immigration in particular. The main findings from the literature are examined and introduced in order to understand another scholar's views on this topic. Besides studying secondary data, the author conducted 20 semi-structured interviews with Ukrainian immigrants living in the Czech Republic. Conducting personal interviews helped to get the perspective of people, who have experienced themselves the issues studied in this thesis. Conducting own interviews has an advantage of asking particular questions that might not be found in secondary data. The author evaluated the integration of Ukrainian immigrants based on three !13.

(19) dimensions: socio-economic, cultural, and political. The attitudes of the Czech population towards immigrants were evaluated as well because they play an important role in successful integration. The dimensions were proposed by Entzinger and Biezeveld (2003) and are also suggested in Council of Europe as benchmarks of integration. The Czech government, in their Concept on the Integration of Immigrants, also stresses the same three dimensions of successful integration (more on this document in Chapter 2). The dimensions have following criteria:. Figure 1.2 : Integration dimensions and criteria. • •. ‧ 國. Political Integration. y. ‧. •. Cultural Integration. •. Ch • • •. er. al. core values Contacts between immigrants and local population Intermarriage Language skills Criminality. sit. • Acceptance of. n. • •. io. •. participation Income in comparison to the local population Education level Employment vs education Use of social security Training, language skills Housing quality and residence patterns. Nat. • Labour market. 立. 學. Socio-economic Integration. 政治大. n engchi U. Source: Entzinger and Biezeveld (2003). !14. iv. • Naturalisation • Political •. participation Participation in civil society organisations.

(20) Bernard and Leontiyeva (2013) described potential challenges the researchers might face when studying migration in the Czech Republic. Some of those challenges are universal, when studying hard-to-reach population such as immigrants, the other challenges can occur particularly in the Czech context. The Czech Republic migrant population is still considered small, so it is hard to collect a representative sample especially for the quantitative analysis (Bernard and Leontiyeva 2013). There is no database available that would provide personal information on immigrants (Immigrant Information System is not available for researchers to use). Ukrainian and Slovak immigrants are hard to identify on the street because they do not look different from the local population. Another problem could be the language, because not all immigrants are proficient in the. 治政大 language. Respondents might not Czech language, and it is better to do the interview in Ukrainian 立 ‧. ‧ 國. be misused.. 學. be willing to answer the questions to outsider, because they might be afraid that their answers might. The author has conducted semi-structured interviews during her 6 weeks stay in Prague in. sit. y. Nat. December 2016-January 2017. She conducted the interviews with 20 Ukrainian immigrants, and has. n. al. er. io. found contacts through her connections with Ukrainian community in Prague. The author has lived. i Un. v. in the Czech Republic for 10 years and was born in Ukraine. She is proficient in Ukrainian and. Ch. engchi. Czech languages. The interviews were conduced in Ukrainian language, which made the respondents feel more comfortable during the interview and there wasn’t any language barrier or misunderstandings. All respondents interviewed stayed in the Czech Republic legally at the time of the interview, but several respondents admitted that they stayed in the Czech Republic illegally before. Several respondents introduced themselves with the first name only, might be due to the privacy reasons. Four respondents came to the Czech Republic as young children and were college students in the Czech Republic at the time of the interview, one respondent was retired, and fifteen respondents were employed at the time of the interview and came to the Czech Republic due to the economic reasons. All interviews were conducted in Prague. !15.

