Balková Facility for the Detention of Foreigners
Balková 1, 331 65 Balková · Tis u Blatna, Plzeň Region
Immigration detention, not accommodation
This is a place of custody pending removal. It is not accommodation, its places are not counted as accommodation capacity anywhere on this site, and it is shown apart from the reception sites.
In Czechia this facility is run by the same agency as the asylum facilities, SUZ.
Facility for the detention of foreigners at Balková, in the municipality of Tis u Blatna in the Plzeň Region, run by the Czech Refugee Facilities Administration (SUZ). It is detention, not accommodation. AIDA says it is exclusively for single men. According to SUZ's annual report, foreigners detained west of a line between Trutnov, Hradec Králové, Pardubice and Jihlava are primarily placed here. AIDA lists 174 beds for 2025.
Key facts
- Type
- Facility for the detention of foreigners
- Operator
- Refugee Facilities Administration of the Ministry of the Interior (SUZ)
- Address
- Balková 1, 331 65 Balková, Tis u Blatna, Plzeň Region
- Capacity (detention beds)
- 174 beds (as at 2025)AIDA, Czech Republic, 2025 update (June 2026): beds in detention facilities, 2025.
- People counted there
- AIDA gives no count of the people there (occupancy at the end of 2025: not available), and the SUZ annual report gives none.
- Placed in 2025
- 74.3% of the 919 foreigners newly placed in detention were primarily placed here, about 683 people. SUZ's report prints 583, which does not fit its own percentage (see Background).
- Age limit for detention
- SUZ's page for this facility says only people over 18 are held there. The SUZ annual report 2025 (p. 8), in its general description of the detention facilities, says only a person above the age of 15 may be detained.
- Status
- In use (status as at: 4 October 2026)Source: the SUZ page for this facility, accessed on the date shown.
- Opening
- On 22 July 2015 the Ministry of the Interior announced the start of preparatory works so that the area could again be used as a facility for the detention of foreigners. An earlier facility there had closed in 2005. The sources used here do not give the date it reopened.
- Position on the map
- Derived by us from the published address, not a point published by SUZ.
Background
SUZ's annual report for 2025 says that 74.3% of the 919 foreigners placed in detention that year were primarily placed at Balková. The report prints the number as 583, but 583 is 63.4% of 919. About 683 is 74.3% of 919, and it is also what remains after the 171 placed at Vyšní Lhoty and the 65 at Bělá-Jezová are taken from 919. The figure of about 683 is our reading of the report's own numbers, not a number the report prints.
Official finding: AIDA reports that in 2025, following an EU Schengen evaluation, Czechia was instructed to improve detention conditions at Balková by ensuring appropriate maintenance and a good state of repair.
Reported incidents
Each entry is attributed to the outlet or body that reported it and states the stage that was reported. Nothing here is our own finding, and no one is named as a suspect.
29 May 2017 · Reported
Echo24 reported that detainees barricaded themselves in a room around midday on Monday 29 May 2017. According to Echo24, two detainees began it and 13 others joined, about 15 in all. When police wanted to bring them out, they threw furniture and damaged equipment. Police units, including a tactical unit, ended it in under an hour. No injuries were reported and no charges were reported.
10 February 2023 · Reported
Novinky.cz reported that 13 detainees, from North Africa and reportedly from Morocco, who were awaiting removal, escaped on Tuesday 7 February 2023. Twelve had been caught again by the evening of Thursday 9 February. According to the report, police then put more officers on the site and added security measures. No charges were reported.
Sources
- SUZ: Balková facility for the detention of foreigners (official page, accessed 4 October 2026)
- AIDA, Czech Republic: 2025 update (June 2026)
- Refugee Facilities Administration (SUZ), Annual Report 2025
- Ministry of the Interior (archive), 22 July 2015: statement on preparatory works at Balková
- Echo24, 29 May 2017: report on unrest at the Balková facility
- Novinky.cz, 10 February 2023: report on an escape from Balková and extra police
official source
The Refugee Facilities Administration (SUZ) runs the state asylum facilities and also detention. Capacity and occupancy come from the AIDA Czech Republic 2025 update (June 2026), which received them from SUZ: capacity is for 2025, and occupancy by centre is for the end of 2024 because figures for 2025 were not available. Each is dated on this page. Capacity is a number of places and not a headcount, and the occupancy figures are not current. Addresses are from SUZ's page for each facility, and positions are derived from those addresses. The cost published is for the whole agency, CZK 939.8m in 2025, detention and other services included, so no site shows a cost. Incidents come from news outlets, the police or official reports, each named and dated, with the stage that was reported. A facility that works like detention is labelled so.