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Siden 1890 - Ribe, Torsdag den 8. juli
Refugee law sparks heated debate in the Lagting
- Pannonian crisis refugee status addressed
- Arbejderpartiet calls for a more pro-active approach
- Conservatives are conerned of the influx of refugees
The Pannonian Crisis and its social consequences seem to have a continent wide effect, as refugees as trying to leave the conflict zones for safety, with more and more trying to leave the nearby countries too, out of fear that the crisis will escalate in a fully fledged war between Tarusa, the Bajorans and the Rus on one side and Remion, Eiffelland, Westernesse, Zarans and Eugenians on the other. Some Pannonian refugees have found safety within the borders of the Holy Frankish Empire, but others, which have found partial safety in Remion and Eiffelland, are now preparing to move forward, out of the hellish path of war, as the latter two nations stand in direct opposition to the Tarusan Empire and the Rus' People's Republic, and the Csengian remnant. Those refugees are the ones who are hopping the pond from Eiffelland in the hopes of finding safety in Scania and thus bringing the debate in the Lagting to a boiling point.
Led by Erling Christensen, the Arbejderpartiet (Labour Party) caucus in the Lagting has submitted a bill that requested a more pro-active approach by Hvidish authorities and the nordic kingdoms to aid the Pannonian refugees, requesting an open doors policy that would welcome up to 300,000 refugees from the Pannonian conflict.
The bill, dubbed the Pannonian Refugees Bill, has been critiqued and condemned to extreme levels by members of the Lagting from the conservative alliance made of the Nationalt Korporatistparti (National Corporatist Party) and the Agrarunionen (Agrarian Union). The National Corporatists are standing against the bill as they state that such a great number, representing nearly 3% of the national population is too great an influx of residents for the nation to cope, especially when talking of the healthcare, welfare and education systems.
The Labour Party politicians are calling on the traditional nordic respect of human dignity, life and rights as they call for Hvids to aid the unfortunate Pannonians whose homes were destroyed and where life has been deemed to risky to live, so they had to move away from their homeland. On the other side, many of the more conservative members of the Lagting are calling for pragmatism, and while they too call for the respect of human rights and dignity, they state that currently, it is simply impossible for Hvidrige to incorporate and integrate such a large number of people in such a short time, without creating issues and problems for the Hvidish people.
"Currently, we see that Zarans, Eugenians, Franks and Serboves have been squashed under the Bajoran boot, and they wanted a way out. Now, with the Tarusans and Rus' readying themselves to enter the Pannonian basin and extinguish the light of liberty that the separatists have lit and are gathering around it. It is the duty of the Hvids, as a people which have always been keen on human rights, freedom and democracy to aid more unfortunate people and provide a safe haven for others," stated the shadow prime minister and chairman of the Arbejderpartiet, Erling Christensen.
"The labour politicians are trying to paint us as inhumane, portraying our natural concerns as willingness to abandon helpless people. Let us not go there. The Nationalt Korporatistparti has always been ready to defend the rights, dignities and even lives of people from all over the world, yet, we must be pragmatic and understand the environment we find ourselves in. We are here in the Lagting and in the Council of State as representatives of the Hvidish people and administrators of the Hvidish realm. Our duty here is first and foremost towards our people. We cannot flood our social and welfare infrastructure with a number as great as 300,000 new refugees. The only way to do that would be in the detriment of the services our own people can access. Even so, we won't turn our backs to the plight of the Pannonians. We will form a commission to discuss and analyse the matter at hand and see what a realistic number would be for Hvidrige to manage to receive," stated his excellency, Prime Minister Rasmus Jensen.