Housing support for Beneficiaries of International Protection in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic

Adequate housing serves as a basic precondition for the integration of individuals into society. Not only does it provide the necessary shelter, but it is the main location of children’s upbringing and adults’ daily commute to work. It is the center of leisure and families’ contacts with neighbors and the local community. From the point of view of the integration of beneficiaries of international protection (BIPs), assistance with the provision of housing must be one of the priorities of any integration policy, because without stable housing, the path to gradual adaptation to a new life situation in a new society is signifi cantly more complicated.

The following pages demonstrate how the governments of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic approach the integration of BIPs in the area of housing. Even though both countries are signatories to the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the UN International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the European Social Charter and are subject to European Union law, which all together imply a basic legal framework for states dealing with BIPs, the specifi c forms of local national policies vary considerably.