Mongolians in the Czech Republic

Mongols in the Czech Republic

Total population
7,515 (2007)[1]
Regions with significant populations
Prague,[2] Blansko,[3] Plzeň[4]
Languages
Mongolian, Czech

Mongols in the Czech Republic form one of the country's smaller ethnic groups. Workers from Mongolia comprised 3.6% of the foreign workforce as of 2008^[update], making them the third-largest non-European Union group behind Ukrainians and Vietnamese, and the fifth-largest group overall.^[5]

Migration history

In 2005, only 1,900 Mongols from Mongolia lived in the Czech Republic, according to the local police; by 31 March 2006, that figure had grown slightly to 2,607 individuals, including 2,051 workers and 213 businessmen.^[1][2] The following year would see significant growth in the Mongol population, which nearly tripled to 7,515 individuals by June 2007.^[1] As of July 2008, an additional thirty to forty Mongols were arriving in the Czech Republic for work every week, many via train.^[6] Their population had been expected to continue to grow at a rapid pace, since Mongolia, along with Vietnam, was chosen in 2008 as one of the nations to supply manpower to the Czech Republic to replace North Korean guest workers, whose visas were not renewed after international concern that their wages were being confiscated by the North Korean government and used to support their nuclear programme.^[7]

However, at the beginning of 2009, the Czech government decided they would no longer grant employment visas to Mongol or Vietnamese labourers, in response to an economic downturn which had left 380,000 Czech citizens without jobs.^[8] Visa issuance officially halted on 1 April that year; the government stated it would resume at some unspecified future date.^[5] They also announced a plan to offer €500 and a free plane ticket back to Ulaanbaatar for any Mongol workers on their territory who lost their jobs; a spokeswoman for the Interior Ministry stated that the plan was intended to prevent unemployed foreign workers from remaining in the country illegally.^[9] From February to April, Mongols formed 66% of the total 1,345 foreigners who took advantage of such offers from the Czech government.^[5]

Demography and distribution

Aside from the community in Prague, there about 500 Mongols are also employed at a steering wheel-cover firm in the South Moravian Region town of Blansko, and a few hundred more in Plzeň.^[4][10] In March 2007, those in Blansko became the target of protests organised by the right-wing National Pride group, of whom one was arrested for giving a Hitler Salute.^[3][11] Yet despite the tensions between the Mongols and the citizens of Blansko, few local people actually participated in those protests; the demonstrators were described as being Neo-Nazis from other parts of the Czech Republic.^[10]

Illegal migration

Human trafficking and illegal immigration from Mongolia to the Czech Republic are growing problems.^[6] Mongols make up one of the larger groups of illegal migrants detained at the border with Slovakia.^[12] Previously, Ukraine had been one of the main sources of illegal foreign workers for the Czech Republic, but many had moved on westward to other countries of the European Union, lured by higher wages; Mongols have been one of the main groups which has replaced them.^[6] The Czech government are working with the Mongolia's government in efforts to control the illegal migration, in a programme similar to those they already operated with the governments of Moldova, Armenia, and Ukraine, which combined education in the source country about the danger of abuse that foreign workers face, and increased enforcement in the destination country.^[13]

There are fifteen Czech work agencies with permits from the Czech government to import workers from Mongolia. However, only two such agencies have permits from the Mongolia's government to recruit on their territory; many thus operate without authorisation. This lack of registration is the reason why Czech government figures consistently show a large number of migrants from Mongolia—such as a total of 2,000 in 2007—while Mongolia's government statistics show just a small number of workers leaving their country with the Czech Republic as their destination.^[14]

Notable individuals

• Gombojavyn Ochirbat, former General Secretary of the People's Revolutionary Party of Mongolia, lived in Prague for two years^[15]

