The first of a total of 153 Iraqi Christians who have been offered asylum in the Czech Republic have arrived in Prague.
The government approved the group’s request for help because they were threatened by the aggression of Islamic State extremists. They originally used to live near Mosul in Iraq.
Ten of them landed at Prague’s international airport on Sunday and were to be taken to a hotel near the central city of Jihlava, where they will spend a couple of months.
The government will share the expenses for their move to the Czech Republic with NGOs, and religious institutions will help them settle in the country.
They will be allowed to stay after the current conflict is over.
The Czechs oppose an EU mandatory plan to redistribute 120,000 asylum-seekers among the bloc’s 28 nations but say they want to help on a voluntary basis.
— AP
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