(21) Figure 1.3 List of Interviewees Name. Age. Occupation. Duration of Stay in the Czech Republic. Visa Type. Marital Status. Date of the Interview. Interviewee A. 69 years old. retired. 5 years. long term residence. widowed. 8 Dec 2016. Interviewee B. 40 years old. construction worker. 13 years. long term residence. married. 20 Dec 2016. Interviewee C. 49 years old. cleaning lady. 18 years. permanent residence. married. 10 Jan 2017. Interviewee D. 38 years old. cleaning lady. 12 years. permanent residence. married. 22 Dec 2016. Interviewee E. 54 years old. construction worker. 22 years. permanent residence. married. 13 Dec 2016. Interviewee F. 32 years old. cleaning lady. 9 years. Interviewee G. 20 years old. student. Interviewee H. 47 years old. Interviewee I. 21 years old. Interviewee G. 47 years old. Interviewee K. single mother 30 Dec 2016. 13 years. citizenship. single. 16 Jan 2017. cleaning lady. 12 years. citizenship. married. 17 Jan 2017. student. 12 years. citizenship. construction leader. 20 years. citizenship. 42 years old. maternity leave. 20 years. citizenship. Interviewee L. 24 years old. student. Interviewee M. 18 years old. student. 12 years. Interviewee N. 50 years old. housewife. Interviewee O. 51 years old. Interviewee P. ‧. 15 Dec 2016. married. 17 Jan 2017. y. Nat. single. sit. ‧ 國. 立. 學. 政治permanent 大 residence. single. 20 Jan 2017. citizenship. single. 17 Jan 2017. 17 years. citizenship. married. 9 Jan 2017. businessman. 22 years. citizenship. married. 11 Jan 2017. 41 years old. construction leader. 18 years. citizenship. married. 19 Dec 2016. Interviewee Q. 48 years old. businessman. 20 years. citizenship. married. 22 Dec 2016. Interviewee R. 36 years old. manicurist. 20 years. citizenship. married. 22 Dec 2016. Interviewee S. 56 years old. construction leader. 24 years. citizenship. married. 15 Dec 2016. Interviewee T. 50 years old. kindergarten teacher. 20 years. citizenship. married. 17 Dec 2016. n. al. er. 15 Dec 2016. io. married. iv n C h18 years citizenship engchi U. !16.

(22) The author has asked permission to record the conversation and explained the purpose of the interviews. All respondents agreed to provide their experiences to enrich this thesis. In order to protect the respondents personal identities, the author has chosen not to reveal their real names in the thesis. The author used snowball sampling method to find her respondents (Bernard and Mikesova 2014). She asked the Ukrainian immigrants she knew to introduce her to respondents. Personal introduction made the respondents more willing to participate in the interview. The interviews were conducted in cafes, several respondents also invited the author to visit their homes.The average time of the interview was around 30 minutes, the shortest interview was 10 minutes, and the longest was. 治政大 interviews because they had less about one hour long. Younger respondents tended to give shorter 立 ‧ 國. 學. experience in employment and could mostly talk about cultural dimension of integration. The questions were the same, first, the respondents were introducing themselves, the author asked about. ‧. their story of migrating to the Czech Republic, and then followed by the set of questions on. sit. y. Nat. integration. The length of the interview depended on the openness and talkativeness of respondents.. n. al. er. io. The author has conducted interviews during the Christmas season. For Ukrainians, the. i Un. v. holidays end on January 22nd, so many Ukrainians were not in the Czech Republic during the. Ch. engchi. period of interviews. The author could reach only those, who came back already because their children go to Czech schools or those, who chose not to go to Ukraine during holidays. Most temporary workers were not in the Czech Republic during the time of the interviews.. !17.

(23) 1.5 Organization of Thesis Chapters Chapter 1 provides an introduction and the overview of the research. The literature review provides the findings of other scholars on the issue of immigration and integration. Chapter 2 focuses on immigration and integration policy in the Czech Republic and answer the first research question. The chapter. provides immigration overview, immigration and. integration policies in the time period 1993-2017. Chapter 3 focuses on Ukrainian migration and answer the second research question. It provides the overview of Ukrainian migration with the focus on the Ukrainian immigration and diaspora in the Czech Republic. This chapter also introduces the impact of high emigration rates from Ukraine on Ukrainian society.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. Chapter 4 focuses on the integration process of Ukrainian immigrants in the Czech Republic using the following criteria: socio-economic, cultural, political, and attitudes of the local. ‧. population. Those criteria will be applied to evaluate the level of integration of Ukrainians in the. Nat. sit. y. Czech Republic. This chapter includes the experiences of Ukrainian immigrants, who came to the. n. al. er. io. Czech Republic during different times since 1993. The author uses the findings from the semi-. Ch. structured interviews the author conducted in Prague.. engchi. i Un. v. Chapter 5 provides a conclusion of the findings and results of this research and suggestions for the further study.. !18.