See also

• Petra Hulova, a Czech writer who studied in Mongolia^[16]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Latest numbers show 7,500 Mongolians working in Czech Republic", Mongolia Web, 2008-02-19, http://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/1630/2/, retrieved 2008-10-04 
2. ^ ^{a b} G., Sainbayar (2006-07-05), "Mongolians in Prague Gathered", TV5 News (Ulaanbaatar), http://www.tv8.mn/tv5/index.php?page=news&nid=234, retrieved 2007-10-24 
3. ^ ^{a b} Velinger, Jan (2007-03-17), "Right-wing extremists demonstrate in Blansko", Czech Radio International Service, http://www.radio.cz/en/news/89443, retrieved 2007-10-24 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Charity supports Mongolians left without jobs, information", Prague Daily Monitor, 2009-03-10, http://praguemonitor.com/2009/03/10/charity-supports-mongolians-left-without-jobs-information, retrieved 2009-05-19 
5. ^ ^{a b c} Perry, Joellen (2009-04-28), "The Czech Republic Pays for Immigrants to Go Home", The Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124087660297361511.html, retrieved 2009-04-29 
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Police detain Mongol job brokers in raid in Prague", České Noviny, 2008-07-10, http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/news/index_view.php?id=322494, retrieved 2008-10-04 
7. ^ "Czech Republic to seek foreign workers from Mongolia", Mongolia Web, 2007-06-12, http://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/1082/2/, retrieved 2008-10-04 
8. ^ "Citing unemployment, Czech Republic closes doors to Mongolian workers", Mongolia Web, 2009-01-02, http://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/2176/2/, retrieved 2009-01-20 
9. ^ "Mongolian workers to be offered cash, free ride home from Czech Republic", Mongolia Web, 2009-02-06, http://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/2224/2/, retrieved 2009-02-13 
10. ^ ^{a b} Křížková, Martina (2009-03-06), "Good Mongolians - Who makes steering wheel covers in a small Czech town?", Migration Online, http://www.migrationonline.cz/e-library/?x=2151474, retrieved 2009-05-04 
11. ^ "Police detain man at demonstration against Mongolians", Financial Times, 2007-03-17, http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-30023920_ITM, retrieved 2009-01-20 
12. ^ Horakova, Pavla (2005-12-27), "Police: Number of illegal migrants on Slovak-Czech border drops", Czech Radio International Service, http://www.radio.cz/en/news/74141, retrieved 2007-10-24 
13. ^ "Program will seek to reduce illegal Mongol workers in Czech Republic", Mongolia Web, 2008-04-30, http://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/1732/2/, retrieved 2008-10-04 
14. ^ Jelínková, Marie (2009-02-06), "Mongolians dreaming their Czech dream: The long wait for visas - no guarantee of success", Migration Online, http://www.migrationonline.cz/e-library/?x=2146838, retrieved 2009-05-04 
15. ^ Kristof, Nocholas (1990-03-16), "Upheaval in the East; New Mongolian Leadership Vows to Hold Free Election", The New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFDA1130F935A25750C0A966958260, retrieved 2007-10-24 
16. ^ Vaughan, David (2007-01-14), "Petra Hulova: a rising star of the young generation of Czech writers", Czech Radio International Service, http://www.radio.cz/en/article/87035, retrieved 2007-10-24 

Further reading

• Montanari, Armando (2003), "Human mobility between Asia and the European Union: the case of Mongolia", in Ishikawa, Yoshitaka; Montanari, Armando, The New Geography of Human Mobility – Inequality Trends?, Geography Publication Series, 4, Società Geografica Italiana, ISBN 9788888692098 
• Krausová, Hana (January 2008), Mongolští přistěhovalci jako pracovní síla na Blanensku/Mongolian immigrants as labourers in Blansko, Ph.D. dissertation, Brno: Department of Social Policy and Social Work, Masaryk University, http://is.muni.cz/th/144380/fss_m/?lang=en, retrieved 2009-01-20 
• Rejšková, Tereza (2009-04-03), ""The Mongolian community in the Czech Republic cannot be stable and develop itself due to the permanent uncertainty of its members with the visas": Interview with Ariunjurgal Dashnyam, the director of the Czech-Mongolian Society", Migration Online, http://www.migrationonline.cz/e-library/?x=2175470, retrieved 2009-05-04 

External links

• Czech-Mongolian Society of Brno, Plzeň, and Prague
• Mongolians in the Czech Republic: the Assisted Voluntary Return Programme, a photoset from Flickr user bjjs