The main mission of the Multicultural Centre Prague is to communicate with the Czech public on topics related to migration and refugees.  In the connection with the arrival of refugees from Ukraine, we complement the services of our partner organizations that provide direct assistance to newcomers.  We conduct trainings for volunteers, social workers and teachers, write manuals and communicate with the general public. 

It is a great satisfaction for us that after years of having to defend our actions and even face attacks from anti-migrant movements and populist politicians, we now know what to do, we have experience and we know our way around.

For most participants in our training sessions, the information about intermediaries, rogue employment agencies and labour exploitation was new and shocking. Unfortunately, we know that this is a massively widespread dangerous practice that exploits the vulnerable position of migrants.

The MKC staff are involved in outreach either as volunteers or interpreters and they also learn about cases of labour exploitation during training sessions for volunteers and social workers. They spoke about their experiences in mainstream media.  (Headline: “They are recruited into menial jobs, even forced to prostitution. Ukrainians become victims of exploitation”) .

We have successfully completed a number of research and advocacy projects as well as established relationships with members of the Ukrainian community. That is why we have been able to raise the issue in the media these days, we have negotiated with trade unions and the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. 

In this project, we want to identify informal leaders within the Ukrainian community and gradually equip them with knowledge, skills, contacts and techniques to be able to address the needs of community members towards  majority institutions - independently and without having to rely on the services of commercial intermediaries, exploiters or the mafia. Your support will enable us, with the help of an experienced Russian-speaking researcher with her own migration experience, to get this project off the ground.