THEY'RE COMING DOWN
US and Nineteen Other Nations Approve Temporary Asylum
GENEVA - After nearly a week of deliberations, proposals, and furious debate, a tentative asylum plan for the Colonization Fleet has been put ratified.
"In light of the enormous challenges before the Race colonists, both technical and otherwise, it is for the well-being of all involved that a portion of the Fleet be given the opportunity for temporary asylum on Earth," declared UN Secretary-General Rey Diaz, upon the ratification of the new directive. "For the pursuit of peace and prosperity of the peoples of Earth,
all peoples, we must greet these newcomers with an outstretched hand, not a fist."
While the safety of the Race Colonization Fleet, which carries with it a hundred million settlers, was guaranteed with the signing of the World Armistice more than twenty years ago, this directive represents a new step forward. In the two decades since the war, the topic of allowing Race settlers on Earth has been a subject of intense debate, and only now has any solid agreement been made.
The primary reasoning behind granting temporary asylum seems to be one of technical matters. According to preliminary examinations by the IGDF, as well as statements from the commanding staff of the Colonization Fleet, the Race starships are not in suitable condition for a return trip to Home.
"If we were to send them back now, we would almost certainly be sending a hundred million people to their deaths," says Admiral Nguyen of the IGDF. "If we make them return to Home without giving them a chance to repair their life support and shielding, we would be complicit in the largest genocide in the history of the world. Any world."
As for why at least some settlers must be allowed asylum on Earth while the repairs are underway, Nguyen's answer is comprehensive.
"Those crypods have been running continuously for about fifteen years, once you consider time dilation. That's a long time for a complicated piece of machinery to be operating without being repaired. The fact that none broke down is a miracle in itself. If they want to return Home, those pods need to be given a considerable overhaul, and if anyone wants to fix those pods, they have to wake up the people inside. That means possibly millions of Race settlers being woken up in clumps while their pods are repaired, and the ships' life support systems just can't take that stress for the weeks it might take to repair the pods."
As for how the transfer of asylum-seekers will be processed, those matters fall not only on the receiving nations, but on the Race itself.
"Many colonists are, naturally, perturbed by the situation they have awoken to," said Fleetlord Atvar. Atvar, who has unofficially superseded the commanders of the Colonization Fleet, spoke shortly after Rey-Diaz's announcement. "Perhaps no other members of the Race have endured so great and so sudden a shock as these colonists. To ensure their well-being, I have decided that only volunteers will be allowed to live on Earth while the repairs are made."
The Fleetlord went on to describe the Patronage Policy, an emergency doctrine that was developed over the past three weeks. Its stipulations, as iterated by Atvar, are as follows:
All colonists who wish to volunteer for a stay on Earth must first read a hundred-page report, written by a multi-species committee, that details the events of the war and its aftermath, as well as brief histories of humanity and the fithp. This report, while officially known as "A Preliminary Introduction to the Current Race-Tosevite-Jarasevite Situation", has already earned the nickname "The Lizard's Guide to the Galaxy".
After a comprehensive exam to determine if the colonists have read and understood the report, the colonists will be allowed to read letters sent by the eponymous patrons- veteran troopmales of the Conquest Fleet, who shall describe their personalities and living situations to the colonists, as well as expound further upon the host nation.
Upon selecting a patron, the colonist in question shall write and send their own letter, detailing their own personality and concerns. Should the patron find them agreeable, he shall then accept them as a tenant in his home. The patron's responsibility includes directing the colonist to orientation seminars, guiding their research into the local nation, and to otherwise help them integrate into the community.
Already, it has been reported that nearly five hundred thousand patrons have signed up for the program, spanning the twenty nations who have agreed to accept colonists for temporary asylum. According to Fleetlord Atvar, the first arrivals will begin next week.
Nevertheless, the UN directive and the Patronage Policy have faced criticism, from members of all five species on Earth.
"Imagine if the Aztecs had been victorious over Pizarro," says Ambassador Ye Han of the People's Republic of China, whose nation did not agree to accept asylum-seekers. "They would have saved their people from slavery and genocide, a total end to their civilization. Why override that victory and allow themselves to be colonized when the civilian Europeans come, just because the murderers will otherwise die?"
"Personally, I think it's feeding azwaca to the befflem," claims former landcruiser commander Pistuluv. "Can you imagine those sick fucks who've spent twenty years terrorizing us, salivating at the thought of fresh meat? And even if they don't get directly hurt, I can't imagine those sheltered egg-chewers in the Colonization Fleet lasting more than two weeks before they all need to visit the psych wards."
Despite the concerns, support for the directive has been found across the world, from heads of states to everyday citizens. Already, a charity program, named "Housewarming", has been opened on the internet, with over ninety-thousand people donating trinkets, media, and other gifts for the incoming Race settlers.
"These people aren't soldiers," says Julian Cho, the founder of the charity. "They haven't done anything wrong to us, so we shouldn't do anything wrong to them. The war was twenty years ago, and it should stay in the fucking past. I don't wanna go back to that time. Do you?"
"It's a big universe out there," says former Herdmistress Mamta Joshi. "If we want to be the peaceful and prosperous people across the stars that we have dreamed of becoming, we need to act like it. And where does that start? Here."
Regardless of whose concerns of valid, it is clear that once the first settlers arrive, the worlds will never be the same.
