Abstract
Czech society has a sceptical view of migration. The number of people who have left the Czech Republic in search of work in other countries is much lower than in other East Central European countries.
Conversely, immigration policy is also restrictive. Humanitarian concerns and considerations of global responsibility hardly play a role in Czech migration policy.
Until 2015, economic benefit was the main motive. But since the so-called refugee crisis, even the issuance of work permits has been severely restricted for those seeking to enter the Czech Republic via the migratory routes established in the socialist era.
Within the EU's system for distributing migrants, the Czech Republic, like all Visegrád countries, has resisted admitting people from the Middle East and South Asia or from Africa. But unlike Poland, the Czech Republic is also letting only a few people from Ukraine or Belarus into the country legally.