Dušan Drbohlav

The self-reported health of legal and illegal/irregular immigrants in the Czech Republic

ObjectivesTo test whether immigrants with illegal/irregular status have higher odds of poor self-rated health (SRH) than immigrants with legal status, and whether different demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial factors affect SRH among legal and illegal/irregular immigrants.MethodsAnalysis is based on data from two questionnaire surveys of 285 Post-Soviet and Vietnamese immigrants (126 legal and 159 illegal/irregular) living and working in the Czech Republic, which were conducted between 2003 and 2006. The risk of poor SRH was estimated by ordered polytomous regression, the dependent variable was SRH, and selected demographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial characteristics entered the analysis as explanatory variables.ResultsOdds of poor SRH among illegal immigrants were not statistically significantly higher than among legal migrants in fully adjusted analysis. Females and older immigrants had poorer SRH. Satisfaction with work, and, partly, with housing were found to have a significant role. Educational level and ‘social communication’ variables did not have an important role in predicting SRH.ConclusionsInequalities in SRH among legal and illegal immigrants were largely explained by socioeconomic and psychosocial factors in this study. These results should stimulate further research activities that might improve health policy and planning related to immigrants’ health in this and other countries in Europe.

Immigration and the Czech Republic (with a Special Focus on the Foreign Labor Force)1

This article presents an overview of international migration in the Czech Republic, with a special focus on labor immigration. Currently, the Czech Republic is an immigration and transit country. The most important immigratory segment — economic immigrants — create a colorful mosaic of various ethnicities (80% of them from Europe), each group with their own different economic strategy and niche. After sketching historical patterns and data problems, the focus is on the current situation of labor migrants in the country. A number of issues are addressed: e.g., the relationship between immigrant inflows and the economic situation of the country; immigrants’ regional concentration/deconcentration processes; the popularity of the capital city of Prague and western regions vis-a-vis eastern ones; and the different structural backgrounds of immigrants coming from the East versus the West. Special attention is placed on undocumented/illegal immigration, mainly in relation to the misuse and evasion of immigration legislation. Finally, the immature Czech migration policies and practices are discussed, as are needed policy improvements and the need for new immigration legislation. It is clear that the major trend over time leads to more restrictive migratory policies, in line with efforts to harmonize Czech migratory policies and practices with those of the European Union (EU).

Social and cultural geography in the Czech Republic: under pressures of globalization and post-totalitarian transformation

In the last two decades there has been an important shift towards studies of sociocultural issues in most of the social sciences and also in human geography. This thematic shift has been brought about through a number of circumstances. First there have been accelerated interactions and interdependences in the world system which have increased as economic, social and cultural relationships have come to stretch worldwide. Globalization processes have led to new social inequalities and have also been reflected in science, politics and the lives of citizens. Simultaneously, there has been growing tensions among some sociocultural macro-systems of the current world (civilizations in conceptions of Huntington 1996, or Krejčı́ 2004) that cannot be understood purely in terms of differentiations in economic development level, but in terms of a deeper and long-term articulation of mass value orientations and attitudes, and thus through socio-cultural embedding of actual economic and political behaviour. It seems that interactions and interdependences in the current world system have led to a scale shift in perception of differences from the level of ‘between nations’ to the one of ‘between civilizations’ (Dostál and Hampl 2000). Changing conditions of economic growth and mass value orientations of populations in the rich ‘western’ civilization are of specific significance and tend to increase importance of subjective factors (human and social capital), on the one hand, and articulation of post-materialist value orientations, on the other (Inglehart 1997). The stress now put upon globalization processes tends to emphasize external pressures as the source of social and cultural changes taking place in individual countries. Second, there have been pressures of posttotalitarian (or post-communist) transformation. The collapse of the communist bloc at Social & Cultural Geography, Vol. 8, No. 3, June 2007

Gender Inequalities in the Health of Immigrants and Workplace Discrimination in Czechia

This study analyses the relationship between immigrants self-reported/rated health (SRH) and their perceived working conditions in Czechia materialized via discrimination, based on the example of Ukrainian immigrants analyzed by gender dimension. The role of age, education, and marital status is also analyzed. A sample of native-born Czechs serves as a reference frame. A cross-sectional design was applied. Using data from two surveys of Ukrainian immigrants in Czechia and a countrywide health interview survey for Czechs, we analyse inequalities in SRH and workplace discrimination loads. Four binary logistic regression models were computed separately for women and men from Ukraine and Czechia to identify the determinants of fair/poor SRH. We found that only Ukrainian immigrant females were heavily exposed to all four measured types of workplace discrimination, thereby modifying and worsening the quality of their SRH. Determinants which are behind respondents SRH differ between Ukrainian immigrants vis-à-vis Czechs with one exception. The “oldest age group” (41–62) contributes to poorer assessment of SRH among Ukrainian females, Czech females, and Czech males too. The lowest educational level (primary education) correlates with poor SRH within the sample of Czech males.

