In February and March 2024, the Consortium of Migrant Assisting Organisations conducted a survey among Czech municipalities to assess how they managed cohabitation with refugees displaced from Ukraine in 2023. Out of 1 575 municipalities and city districts that met the research criteria (having 20 or more people with temporary protection registered at the end of 2023 or housing a HUMPO accommodation facility), 645 responded, resulting in a response rate of approximately 41%. The responses encompass municipalities where 65% of all refugees (244 186 individuals) lived in 2023. 

Main findings

Research shows that the presence of refugees continues to be a burden for many communities, even though some have outsourced the issue of refugee integration to NGOs or Ukrainian coordinators. These coordinators are often Ukrainian women working voluntarily to address the needs of their community and communicating these needs to municipalities. Effective communication, frequently conducted through online platforms used by refugees, was also found to play a positive role.

The research also shows that initial activities activities that aimed at meeting basic needs and assisting with institutional interactions were largely replaced in 2023 by addressing the individual situations of refugees displaced from Ukraine. In 2023, refugees became more concentrated in larger municipalities, which face challenges related to housing, availability of school and preschool care, and non-emergency healthcare.

Municipalities repeatedly criticised numerous legislative changes as incomprehensible and poorly communicated, negatively affecting the most vulnerable refugees. The research revealed that 47% of municipal respondents were unaware of the number of refugees in their area, and some did not consider refugee integration be part of their agenda, despite having higher numbers of refugees in their territories.