Kateřina Šimonová joined RCPI Rotarians and friends at one of our recent club meetings. Kateřina is a human rights lawyer working for the Czech humanitarian charity Organizace pro pomoc uprchlíkům (OPU). The organisation is dedicated to helping refugees and foreigners in the Czech Republic by providing free legal and social counseling to its clients. OPU also,organizes educational activities for professionals and the general public.
Kateřina explained to RCPI that whilst the refugee situation in the Czech Republic may not be in the media every day, there are significant challenges and issue with how refugees are being treated. Over 10,000 refugees are in Czech detention centres. Whilst the majority wish to move from the Czech republic to other countries such as Germany approximately 1200 want to settle in the Czech republic. A lack of access to legal counseling and limited knowledge of their rights means that their detention is often longer and more harsh than it should be. OTP provides free legal services so that the refugees and foreigners are treated fairly and in line with Czech and European Laws.
The members of RCPI thanked Kateřina for her very passionate and informative presentation and the financial proceeds of the meeting's collection was given to OPU to assist with their work.
 
 
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