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Human rights abuses, including strip-searching for money, are an “integral part” of Czech Republic’s policy with dealing with refugees, the United Nations claimed on Thursday.
U.N. human rights chief Zeid Ra’ad al-Husseun said in a statement that refugees have been detained up to 90 days in an attempt to deter them from the Central European country.
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Human rights breaches "appear to be an integral part of a policy by the Czech Government designed to deter migrants and refugees from entering the country or staying there,” he said in a statement.
The human rights head also drew attention to the progressively more xenophobic public statements of the Czech government, including “Islamophobic” statements and anti-immigration campaigns.
President Milos Zeman rebuffed the denunciations, with his spokesperson saying, "The president has long warned of the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. He stands by his opinion and he will not change it under pressure from abroad."
Zeman has tried to caution the Czech population that refugees, the majority of whom come from Syria via treacherous journeys through Turkey and Greece, would impose Sharia law, including stoning women to death for adultery and dismembering thieves.
"We will lose women's beauty because they will be covered head to toe in burqas, with only a fabric net over the face," the CTK news agency quoted him as saying last week.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has expressed similar views to his Czech counterpart, emphasising Christian values in the face of Islam. Hungary uses similar, though not so extreme tactics of long detention to discourage refugees from migrating to their country, according to Zeid.
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"International law is quite clear that immigration detention must be strictly a measure of last resort," he said. Detaining children "on the sole basis of their migration status, or that of their parents, is a violation, is never in their best interests, and is not justifiable."
Also this week, a Hungarian camera woman who was recorded tripping up and kicking Syrian refugees said that she was going to sue the man at the receiving end of her blows, as he attempted to flee carrying a child.
Petra Laszlo was fired from her job at N1TV when the footage sparked worldwide revulsion, and now also may sue Facebook for defamation.
"We (her and her husband) believe Facebook played a major role in my situation. It helped embitter people against me,” she told local media.
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