In June 2022 the Union of Towns and Municipalities of the Czech Republic conducted a questionnaire-based survey of the opinion of towns and municipalities on the residence and integration situation for refugees from Ukraine. The investigation examined the related financial burden on and capacities of local governments, and the work beyond their official duties carried out by local government representatives.

232 municipalities participated in the survey, and the results are based on the responses of 189 municipalities actively dealing with refugees. The data is most telling for municipalities with up to 3 000 inhabitants; less so for the situation in large cities. In May, over 81 000 refugees were living in the surveyed municipalities.

Text and image source: SMO ČR, 2022.

Key findings:

• In 72% of the municipalities surveyed, support for Ukrainian refugees is handled by a municipal representative, most often the mayor.
• In 20% of municipalities, one employee focuses on this agenda either full- or part-time.
• 59% of municipalities spent, on average, up to CZK 100 000 (EUR 4 000) of their own resources to support refugees from March to May 2022.
• In terms of supporting the welcome of those displaced from Ukraine, both the support given by citizens and political support was assessed positively across municipalities.
• The availability of education infrastructure (especially kindergartens), essential social services, and staff capacity in the municipality were ambivalently rated.
• Affordable housing was found to be the most important need in municipalities with regard to provision of support for those from Ukraine, as well as financial, methodological, and informational support.