Will a growing number of Ukrainian refugees, including those with disabilities, receive higher social benefits than Czech citizens as a result of preferential treatment by the Czech government? No, that's not true: Up to now, disabled refugees have not received any extra help from the state compared to what their compatriots without disabilities can receive. A newly approved amendment allows them to get more money as of 2025, but the upgrade aligns with the amount disabled Czech citizens receive. In addition, Czechs, unlike Ukrainians, can apply for a broader range of social benefits.
The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on December 11, 2024. The caption in Czech below the video reads, translated by Lead Stories into English: "Ukrainians will have higher social benefits than disabled Czechs." The person speaking in the video is the leader of the second largest opposition party in the Czech Parliament, the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party, Tomio Okamura. He says in Czech, as translated by Lead Stories staff:
More and more Ukrainians may be entitled to higher social benefits than Czech citizens. Fiala´s government is specifically proposing this, here in parliament, for people with disabilities, and Fiala government's proposal will be voted on here this week.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Fri Dec 13 10:17:13 2024 UTC)
Okamura, whose SPD party (archived here) is known for its anti-immigration (archived here) and anti-Ukrainian aid stance (archived here), also says in the video that he believes any social benefits related to health disabilities should "only" apply to Czech citizens, not Ukrainian refugees, and that the current ruling government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala is "anti-national" and "pro-Ukrainian." Okamura also notes that the SPD is against the government's proposal.
Tomio Okamura refers to a government proposal (archived here), approved by the parliament, that increases the so-called humanitarian allowance for Ukrainian refugees with health disabilities as of January 2025. The amendment (archived here) to the so-called Lex Ukraine VII (archived here), a law that defines the rights of refugees with temporary protection status in the Czech Republic, was approved by lawmakers on December 18, 2024 (archived here).
According to it, the humanitarian allowance for refugees will be increased for Ukrainian disabled children by 6,600 Czech korunas and for adults by 4,400 Czech korunas, a press statement (archived here) of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs states. The humanitarian allowance will thus total 11,835 Czech korunas a month for disabled children and 11,690 Czech korunas for disabled adults. The statement adds that the actual sums paid to refugees may also differ, depending on other means of income or other factors concerning the refugees who are eligible for the benefit.
Czech humanitarian allowance is a form of state support for refugees who do not have jobs, and the rules for applying and eligibility are stated here (archived here) on the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs website. The Ministry also provides an online calculator (archived here) that estimates the amount a refugee will get considering all his or her circumstances. In the past, Lead Stories already debunked claims regarding Czech state benefits for Ukrainian refugees, i.e., Ukrainians with temporary protection status, here or here.
In the statement linked above, the Ministry also notes that the increase of the allowance for disabled refugees is equivalent to the social care allowance paid to Czech citizens with disabilities, who are deemed to be at a so-called 'second level' of dependency on the person providing care. This was chosen because "almost half" of the disabled Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic are in a state of health corresponding to this level. Until now, disabled refugees have not been entitled to any additional benefits compared to their compatriots without disabilities, who are in the Czech Republic under temporary protection status and have been funded by charities such as the Red Cross or Unicef, according to the ministry.
The Czech Republic paid humanitarian allowances to 90,924 refugees in October 2024, of which 9,525 had health disabilities, a Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs representative stated in an email to Lead Stories on December 17, 2024. Around 1,000 disabled refugees were children. The aim of raising the allowance is "to compensate for the absence" of any other social benefits they could apply for and help them in their complex life situation, often aggravated by their limited self-sufficiency, the Ministry representative wrote.
Moreover, Czechs can apply for a number of other social benefits, while Ukrainians are eligible only for the humanitarian allowance. In general, Czechs are eligible for more consistent support from the state than refugees. Saying that Ukrainians can get more from the state, in any case, is false, the Ministry's spokesman Jakub Augusta (archived here) added during a phone conversation with Lead Stories on December 18, 2024.
For Czech citizens with disabilities, the levels of dependency caused by their health conditions and the amounts paid to eligible citizens are specified on the Labor´s Office website (archived here). For the second level of dependency, the benefits are stated at 7,400 Czech korunas for children and 4,900 korunas for adults per month. These amounts are even higher than the increase that disabled Ukrainian refugees will get.
Czech media reported here and here that opposition parties, including Okamura's SPD, were holding up the approval of the amendment. These parties protest the harsher rules for Russian citizens to become citizens of the Czech Republic.
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs has repeatedly stated that the revenues to the state budget from Ukrainian refugees who work in the country have been higher than the state's expenses due to the benefits paid to them since the middle of 2023. The graph below, showing revenues (red) and expenditures (blue) of the budget associated with Ukrainian refugees, is taken from a press statement from September 5, 2024 (archived here). 
(Source: Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs website. Picture taken from the press release on Fri Dec 13 10:17:13 2024 UTC)
