Ukrainian Lived in Czechia Illegally for 20 Years, Court Rejects His Asylum Request

A Czech court has rejected the appeal of a Ukrainian national who, after twenty years of living illegally in Czechia, sought international protection in a bid to avoid deportation. According to the court ruling obtained by our editorial team, detaining the foreigner is necessary to ensure he remains available should the deportation order need to be carried out.

"The administrative body established circumstances giving sufficient grounds to believe that the main — and most likely sole — purpose of the protection request was to avoid enforcement of the expulsion order," the ruling by Judge Jan Šmakal states.

Application Filed Only After the Check

According to the judge, the applicant only requested protection once administrative proceedings for his deportation were already underway, even though nothing had stopped him from doing so earlier. "This is clearly a reaction to the fact that his illegal residency status had been uncovered," Šmakal emphasized.

The court also noted that, despite his long stay in Czechia, the man has no family ties in the country, is not officially registered at any address, owns no property, and has no funds he could have obtained through legal means. "It is evident that he has failed to comply with Czech law for a long time. Therefore, one cannot expect him to voluntarily comply with an order requiring him to return to his home country," the judge added.

"He Could Relocate to a Safer Region"

The court was also unconvinced by the Ukrainian's argument that he comes from the Dnipropetrovsk region, where fighting is ongoing. "The plaintiff is of working age and capable of employment. He has no family ties in that region, so it would not be difficult for him to relocate to a safer part of the country and live there as an internally displaced person," Judge Šmakal concluded.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz