[Lauchenoiria]

Kerlian News Service

International Edition

Emigration Reform Act passed in historic unanimous Council decision
8th April 2020

The Council of Kerlile has today unanimously passed the Emigration Reform Bill, which legalises emigration from Kerlile, and grants amnesty to all those who have been convicted or suspected of committing the crime of illegal emigration. It will allow thousands of Kerlian citizens abroad to return home, if desired, and will also lead to the release of an unknown number of prisoners. The bill will also allow Kerlian citizens to travel abroad for the purpose of tourism or emigration, and increases the budget for Kerlian embassies across the IDU.

In what came as a shock to almost everyone across the Matriarchy, all ten Councillors voted in favour of the bill, including Councillors Patel and Pierre, who had previously been strong opponents to the original bill proposed in August, which was scrapped after the Trivian hack on Kerlian communications systems. Speaking to KNS after the passage of the bill, Councillor Patel said that “numerous events in the past six months” had contributed to her change of heart on the emigration question.

Councillor Natalia Hart, who sponsored the bill, addressed the nation after the vote, saying: “for too long, we have allowed fear to govern our policies. Fear of the patriarchy, fear of the past, fear of others… and even fear of ourselves, and our own people. It is wrong of us to impose restrictions on the people of Kerlile as a response to that fear. And it is against our own founding principles to allow nations like Trive to prevent us from working to make things better for our people.”

She went on to explain the provisions of the legislation, and finished with: “this is why we have chosen today to place our trust in the people of Kerlile. We should not keep people here by force – if Kerlians do not want to live in Kerlile, that is our failing and only shows that we must change our policies. Though it has taken us a long time to get here, it is time we on the Council put our trust in you, as we ask you to put your trust in us. Things are going to change in the Matriarchy, and this is only the beginning.”

Under the new legislation, Kerlians travelling abroad are required to register their destination and purpose before leaving, but there is no restriction on what purposes are allowed. People will be allowed to travel regardless of gender or destination. The one exception to this is a temporary ban on travel to and from Shuell, as a result of the adenovirus outbreak in that nation. It is unknown as of yet how many Kerlians will choose to leave in light of this change, or how many currently abroad will choose to return.