(24) Chapter 2 Immigration and Integration Policy Context. It is not possible to understand the immigration situation in the Czech Republic without understanding the Czech government approach towards immigration and integration questions. Because the immigration to the Czech Republic is mainly due to the economic reasons, the immigration policies are mainly influenced by the economic situation in the country. Economic. 政治大. expansion usually calls for policies to attract foreign labour force, while economic regression calls. 立. for more restrictive policies. Generally, applying to a work permit and working in the country. ‧ 國. 學. legally is hard for a foreigner, so there is a question of illegal immigration as well. From the 2000s,. ‧. the Czech government has also raised the question of the integration of foreigners, who live in the Czech Republic permanently. Chapter 2 focuses on integration efforts from the Czech governments. y. Nat. er. io. sit. perspective, introducing steps the government takes to improve the integration of foreigners and problems the government recognizes such as health insurance for foreigners and the knowledge of. n. al. the Czech language.. Ch. engchi. !19. i Un. v.

(25) 2.1 Immigration Overview Even though in comparison to the established western democracies, the Czech Republic has a low immigration population and can be considered a culturally homogenous country, since 1993 the foreign population in the country has been growing steadily (Leontiyeva and Vavra 2009).. Figure 2.1. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Source: Czech Statistical Office (2016). Ch. engchi. i Un. v. The data show that among the Central European countries the Czech Republic has a considerable higher percentage of foreigners among the population (4.3 percent as to 2015), but lower than the number of foreigners in the Western European countries.. !20.

(26) Figure 2.2. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. Source: Czech Statistical Office (2016). The data obtained from the Czech Statistical Office show that there has been steady growth. Nat. sit. y. of foreign population in the Czech Republic since 1993. Between the years 1993 and 2015, the. n. al. er. io. foreign population grew from 78,000 to 465,000. The slight decrease is seen in the end of 90’s due. i Un. v. to the change in the migration policy and in the end of 2000s due to the financial crisis.. Ch. engchi. !21.

(27) Figure 2.3. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學 y. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. Source: Czech Statistical Office (2016). i Un. v. The data shows that the numbers of long-term residence holders are more volatile to the. Ch. engchi. changes of the migration policy and the economic situation than the permanent residence holders. The number of permanent residence holders has grown steadily since 1993.. !22.

(28) Figure 2.4. 立. 政治大. ‧. ‧ 國. 學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. According to the Czech Statistical Office (2016), in 2015, the highest numbers of foreigners come from Ukraine, followed by Slovakia, and Vietnam. The demographic characteristics of the immigrants show that the majority of immigration to the Czech Republic is labour oriented (Drbohlav et al 2009). Labour oriented migrants are usually men in productive age, holding longterm residence permit. According to the CSO (2016), the majority of long term residence permit holders are men, and the number of women holding long-term residence permits is under 35 percent. More than half of immigrants, who come to the Czech Republic, are in their productive age between 20 and 39 years old. The immigrants, who come from the Western countries, are !23.

(29) usually older than immigrants coming from the East. Children are still a small percentage of immigrants, most of them come with their families from Vietnam, Russia or China. The main reason for obtaining permanent residence permit is settlement and family reunion and creation. 70 percent of long-term residence applicants stated their reason to be employment, which supports the argument of labour oriented immigration. The majority of immigrants are also concentrated in the urban areas such as the capital city of Prague and the Central Bohemia region, due to higher employment opportunities (Drbohlav et al 2009). The majority of labour immigrants are employed in unskilled jobs or are small entrepreneurs holding a business license. Many foreigners are employed in trading, particularly street trading,. 治政 domestic work, and catering (Horáková 2000). Vietnamese 大 nationals dominate the trading sector, 立 ‧ 國. 學. especially the trade in textiles, providing cheaper alternatives to department store clothing. In recent years, Vietnamese also started opening nail salons, and the numbers of Vietnamese operated salons. ‧. continue to grow thanks to price competitiveness (Nosalkova 2009). Operating a nail salon requires. sit. y. Nat. communication with clients in Czech language. Nosalkova (2009) suggests that this trend might. n. al. er. io. lead to more understanding of the Vietnamese community, because Czechs would have more opportunities to have a contact with them.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Ukrainian men are often employed in construction, on the other hand, women are employed in cleaning services, restaurants, and some are employed in textile sector (Horáková 2000). Those jobs are unskilled and the labour demand cannot be satisfied by the local supply due to the low wages.. !24.

