Prime Minister Andrej Babi\u0161 has come under fire for outright rejecting a proposal to take in 50 Syrian orphans \u2013 or even a single refugee until the EU secures its borders. In an interview published on Saturday, he said the Czech Republic had demonstrated its solidarity in other, meaningful ways and has its orphans to worry about.<\/p>\n
Mr Babi\u0161 has long maintained he will not accept a single \u201ceconomic migrant\u201d while arguing refugees \u2013 in his words, \u201cpeople in real need, fleeing conflict or persecution\u201d \u2013 should find asylum closer to home, outside the European Union, and not be allowed to engage in \u201casylum shopping\u201d in the EU.<\/p>\n
That line in the sand, based on legal grounds, has generally met with support from Czech politicians, as has rejecting mandatory EU quotas for resettling refugees. But Mr Babi\u0161\u2019s outright refusal now to take in a single refugee \u2013 even orphans from war-torn Syria \u2013 has been widely condemned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy should we accept them? We also have orphans in the Czech Republic who we must be preparing for life,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0Mr Babi\u0161 said in the interview.\u00a0\u201cI went into politics mainly to look after Czech citizens. Why should we be caring for Syrian orphans?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n While he also highlighted the financial and material aid the country has given to Syria, several politicians from opposition parties characterised his comments as \u201cshameful\u201d or \u201cinhumane\u201d. For his part, acting foreign minister Jan Ham\u00e1\u010dek of the Social Democrats, the junior partner in Mr Babi\u0161\u2019s coalition government, tweeted that surely this country of 10 million could manage to find homes for 50 orphans.<\/p>\n Pavel Teli\u010dka, an independent MEP elected on the Ano party ticket of Mr Babi\u0161 says the prime minister\u2019s \u201cextreme\u201d shift in position would leave him isolated at home.<\/p>\n \u201cHe has evidently moved from what was a quite reasonable, carefully considered position \u2013 rejecting EU quotas and combatting illegal migration \u2013 to one where he is saying this country will not even consider a request to grant asylum or temporary protection to people from war-torn Syria. He will not even consider discussing it. Such an extreme position, I think, will make the prime minister himself something of an \u2018orphan\u2019 on the Czech political scene.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Following the outcry, Mr Babi\u0161 sought to justify his position in part by noting the Syrian orphans were teenage boys, not helpless toddlers. In a tweet on Sunday, he also quoted the Dalai Lama as saying in a recent speech that refugees should be \u201chelped and educated\u201d but ultimately return home to develop their own counties. But he edited out the Tibetan spiritual leader\u2019s call to first \u201creceive\u201d refugees and his assertion Europe was \u201cmorally\u201d obliged to aid refugees whose lives could be in danger.<\/p>\n According to the United Nations, more than 5.6 million Syrians have fled their country since the civil war began in March 2011.<\/p>\n