President Kiska: Slovakia could shelter more refugees

Slovakia has scope to provide shelter to further refugees, President Andrej Kiska said at a meeting with Assyrian Christian refugees at the Diocesan Pastoral Centre in Nitra on Wednesday. "As a successful country, Slovakia must think about how to help people whose lives are at stake. It's our duty, while we have far more scope to do it than has been used to date," said Kiska, who came to Nitra to see how 149 Iraqi Christian refugees are doing in the town and several nearby villages. Their integration in towns and villages in the Nitra region is a joint project of the Interior Ministry, the Nitra Diocese and the civic association Peace and Good. The group of refugees arrived in Slovakia in December of 2015, and after a three-month stay in an integration camp in Humenné (Prešov region) they were placed in Nitra and several nearby villages. The adults are now attending courses in Slovak, while children are attending ordinary schools. "We've dealt with various administrative issues, including ID cards, health insurance ... many people needed to see specialised doctors to treat their health problems. Two children have been born in the group, so we had to arrange a doctor who could speak Arabic in order to make the deliveries as stress free as possible," said Peter Brenkuš from the NGO Peace and Good. According to him, the project has revealed several massive gaps in Slovak legislation. "For example, we've found that our schools aren't set to be able to teach children of foreigners," said Brenkuš, adding that further similar projects would require the intense cooperation of various bodies, including government institutions, civic associations and religious entities.