The number of foreigners staying permanently or temporarily in the Czech Republic rose by 28,950 to 595,881 last year, according to a report released by the interior ministry on migration trends in the last quarter of 2019.
Almost half of the registered foreigners (295,197) have temporary residence, the rest have permanent residence (300,684).
Half of the foreigners holding temporary residence permits applied for employment (50.7 percent), family reunion (16.8 percent), study (6.8 percent) and business (6.3 percent).
The Czech Foreign Police detected 5,677 illegally foreigners staying in the Czech Republic, 685 more than in 2018. The largest groups were Ukrainians, Moldovans, and Vietnamese.
Even though Ukraine already benefits from a visa-free arrangement with the Schengen Member States, 1,456 Ukrainians remained in the Czech Republic beyond the permitted period by the Schengen rules of stay.
In the last quarter of 2019, 42,227 migrants arrived illegally in Europe: 35,463 by sea (Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta, and Cyprus) and 6,764 by land.
Compared to the same period in 2018, arrivals by sea went up by around 8.1 percent, but down by 7.6 percent compared to the previous quarter.
In 2019, a total of 118,327 people arrived illegally in Europe.