(30) 2.1.1 Work Permit Application Procedure The immigration to the Czech Republic is mainly for economic reasons, so it is important to understand the process of getting permit to work in the country. The majority of foreigners come to the Czech Republic in their productive age, 82.5 percent of foreigners in the Czech Republic are between 19 and 65 years old (Ministry of Interior 2016). The majority of foreigners live in Prague (36.9 percent) and the middle of the Czech Republic (13.2 percent), the urban area with the highest work opportunities. The other regions show percentage between 1.7 and 8.7 percent. In this section, the ways to get the work permit, the process of getting the documents, the process of getting a trade license and the question of illegal employment are introduced.. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. I.. 學. In the Czech Republic, a foreigner can get legally employed in three different ways: Marriage with a Czech citizen. ‧. II. Opening a company with a Czech citizen co-owner and applying for a business license. Nat. n. al. er. io. sit. y. III. Applying for a work permit. I. Marriage with a Czech citizen. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. Marrying a Czech citizen might be the easiest way to obtain a permit to work in the country legally, but so called fictive marriage (marriage registered only for the reason of obtaining a legal status in the country) is prosecuted by law. The part of applying for the visa for a foreign spouse is investigation, whether the marriage and relationship is real. Marriage and family reunification is one of the most frequent reasons to grant a permanent residence status, but the number of Czech citizens marrying foreigners is still small (Janska and Drbohlav 2008).. !25.

(31) II. Opening a company with a Czech citizen co-owner and applying for a business license Opening a company might be an option for foreigners, who have capital. Foreign nationals can run business in the Czech Republic without a need to obtain a residence status, so they do not need to be present in the country (Horáková 2000). However, in this case, they need to appoint local representative, who is a Czech citizen. Business license grants a long term residence, if a business license holder wishes to stay in the Czech Republic. Obtaining a business license is also a way to obtain a residence permit. Some kinds of business license require qualifications in the field, while a free trade license does not require any qualifications (Horáková 2000). Trade license is misused by employers and employees, who do not want to obey the Labour. 治政大 is called “Svarc system”, when Code and also for tax reasons (Leontiyeva 2016). This practice 立 ‧ 國. 學. employee with a trade license is basically working regular working hours, as an employee. Such workers are not protected by law, and are vulnerable in terms of working conditions, pay, working. ‧. hours, and job security.. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. III. Applying for a work permit. i Un. v. Others have an option to apply for a work permit. The trick is that in order to apply for a. Ch. engchi. work permit, a foreigner needs a job offer, but in order to get a job offer you need to have a work permit (Popov 2007). Only foreign nationals who have a long term or permanent residence status with work permit or refugee status can work legally in the Czech Republic (Horáková 2000). Work permit is issued by the Employment Office. The Employment Office issues permits for specific jobs and a specific employer, taking into consideration the labour market in the Czech Republic and confirming that no Czech national is available for the job position. The Czech citizens and the EU nationals always have a priority. Work permit is issued for a specific job position, a specific location and a specific employer, so if a foreigner wishes to change the position in the same company or change the employer he or she needs to reapply for a new work permit. Foreign nationals may !26.

