Valkyria must deport Romordian and Jakubian refugees, court says
A 2019 moratorium has hampered the government’s ability to accept refugees
Tove Jakobsdóttir (she/her), Chief politics writer
Saturday, 25 November 2023
Ravneby — The Immigration Court has issued a ruling against the Valkyrian government’s deferral to deport refugees coming from Romordia and Jakub, ordering the government to deport them as soon as possible, citing a five-year moratorium imposed by the Immigration Regulatory Act 2019 (IRA 19).
Valkyrian Prime Minister Steve Bennett, who has yet to publicly comment on the issue, had previously been adamant about repealing IRA 19, but resistance from the Populist Left to do just so has left the refugee moratorium in place, which is set to expire on 25 September 2024. Until then, Valkyria cannot accept refugees from any nation. Despite the moratorium, more than 100,000 people have been detained by the National Gendarmerie after crossing the Valkyrian maritime boundary in a developing Cordilian migrant crisis.
The ruling by the Immigration Court has been derided by human rights organisations who have stated that Romordians and Jakubians no longer have a stable home to return to. Meanwhile, The New Right and other anti-immigrant groups have praised the ruling, calling it a matter of the rule of law.
The Valkyrian government, which had been trying to avoid having to deport the refugees, must now comply with the ruling. Bennett and Foreign Minister Avianna Aldridge, both leaders of the Socialist Party and the Labour Party respectively, have reportedly been trying to find loopholes in Valkyrian law that would allow the government to sidestep the 2019 moratorium, but the Conservative government that passed the law ensured that the moratorium was absolute and without exception.
Behind the scenes, representatives from the Socialist and Labour camps have reportedly tried to persuade the Populist Left to join the rest of the Alliance of Social Democrats in repealing IRA 19 and the refugee moratorium, but those efforts were said to have been futile. With a 53-seat majority in the Storting and the Populist Left holding 81 of the government’s seats, the governing Alliance of Social Democrats cannot afford to lose the latter’s support because it would trigger the government’s collapse.
In Ravneby, the Valkyrian capital, duelling protests in support and opposition to taking in Romordian and Jakubian refugees have been waged for days. Recent polling conducted by the VKS earlier in November shows that the nation is evenly divided on the issue. For the first time since coming to power in July 2022, the left-wing government in Valkyria faces a critical test in having to take sides on a divisive issue.
However, the government itself has been divided on the issue. While there is consensus among the Socialists, Labour, Greens, and Pirates to repeal IRA 19, the Populist Left has not changed its position on the moratorium. Shortly after the ruling, Bennett called for an interparty meeting with the governing bloc’s leaders at the prime minister’s residence to decide the government’s next steps.
According to sources in the Utøvende, the prime minister does not have any plans to immediately deport the Romordian and Jakubian refugees present in Valkyria and hopes to find a solution that will see the country keep the refugees, but time is running out for the government to do just that.
In other news…
- Duelling protests in Ravneby challenge state of emergency curfew
- State of emergency: where isSvartedauden?
- The issues that Valkyrians will decide on Referendum Day 2024
