Initiativa Hlavák—or in English, “Main Train Station Initiative”—has been providing critical aid to refugees escaping conflict for more than seven years. The name comes from the fact that the initiative primarily works at the main train station in Prague, where it helps asylum seekers arriving in Czechia. Mainly run by volunteers, Initiativa Hlavåk has been providing aid to those fleeing conflict areas to or through the Czech capital. However, it was only recently that the initiative became official, mainly due to the work done around the reception of people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
by Marina Vidal Rico
I. (she/her), who requested to remain anonymous due to the nature of her work, is a young volunteer who started working with Initiativa Hlavak last October, but already has a lot to say about what arriving in the Czech Republic looks like for forcibly displaced people coming from Ukraine and the Middle East.
Apart from the “Ukrainian agenda,” as I. refers to it, Initiativa Hlavák also works with people, I. calls them “clients”, arriving from the Middle East and beyond. Her work revolves around the latter, and consists mostly of interpreting for those who arrive to the Czech Republic from Arabic-speaking countries.
When asked to describe what a typical day of work looks like, I. explains it like this:
“A typical shift, when I started, looked like arriving in the evening, going to the main train station, looking for people that looked like they would fit the profile of our clients. In the autumn, there were lots of people that just were sitting in the park or in the train station, looking a little bit lost […] and people that were released from the detention centres. Once we identify someone that could need our help, we offer them food, water, some clothes, or some basic material needs available to us. And then, of course, we ask them whether they would like to seek asylum in the Czech Republic. Some of them have decided that yes, that’s what they would like to do. So, we connect them to the right people, who can help them directly. However, most people prefer to continue with their journey.”
In the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Interior runs different institutions to detain, accommodate and monitor asylum seekers and forcibly displaced people in the country. According to I., however, there are many irregularities taking place within some centres. A common occurrence she has encountered during her volunteering shifts has to do with the misidentification of people.
“There have been refugees who have told us that they are underage, but the detention centres have treated them as adults. It’s a very unfortunate situation because lots of people do not have identification cards with them. […] If you’re underage, they are not allowed to hold you, so it creates a lot of conflict.”
For some arriving in the country, finding a place to stay —even one where they are detained—can be a challenge. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine last February, Czechia was one of the countries to receive the highest number of Ukrainians, especially when counting those who have gone through the country on their way to a different destination. However, according to I., not all incoming people received the same treatment after arriving to Prague’s main station:
“Roma Ukrainians have faced a lot of issues here when applying for refugee status. Last year, around the spring, there was a big issue of Roma Ukrainians sleeping outside of the train station in tents, because they could not get the status of a refugee because they had dual citizenship. So, they were Ukrainian, but they were also Hungarian. And because they were also Hungarian, they were not ill given the status of a refugee by the Czech Republic.”
The situation described by I. matches the recent statements made by the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovic. After her working visit to the country in February, the current Commissioner took the opportunity to criticize Czechia’s slow progress in addressing discrimination against Romanies in areas such as education, housing, and interactions with the police.
For those who work with Initiativa Hlavák, this came as no surprise. At an event held to mark the one-year anniversary of the conflict this February, volunteers from the initiative protested this discrimination towards the Roma community as one of the main deficiencies in the country’s approach to the incoming wave of Ukrainian refugees. “How we observed the one-year mark is by protesting,” I. adds, “While Roma Ukrainian refugees were sleeping in the train station, our minister was sleeping at home.”
“I WISH PEOPLE WOULD HEAR ABOUT THE JOURNEYS THESE INDIVIDUALS HAVE GONE THROUGH JUST TO GET TO SAFETY”
To her, the messages and slogans shared by the authorities on the occasion of the anniversary also fail to acknowledge the work of organizations and volunteers, without whom it would have been impossible to manage the crisis. While she recognizes the importance of working with the authorities as a way to legitimize the organization and get the funding they need to help more people, she regrets that sometimes the assistance they are able to provide (even with the cooperation of the government) is not enough.
Faced with irregularities in the detention system and structural racism that discriminates against minorities like the Roma, sometimes all the volunteers can do is lend an ear to those arriving at the station, and spread their word.
“I meet a lot of people while I’m in the field. A lot of the people who are running away from conflict are activists and journalists [who are able to talk about what they have just gone through]. But, of course, there are other people too, and I’m usually being asked: do you know who we can contact to tell them what happened to us?”
To I., that’s how journalists can help and contribute to the work done by Initiativa Hlavák, by providing a platform for the stories being shared on the ground.
“There are actual horror stories that I’ve heard from people that have been in different detention centres and in different checkpoints throughout their journey. And I’m not a journalist myself, so there’s very little that I can do. Even in my capacity, I mean, volunteering does take quite a lot out of me, and it’s hard just to be there and hear the stories. But I hear these stories, and then I don’t know what to do with them anymore.”
At this point of the interview, I.’s phone starts buzzing. Without hesitation, she stops talking and checks the notifications. It is, she explains, one of the many messages she receives from the initiative and proof that the volunteers’ work requires constant involvement. After writing a short reply, she continues.
“These people are just happy to have someone to listen to them, but sometimes I wish that more stories were being published about the kind of treatment that people receive on their way. I know that a lot of the media around me, at least in the Czech Republic, the media tends to portray refugees as a burden. And I understand […] where people are coming from, but I do wish people would hear about the actual journeys that these individuals have gone through to just get to safety.”
Photo: Prague, Wenceslas Square, October 2022, demonstration for asylum seeker rights
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