(32) misuse work permit to obtain long term residence and to start illegal work activities. Foreign workers sent to the Czech Republic by a foreign employer for a specific project also need to obtain work permits.. 2.1.2 Illegal Employment Being employed legally has its benefits both for employer and employees. Employees get their social and health insurance benefits and employer gets more reliability (Horáková 2000). In some cases, however, it might be more lucrative for both parties to be engaged in illegal employment relationship.. 政治大 Employers can reduce their costs by employing foreign illegal workers as they do not need 立. ‧ 國. 學. to pay social and health insurance for them, which can add up to a considerable sum of money. They also do not need to comply with the safety requirements. Workers can also get higher wage. ‧. than they would get from a legal employment, because the taxes, social and health security tax are. Nat. sit. y. not subtracted (Horáková 2000). Some locals also work “načerno” (Czech expression meaning. n. al. er. io. illegal employment). For instance, a worker would be registered with the Employment Office as. i Un. v. unemployed and getting unemployment benefits and at the same time working illegally to get extra. Ch. engchi. income. In some cases, such illegal behavior results in more income than if this worker is employed legally. Bureaucracy might be another reason for illegal employment (Horáková 2000). As it was stated above, work permits need to be reapplied with every change of work position, employer, or work location. So, for instance, in the construction industry, where location is changed with every project, employer needs to reapply for work permit every time. Some employers choose not to apply for a new work permit or choose a subcontractor agency to obtain workers. Not all foreign workers have information or motivation to work legally. They might trust subcontractor agency and. !27.

(33) do not have language skills. For instance, a temporary worker is trying to make money as quickly as possible and go home, so he might avoid the legal employment. Since 2008, Ukrainians were the largest illegal immigrant population in the Czech Republic, while in the 2015 the situation has changed due to migration crisis in Europe and Syrians becoming the largest illegal immigrant population (Ministry of Interior 2016). The main difference is that for the majority of Syrians, the Czech Republic is a country of transit, while for Ukrainians it is a final destination.. 2.2 Czech Immigration Policy. 立. 政治大. ‧ 國. 學. In order to understand the process of moving to the Czech Republic and integrating into the Czech society, it is important to understand the legal environment the immigrants need to face. The. ‧. Czech immigration policy could be divided into several periods, depending on the openness/. Nat. sit. y. restriction of the policies, and important events that have influenced the immigration policy. The. n. al. er. io. openness/restriction of the policies was mainly influenced by economic environment in the country,. Ch. i Un. v. because the immigration to the Czech Republic is mainly due to economic reasons. Financial crisis. engchi. resulted in decrease of immigration to the country, while economic expansion and the need for the foreign labour called for the openness of the labour market to foreign applicants. In this section, the author would like to introduce, how the immigration policy has evolved since 1993. During the 90s, the Czech immigration policy was quite liberal. In January 1990, the Czech borders opened, which resulted both in emigration of Czechs mainly to Germany and Switzerland, and immigration to the country mainly from the post-Soviet Republics (Horáková 2000). Unlike the belief that opening the borders will result in high emigration rates, political and economic stability resulted in decline of emigration from the country. The Czech Republic has become a country of immigration, instead of emigration. Even nowadays, the emigration rates from the Czech Republic !28.

(34) are low, because Czechs are only willing to temporary migrate for experience of foreign internships, seasonal jobs, and studying. In the 90s, a part of immigration wave were Czech nationals, who have returned to the Czech Republic after the years spent in exile (Horáková 2000). However, most immigrants to the country have been coming from the post-Soviet Republics. In 1990, 37 percent of foreigners in the Czechoslovakia were Polish, 10 percent were former USSR citizens, and 10 percent Bulgarians (Horáková 2000). In the end of 1990s, 24 percent of permanent residents holders were Ukrainians, 23 percent Slovaks, and 10 percent were Vietnamese. The split of the Czechoslovakia raised the question of the citizenship of its formal residents.. 治政大 so the former Slovak citizens Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, 立 ‧ 國. 學. became foreign nationals. After the split of the Czechoslovakia, almost 400,000 Slovaks claimed the. Czech citizenship (Drbohlav et al 2009). The number of Slovaks holding permanent residence. ‧. permits increased from 2,960 persons in 1994 to 14,127 persons in 1998 (Horakova 2000). After the. sit. y. Nat. split of Czechoslovakia most Slovaks come to the Czech Republic for temporary employment,. n. al. er. io. business purpose, and studies. Czechs and Slovaks have strong historical and cultural ties and. i Un. v. therefore, Slovaks have a special status in the Czech immigration law. The legal requirements for. Ch. engchi. Slovak citizens are easier than for the other countries. Slovaks do not require work permits to work in the Czech Republic, only need the registration in the Employment Office. They also do not need to apply for a long term visa (Drbohlav et al 2009). Taking into consideration lower legal barriers to entry the Czech labour market and the lower language barriers (most Czechs understand Slovak language), it is easier for Slovaks to work in the higher skilled jobs. There is also a significant Vietnamese community in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic and Vietnam signed several agreements regarding to work of skilled Vietnamese in the country (Horáková 2000). The first agreement was signed in 1979, allowing 8,700 students and 32,000 workers from Vietnam to come for vocational training to the country. The second agreement !29.

