Canada may reintroduce Czech travel visas

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, July 2 (UPI) -- A top Czech official, in a bid to avert Canada's threat to re-impose travel visas, has tried to curb rising number of Czech asylum seekers, officials said.

Interior Minister Martin Pecina's offer to Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney to abolish the direct Prague-Toronto flights has brought no results, as commercial flights are not in jurisdiction of the ministry, aviation officials told the Czech daily Lidove Noviny Thursday.

Hana Hejskova, spokeswoman for the Czech Airlines CSA, rejected any possibility the company would yield to pressure from politicians, the Czech news agency CTK said.

The CSA flights to Toronto usually carry mostly Czech Gypsies who travel to Canada to seek asylum, on grounds they suffered discrimination and racial assaults by ultra-right nationalists in the Czech Republic, CTK said.

About 1,100 Czech Gypsies applied for asylum in the first four months this year, Prague Radio said.

Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout Wednesday said Canadian officials warned him the Ottawa government could reintroduce visas to hinder a surge of Czech asylum seekers.

The Czech government might counter-react by introducing visas for Canadian diplomats, CTK said.

Canada abolished the requirement for visas for Czech visitors in October 2007.