The Record Number of Chechen Asylum Seekers via Poland

A spokeswoman from the Czech border and foreign police said on 28 April that some 100 Chechen refugees requested asylum on 26 April, bringing the total since mid-April to nearly 600, CTK reported. Czech officials have signaled displeasure over an increasing number of asylum requests, and talks this week between Czech and Polish representatives are expected to focus on the problem. The influx has overburdened facilities in Vysne Lhoty, in the north of the Czech Republic, where all refugees must register within 24 hours of their arrival. "The situation is unbearable," CTK quoted an employee of that refugee center as saying. An Interior Ministry representative, Maria Masarikova, said authorities are trying to speed the process, adding that another refugee-registration center is to be opened in Cerveny Ujezd in North Moravia. Masarikova added that the Czech-Polish talks are aimed at finding a long-term solution.