(35) in the year 1980 was regarding employment in the machinery and the third agreement in the same year was regarding the work in textile, machinery, and other industries. In 1983, about 23,000 Vietnamese worked in Czechoslovakia. Ukrainians are a significant part of foreign labour force in the Czech Republic. Ukrainians started to migrate to the Czech Republic during the country’s transformation in 1990s (Cermakova and Nekorjak 2008). The first wave of immigration was unorganized and irregular thanks to the liberal visa regime and high demand for cheap labour mostly in the construction industry. In 1991, only 240 Ukrainians had work permits, when in 1996 this number peaked to 42,000 (Horáková 2000). Since then, the number of issued work permits was decreasing thanks to bilateral. 治政大 immigration quota between two agreement between the Czech Republic and Ukraine that controlled 立 ‧ 國. 學. countries and restricted illegal employment on tourist visas.. Until 1996, strong restrictions on immigration were not placed and the legislation towards. ‧. immigration was quite liberal (Horakova 2000, Drbohlav et al 2009). Due to unemployment rates. sit. y. Nat. rising, the Czech government created quota for certain countries. This policy increased the number. n. al. er. io. of foreigners wanting to stay in the country permanently and the number of workers staying in the. i Un. v. country illegally because work permit was harder to obtain (Horakova 2000).. Ch. engchi. The first restrictive policy was the Amendment to the Alien Act coming into force in 1994 restricting and systemizing the immigration into the Czech Republic (Drbohlav et al 2009). The new law required foreigners to prove their financial ability to stay in the Czech Republic and made impossible for long term stay visa holders to change the purpose of their status. If a foreigner changed the purpose of their stay in the Czech Republic, he or she had to reapply for a visa. The Asylum Act came in force in 1999 and was favorable for applicants because it allowed asylum applicants to stay out of asylum facilities, receive financial subsidies, and could work in the Czech Republic without a work permit (Drbohlav et al 2009). The act was created to comply with the EU policies and the Dublin Treaty. The rules have changed as government restricted the policy !30.

(36) of getting asylum because the number of applicants rose considerably (8,788 applicants in 2000 and 18,094 applicants in 2001). 24 percent of the applicants in 2001 were the Ukrainian citizens. The amendment to the Asylum Act was approved in 2000 and restricted access to the Czech labour market during the 1 year of application, and had to stay in asylum centers while their application had been processed. The government’s more restrictive approach on immigration came due to economic hardships, growing unemployment rates, and the raise of illegal workers. The adoption of the Alien Act and Asylum Act tightened the conditions for getting a work permit. The citizens of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus started to have a visa requirement starting in 2000 and had to apply for a visa. 治政大 2000, foreigners could apply for at the Czech embassies abroad (Janska and Drbohlav 2008). Before 立 ‧ 國. 學. a visa at the borders of the Czech Republic (Drbohlav et al 2009). The Applicants for a short term stay visa (issued for a less than 90 days stay) and stay exceeding 90 days had to provide the proof. ‧. of health insurance for the duration of their stay and financial statements. The applicants applying issued by the Czech. sit. y. Nat. for a visa exceeding 90 days had to provide two criminal records, one. n. al. er. io. Republic government, and the second from their country of origin. Foreigners applying for a. i Un. v. permanent residence due to family reunification could do so only if their spouse was a Czech citizen. Ch. engchi. (Drbohlav et al 2009). Many third country nationals had to leave the country due to restrictive policies (Janska and Drbohlav 2008). As the Czech Republic became part of the EU on the 1st of May, 2004, the immigration legislation had to be harmonized with the EU immigration policy (Janska and Drbohlav 2008). The EU policy expected different treatment of the EU and third country nationals. Between the years 2003 to 2006 Common European Immigration Policy was implemented in the Czech migration policy (Janska and Drbohlav 2008). In 2003, the Czech government adopted its own migration strategy called the Principles of the Government Policy in the Field of Migration that stressed the need to combat illegal migration, !31.

