Czech Republic to offer scholarships, resettlement for Syrians in Jordan

AMMAN — The government of the Czech Republic has recently approved two new assistance programmes for Jordan, according to Czech Ambassador Petr Hladík.

In an interview with The Jordan Times on Wednesday, the diplomat highlighted his country’s keenness on supporting the Kingdom through modest yet sustainable projects, especially with the burdens of the Syrian refugee influx.

The first programme, dubbed “New Elites for Syria”, seeks to provide full scholarships for 20 Syrian students who currently reside in Jordan, under which they learn the Czech language for a year then study another four years to obtain bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

“The selection process is under way, yet it is not easy to find eligible applicants, as there is an educational gap for many of them after they finished high school education,” Hladík noted, adding that the project is carried out in cooperation with the UNHCR, Caritas Jordan and other organisations. 

The second project seeks to resettle 15 families, consisting of 70 individuals, who have benefited from the Czech government’s MEDEVAC programme and to give them the right to stay in the Czech Republic.

Other assistance projects are currently “in the pipeline”, according to Hladík, who cited a 2-million euro project to finance infrastructure in the Zaatari Refugee Camp, around 90km northeast of Amman, which is home to some 83,500 refugees. 

As the Czech Republic is the contact point embassy of NATO in the Kingdom, the ambassador said the 3.6-million euro NATO-Jordan trust fund will be used to build a new training centre for Jordanian women serving in the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF).

“The plan is for the centre to train 500 women every year,” he said, citing cooperation between NATO and JAF over the past two years on protection from chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons.

Last year, around 40 JAF personnel received this training in Jordan, and 30 others will soon participate in training with live chemical agents in the Czech Republic.

In a move to refute some stereotypes about the role of Arab women, 10 Jordanian Special Forces female personnel were invited to speak about their experience at a NATO conference that will convene in the Czech Republic in September.

“Jordan is the first and only Arab country to participate in the event that will be attended by some 20,000 individuals from across the world,” he said.

Hladík underscored the “special” ties between his country and Jordan, explaining that President Miloš Zeman’s visit to Jordan in February was his first to an Arab and Muslim country.  

Nonetheless, the ambassador highlighted the need for direct flights, higher cooperation in the tourism sector as well as a Jordanian embassy in Prague.