EKS
Opportunities and Barriers in Integration of Asylum Seekers into the Czech Society from Men’s and Women’s Perspectives
![[publikace/obal_BG_publikace_nejmensi.jpg]](http://www.ekscr.cz/content/images/publikace/obal_BG_publikace_nejmensi.jpg)
by Andrea Krchová and Hana Víznerová
The following article is a summary of selected findings and recommendations derived from a qualitative survey which were released in a publication titled “ Discrimination against Refugees in the Czech Republic from a Gender Perspective ”. The publication is an output of an eponymous research project conducted by European Contact Group in the Czech Republic from July 2007 to June 2008.
The aim of the research project was to find out about and disseminate the experience and opinions of male and female asylum seekers in the Czech Republic in the period after they were granted international protection (asylum). We were interested in male and female asylum seekers’ personal views and in their perception and conception of discrimination and their experience with unequal treatment in all vital spheres of human life within the context of the integration process into the Czech society.
The research project was based on qualitative methodology of data collection and data analysis. Our intention was to map
out the situation of male and female asylum seekers in its wholeness therefore we interviewed people who found
themselves in different conditions and different phases of the integration process; i.e. people who had been in the
Czech Republic for less than a year as well as those who had been dwelling in the country for several years; asylum
seekers having private accommodation or living in integration asylum centres in various regions, cities or villages in
the Czech Republic.
Topics discussed during every interview conducted were concerned with cardinal issues in the integration process:
integration to the labour market, social security and healthcare, access to information and education, relationships
with the majority society, housing, institutional and legislative spheres. During the interviews we also learned about
the reasons for and the course of forced migration and about the living conditions in the Czech Republic in the period
after applying for international protection.
In order to complement such images with viewpoints by people who work with asylum seekers, we conducted a secondary
research. We interviewed Labor Offices officials – representatives of an important institution of the state
administration that offers support to asylum seekers in the sphere of employment.
Click here to download the whole article ondiscrimination against
regugees in the Czech republic - in pdf format.
