The Ministry for Regional Development plans to launch a support program for municipalities and regions to provide housing for refugees in April. The money would be used to acquire or renovate apartments. The Office is seeking money from the EU. Minister for Regional Development Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) told reporters today before the government meeting.
“We are preparing a program that should be for municipalities and regions. We expect it to start in April. But that would be retroactive, because some municipalities already have some renovated premises that can be provided for accommodation. It would be a program for municipalities for long-term housing,” said Bartoš.
It would be possible to obtain support for reconstructions and acquisitions from the program. Bartoš mentioned the possibility of building prefabricated houses. “We are talking about parameters. Experts warn against excessive concentration of people and the creation of zones,” the minister said.
Bartoš said that he presented the program to the governors at a previous meeting. According to him, the rules and form are now being set. The amount that would be set aside is not clear yet. The government will discuss this. The minister mentioned that he is also negotiating with colleagues from other countries in the EU to provide a “package of money” for the countries to which refugees from Ukraine are heading. The head of the ministry said that it is now possible to use unspent money from European subsidies to solve it, which is about 250 million crowns for the Czechia. “This does not solve the situation at all at the moment. We are really talking about higher billions of crowns, which should be in the humanitarian fund for countries,” the minister added.
Inclusion experts recommend providing support to municipalities for long-term housing. They point out that it is best for successful integration if people do not live in more remote facilities, but in ordinary flats. Sociologist Daniel Prokop recently mentioned that, according to comprehensive international studies, about two-thirds of refugees remain in the country. More than 200,000 people have fled to the Czech Republic since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. More than half of them are children, four-fifths of adults are women.
Source: CTK
