Does the Czech Republic cover travel expenses for Ukrainian refugees visiting relatives in their home country? No, that's not true: The Czech government has approved a bill that extends the temporary protection status for Ukrainian refugees, and also introduces help in purchasing tickets and covering some other travel expenses for refugees who decide to return to Ukraine permanently, despite the ongoing war. The bill is expected to take effect in 2024 but does not include any financial assistance for short-term travel to Ukraine.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on November 22, 2023. The video shows a view of coach lines stalls offering tickets to Ukraine with a caption that reads: "This is evil," translated from Czech to English by Lead Stories staff. The text in the video, also translated from Czech by Lead Stories staff, reads:
You would think that this is Ukraine. No, it is not. This is Prague Florenc today. Almost all the stalls are for Ukrainians. Poor Ukrainian immigrants go back and forth to Ukraine. For free, of course! It is us, who are paying for their travel costs.
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Dec 18 08:30:00 2023 UTC)
On September 13, 2023, the Czech government approved the Lex Ukrajina 6 bill which allows for the extension of the temporary protection status of refugees from Ukraine residing in the Czech Republic until 2025, if they re-register with authorities in order to maintain it. The bill, which had yet to be approved by the Senate at the time of writing, on December 18, 2023, also introduces the possibility for the authorities to offer so-called assisted voluntary returns to Ukrainian refugees who decide to return home permanently. The bill should take effect as of January 2024, Minister of the Interior Vit Rakusan said at a press conference after a government meeting on September 13, 2023. According to Rakusan, the government already used assisted voluntary returns in 2009, when many foreigners working in the country lost their jobs due to the financial crisis and economic downturn.
The government approved the bill as the Czech legislation needs to be in line with the EU legislation, and the EU will likely prolong temporary protection statuses for war refugees from Ukraine, the Ministry of the Interior added in the same occasion. The ministry also noted that assisted voluntary returns would not mean providing cash to refugees who decided to return home, but rather purchasing tickets and, in some exceptional cases, covering costs linked to emergency accommodation before the departure.
Prague's Florenc coach station is one of the places where different operators offer coach rides to Ukraine. According to the European Commission, the bloc's member states should not consider short-term visits to Ukraine by refugees who need to visit relatives or get documents, for instance, as a decision to return home voluntarily before the end of the temporary protection status.
Lead Stories has debunked another claim related to Prague's Florenc coach station and Ukrainians traveling here.
