Mladá Boleslav to build new social and integration center for foreigners

Mladá Boleslav, Central Bohemia, Feb 20 (CTK) – Mladá Boleslav plans to build a social and integration centre for foreigners, helping them orientate themselves in the Czech environment, Social Democrats (CSSD) spokeswoman Barbora Gavenda informed CTK today.

The centre, named Svet (The World), is to help find a solution to the rising criminality in Mladá Boleslav, attributed to foreigners arriving in the city town work, especially at the Skoda Auto car factory.

The costs of setting up the centre will be paid by Mladá Boleslav, the Interior Ministry, an employment agency, EU subsidies and the Skoda Auto automobile manufacturer.

Roughly 15,000 foreigners live in Mladá Boleslav and the centre is to also provide aid to Czechs who find themselves in legal or financial difficulties.

The centre is to start operations in December 2021.

“Companies get rich by employing foreigners, many people living in the region make good money and the state gets taxes, but all costs are carried by the city, be it the costs of security or for waste collection, often not covered by the owners of the apartments rented out to foreigners,” Mladá Boleslav Deputy Mayor Robin Povsik (CSSD) said.

Povsik added that the lack of Czech language skills among foreigners and their children is a growing challenge, with up to 20 percent of pupils at local schools being foreigners.

The centre will thus also offer services for mothers with children and pre-school Czech language and information materials in several languages.

The city is facing the security situation by a set of other measures as well, for example by introducing mixed police patrols.

“Foreign police wield great authority with their fellow countrymen and there is no language barrier, which makes many of the problems easier to solve. I am glad that this project is to continue into the future,” Interior Minister Jan Hamacek (CSSD) said.

According to Mayor Raduan Nwelati (Civic Democrats, ODS), foreigners commit roughly 90 percent of the reported crimes in Mladá Boleslav.

Every third worker in the town is a foreigner, Nwelati added.