(37) support of migration that it beneficial for the Czech Republic and finding the solution for humanitarian crisis in the world (Sisova 2005). In 2003, a pilot project “Selection of Qualified Foreign Workers” was created in order to lure qualified professionals to work in the Czech Republic, and to reduce the bureaucracy of applying for the work permits (Janska and Drbohlav 2008). The project was opened to specialists and highly skilled workers to help to fill the labour gaps in the chosen sectors (Janska and Drbohlav 2008). The project used Canadian immigration point system that helped to evaluate the applicants and found out those, who are the easiest to integrate and have the most economic benefit to the Czech society (Sisova 2005). The criteria included age, employment experience, education,. 治政大apply for the permanent residence in knowledge of the Czech language. Successful candidates could 立 ‧ 國. 學. 2.5 years, instead of 10 years. Firstly, the pilot program was offered to the citizens of Bulgaria, Croatia, and Kazakhstan. Ukrainians could join the program since 2006 (Janska and Drbohlav. ‧. 2008). By 2008, 1,035 professionals used this opportunity, which is still a small share of the labour. sit. y. Nat. market, because the selection criteria were strict and the selection of the countries that could apply. n. al. er. io. was limited (Janska and Drbohlav 2008, Sisova 2005). The program, however, had several. i Un. v. shortcomings and was not very popular. The criteria were hard to fulfill, affordable housing was. Ch. engchi. hard to find. Also, the job openings that had to be fulfilled by foreign workers were not reported (Janska and Drbohlav 2008). In 2007, the Czech government introduced the Assistance program for Ukrainians working in the Czech Republic and especially those, who currently working in the Czech Republic illegally (Kocarkova 2007, cited in Janska and Drbohlav 2008). The program was created as an alternative to so called client system. The goals of the assistance program was to establish contact between employer and a potential foreign employee, to help a Ukrainian worker to find a job, fill up the forms, provide legal assistance, monitor and analyze the situation in the Czech Republic and in Ukraine (Janska and Drbohlav 2008). There were several centers established in major cities in the !32.

(38) Czech Republic and Ukraine such as Prague, Brno, Plzen, Hradec Kralove, Lviv, Kharkov, and Uzhorod. The Financial crisis has influenced the Czech economic situation in the end of the 2000s. As the unemployment rates raised, the need for the foreign labour decreased. Foreigners were among the first fired during and after the financial crisis (Munich 2014). The construction sector was among those with the highest losses because the government reduced expenditures on large infrastructure projects, and at the same time, the residential construction projects also decreased. The manufacturing sector was the most affected by the financial crisis. Many Ukrainians lost their jobs, some of them left the country, while others obtained a business license, or stayed in the. 治政大 Ukrainians decreased 60 percent country illegally (Munich 2014). The number of employed 立 ‧ 國. 學. between 2008 and 2011, but only 10 percent left the country (Leontiyeva 2016). The program of. voluntary return to the homeland was not that popular, with only 1345 immigrants agreeing to leave. ‧. the Czech Republic voluntary for a financial reward (Castles and Miller 2010). During this period,. n. al. er. io. lack of employment opportunities (Ministry of Interior 2016).. sit. y. Nat. there is a drop in the long term and permanent residence applications and immigration rates due to. i Un. v. Financial crisis tightened the Czech migration policy for the migrants already staying in the. Ch. engchi. country and the newcomers (Munich 2014). By the end of 2000s, some migrants living in the Czech Republic had progressed from low skilled jobs to middle skilled jobs, but the majority of immigrants, especially from the post-Soviet counties, remained in the secondary market due to education, language, and other barriers that did not allow them to integrate into the Czech society efficiently (Munich 2014). Also, the Czech migrant policy is still built on the expectation that foreign labour will eventually go back home, when they are not needed (Leontiyeva 2013). This contradicts with experiences from developed countries with the history of immigration such as Germany and the United States. These countries experiences show that temporary workers stay in the country permanently in the end (Leontiyeva 2013). According to the study by Castles and Miller !33.

