Over 260 Czechs seek asylum in Canada after visa lifting

A total of 267 Czechs have applied for asylum in Canada in five months since the visa duty was abolished in October last year, according to the data released by the Canadian Embassy. Canada is not planning to re-introduce the visa requirements for Czech citizens, the embassy has said. Canada first lifted visa requirements for Czech citizens shortly after the fall of communism, but reintroduce them in 1997 in reaction to a flood of asylum seekers from the Czech Republic, mainly Romanies, on the grounds that Czechs were abusing the Canadian welfare system.

Author: Ruth Fraňková