PRAGUE POST | The Voice of Prague

President cites disease, terrorist sleeper cells as causes for concern

Lány, Central Bohemia, Aug 30 (ČTK) — Most immigrants are in Czech Republic illegally, and as they violated law, they should be promptly returned, not placed into various accommodation facilities, President Miloš Zeman said in an interview for Radio Frekvence 1 today.

Zeman recalled that the Czech government decided to voluntarily accept 1,500 refugees, which means that all the other immigrants are in the Czech Republic illegally.

"And if they violated our law, they should be immediately returned, not placed into various accommodation facilities," he said, referring to the Dublin regulations.

Zeman said most refugees seemed to come to Europe for economic reasons.

"I believe that a crushing majority of them are economic immigrants," he said, arguing that they also came from poor countries that were not hit by war, such as Eritrea, Senegal, Kosovo and Pakistan.

Zeman said he did not expect that these people do not want to work in the Czech Republic, indicating that they would live on welfare.

Zeman said there were three risks concerning Muslim immigrants.

First, it is the creation of socially excluded zones, ghettos, as these people would not be able to assimilate due to their cultural differences, he said.

He said there is the risk of spreading infectious diseases, though he would not overestimate it.

The third risk are sleeper cells sent by Islamic State that would develop into terrorist organizations, Zeman said.

Zeman repeatedly said the European Union should protect its external border. If this protection fails, it is necessary to stop the migrants at the Czech border and return them, he added.