(39) (2010), the most beneficial immigrants to the host society tend to go back during the economic crisis because they have enough skills to work elsewhere or even in their home country. In 2009, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs introduced Green cards, a program to help Czech employers to gain workers from the qualified countries outside the EU for positions that could not be fulfilled by the local labour force and the EU citizens (Janska and Drbohlav 2008, Pasekova 2011). The program was planned when the Czech economy was booming. The system promised less bureaucracy, as Green card combined work permit and residence permit. The applicants were divided into three groups. Group 1 included university degree professionals, Group 2 included vocational and secondary school professionals, and Group 3 included other cases (Janska. 治政大spouse and children to the Czech and Drbohlav 2008). Group 1 and 2 were allowed to bring 立 ‧. ‧ 國. Group 2 and 3.. 學. Republic. The Green card program allowed a maximum stay of 3 years for Group 1, and 2 years for. In 2011, the government in compliance with the EU Parliament also introduced the Blue. sit. y. Nat. cards. Highly qualified workers (at least three years of college) from the countries outside of the EU. n. al. er. io. could apply for the job in the Czech Republic, which could not be fulfilled by the Czech or EU citizen (Pasekova 2011).. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. In 2012, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has decided to change their policy towards the employment of foreign workers in unskilled jobs (Leontiyeva 2016). This policy prohibited the issuance of work permits for the unskilled jobs and was criticized by the Czech employers, whose businesses relied on foreign labour, and the NGOs. In the same year, the Ministry has changed the requirements and allowed the issuance of work permits for 6 months for the job positions that did not require a high school diploma (maturita). Work permits could be issued for up to 2 years for jobs requiring a college degree. The foreign obtained degree, however, needs to be recognized by the Czech government, which is a difficult process.. !34.

(40) In 2013, the government has introduced the Employee card, which could be issued for 2 years and combined the residence permit and the work permit, the duration could be extended by the employer. The holders of employee card started to have some job mobility and did not have to apply for two permits separately (Leontiyeva 2016). Employee card can be issued for third country nationals only and can be issued for all type of employment (Department of Asylum and Migration Policy 2016). The employee card came into place after the amendment to the Act on the Stay of Foreigners (Petyovsky 2014). On the 1st of January 2014, the Czech government has changed their policy towards citizenship, allowing dual citizenship. Before 2014, all foreigners, who were applying for the Czech. 治政大 policy increased the numbers of citizenship, had to abandon their previous citizenship. This 立 ‧ 國. 學. applications for Czech citizenship in 2014. In 2014, 4 915 foreigners have received Czech citizenship, in comparison to 2 110 foreigners in 2013, and 2 620 foreigners in 2015 (Ministry of. ‧. Interior 2016).. sit. y. Nat. In 2015, the Czech government also finalized the New Strategy of the Czech Immigration. n. al. er. io. Policy (Ministry of Interior 2016). The strategy was created as a response to the European. i Un. v. Migration crisis in 2015. The strategy included the following goals:. Ch. engchi. 1. To improve the integration of immigrants in order to avoid social pressures 2. Fight illegal migration, human trafficking 3. Fulfill asylum requirements 4. Help refuges abroad in order to avoid the worsening of migration crisis in the EU 5. Keep the benefits of Schengen 6. Support legal migration for the needs of the labour market 7. Fulfill international and European responsibilities and actively engage in finding a solution. !35.