Immigrants’ Access to Health Insurance: No Equality without Awareness

The Czech government has identified commercial health insurance as one of the major problems for migrants’ access to health care. Non-EU immigrants are eligible for public health insurance only if they have employee status or permanent residency. The present study examined migrants’ access to the public health insurance system in Czechia. A cross-sectional survey of 909 immigrants from Ukraine and Vietnam was conducted in March and May 2013, and binary logistic regression was applied in data analysis. Among immigrants entitled to Czech public health insurance due to permanent residency/asylum, 30% were out of the public health insurance system, and of those entitled by their employment status, 50% were out of the system. Migrants with a poor knowledge of the Czech language are more likely to remain excluded from the system of public health insurance. Instead, they either remain in the commercial health insurance system or they simultaneously pay for both commercial and public health insurance, which is highly disadvantageous. Since there are no reasonable grounds to stay outside the public health insurance, it is concluded that it is lack of awareness that keeps eligible immigrants from entering the system. It is suggested that no equal access to health care exists without sufficient awareness about health care system.

Illegal Economic and Transit Migration in the Czech Republic: A Study of Individual Migrants' Behaviour

Abstract This article examines the essential features of international migration and the illegal working activities of migrants in the Czech Republic, with a closer insight into the processes of trafficking and smuggling. The research is based on semi-structured interviews with 63 illegal migrants, both from countries of the former Soviet Union (mainly Ukraine) and developing countries in 2005 and 2006. The main conclusion of the analysis is that, in many ways, the situation of illegal labour and transit migration in the Czech Republic is similar to that in countries with a longer experience as target countries for immigration.

Inequalities in healthcare access by type of visa in a context of restrictive health insurance policy: the case of Ukrainians in Czechia.

Introduction: In Czechia, immigrants without permanent residence are not entitled to public health insurance and should purchase a commercial insurance. Methods: Using data from a survey of Ukrainian immigrants and a country-wide Health Interview Survey for Czechs, we analyse inequalities in access to different healthcare services. Results: Ukrainians with a permanent visa have lower access than Czechs to specialist and dental care. Ukrainians with a long-term visa have a lower access than Czechs to all types of care, and than compatriots with a permanent visa to primary care (adjusted Prevalence Ratio 0.45, 95%CI 0.34-0.61), hospitalization (0.29, 0.12-0.71) and emergency room (0.60, 0.37-1.00). Conclusions: The exclusion of long-term immigrants from the public healthcare system should be revised on grounds of equity and public health protection.

Smuggled Versus Not Smuggled Across the Czech Border

The main goal of this paper is to analyze the spatial behavior of unauthorized migrants in their attempts to irregularly cross the Czech states “green” border (including walking trails) into Austria and Germany, between 2005 and 2007. It demonstrates the importance of select demographic and human characteristics of the migrants, as well as the physical features of the environment, in their crossing. Our main premise concerning the importance of smuggling and the more sophisticated means and strategies employed among migrants using smugglers’ services (vis-à-vis those without smugglers) was confirmed.

The Czech Republic

The aim of this chapter is to give a brief overview of what is going on in the international migration field in the Czech Republic (CR) and how the situation has changed over time. Special attention is paid to economic immigration, permanent immigration, asylum-seekers and refugees, temporary refuge, ethnic Czechs and transit migration.

Migration policy objectives for European East-West international migration.

The study contains selected results of Delphi research (subjective judgements concerning the future on a collective expert basis) on international migration between Central/Eastern (C/EEc) and Western European countries. Taking part in the research were 109 scholars and officers....from all over Europe.... Results indicate growing problems and tensions in societies, the division of Europe into two parts, and the triggering rather than pacifying of further antagonisms and hostile anti-immigrant attitude on the Western side.... Concerning policy objectives, the two most important general aims were how to contribute to migration stabilization in the East, and how to maintain and further develop stable democratic order and promote economic development. (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)