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Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Cabinet considers changing controversial foreigners' law By Jeffrey Donovan Faced with a drum roll of criticism, the Czech government looks set to reconsider its controversial foreigners' law. After recommendations from the government Council on Human Rights, the Cabinet has said it will look into revising the law, which has caused bedlam at the borders since taking effect on Jan. 1. The law was originally written to help narrow the gap between Czech legislation and similar laws in European Union nations as part of Prague's EU membership bid. It imposed tough restrictions on visitors from non-EU nations while seeming to exempt affluent countries like the United States. As part of the law, visitors must fill out border cards as well as provide proof of accommodation, health insurance and sufficient funds for their stay. Later this spring, the law would impose visa requirements on citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. The three countries appear ready to retaliate by placing visa restrictions on Czech nationals. Moreover, visas and residency documents may now be obtained only through Czech embassies or consulates abroad. "It's horrible now," said David Kappes, production director for the U.S. television miniseries Dune, which is filming in the Czech Republic. "I had to sprint to the border last Saturday to get my [work visa renewed] and my auditor will soon have to drive out there as well." Kappes' production is pumping $7.5 million (277 million Kc) into the economy through local employment and location costs. "It's ludicrous to have to go through this." Warning signs He's not alone. The city council of Karlovy Vary has urged the government to help in the issuing of visas to Russians, thousands of whom visit the city annually. Josef Singer, chairman of the city's Bristol spa company, told Czech news agency CTK that the law could seriously damage the local economy. "If visa requirements are valid in the form they approved, we are expecting a fall in profits by 100 million Kc ($2.7 million)," said Singer, adding that the sum was half the firm's yearly profit. "There is the danger that we will have to close two spa homes and dismiss several employees." Similarly, the law has hampered plans by foreign artists to perform in Prague this spring. According to the daily Lidove noviny, the Hamburg ballet and the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra are struggling to get temporary work permits. "The Germans will have to shell out over 5,000 marks [$2,500] just for the required stamps," the paper wrote. The government has asked the Interior Ministry to submit amendments to the law by June. The decision followed a report by the Council for Human Rights that said the code had 10 violations of international agreements. For example, the law forces foreigners doing business here to submit proof of income tax payments in order to prolong their stay. "This violates the agreement on the prevention of double taxation," the Council said. It also said the law did not allow refugees from war-torn countries to work legally. "If they have no chance of earning a living, they will be forced to seek illegal activities," the report said. Even visiting professors, like all foreign workers, must produce proof of a clean criminal record in their countries to work here for more than three months. "It's unbelievable," said Josef Kubicek of Charles University. "If you invite a foreign professor to lecture on the condition that he will need to produce confirmation of a clean criminal record, won't he feel a bit offended?" Jeffrey Donovan's e-mail address is jdonovan@praguepost.cz |
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