The Centre started its activity on 11^th May 1993. The impetus for establishment was driven by the actions of the students from the Department of Humanities and European Studies, who visited the USA in 1992, and met Czechoslovak compatriots and exiles there. In 1993, a research and documentation centre for the study of Czech-Slovak exile was established. The centre has a scientific enquiry function, which it performs through research projects, grants and support for citizens. The centre cooperates with other professional institutions, including national organisations, associations, as well as with scientific institutions, and individuals.

After its establishment, the centre had several goals that it tried to fulfil. The first was systematically processing the history of Czechs and Slovaks who emigrated from Czechoslovakia, with an emphasis put on emigrants after 1948. Since 1995, the centre has been involved in solving several grant projects: the Czechoslovak exile policy after 1948, the Czech expatriate community abroad together with the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore from the Academy of Sciences in the Czech Republic, Czechoslovak Exile in 1948 - 1989, research on emigration from Czech lands in the Modern Age, and others.

The archive of the centre was temporarily moved between 2016 and 2018 due to the reconstruction of the building, and in 2018 it was moved back to the History Department at Olomouc University, and a large inventory of archived records was planned.