Truman Schulte, Press Corps 5
KOSOVO INDEPENDENCE, Contemporary Crisis - A refugee crisis caused by bombings in Albania and Serbia and war in Macedonia have caused a refugee crisis displacing 400,000 Albanians and Serbians, and another 100,000 Macedonian people displaced. Serbia, Albania, and other neighboring countries want Kosovo to take most refugees. At the same time, the European Union heavily discourages Kosovo from taking many refugees as it believes it does not have the resources to take all of them. The bombings are partially blamed on the Kosovo government due to an unexploded bomb having a Kosovan flag on it.
The parliament made two referendums, one called Happy Independence Day and the other called Light in the Dark. Both referendums are similar, but the details between them vary.
The Happy Independence Day referendum proposes that Kosovo take in about 250,000 refugees and only from neighboring countries. The refugees would be put into different areas based on Language, with people being put in communities with higher amounts of Albanians, Serbians, and Macedonians, creating a joint coalition of Miliaty, Government, and Journalists to figure out who did the bombings. Kosovo would reach out to Non-Governmental Organizations to provide initial funding for the refugee camps and give refugees jobs in agricultural and tool-making trades.
Garman Kraja, a wartime reporter, empathizes that the Happy Independence Day directive would not bow down to the European Union and that the immigrant workers would increase trade and the economy of greater Kosovo.
The Light in the Dark referendum proposes about 300,000 refugees from bordering countries. The refugees would have tracking numbers and be placed into rural integration camps; expanding the size of the KLA would guarantee citizenship after about five years of service, and most of the refugee camp funding would be by neighboring Balkan countries and the United Nations. That would reduce dependence on European Union funding and strengthen the relationship between the Balkans and the European Union.
Edi Shukiriri points out that the lack of specificity gives a little leeway to keep neighboring countries on their side and not anger the European Union.
Sanije Alijaj of the Committee for the Rights and Indifferences believes that the tracking numbers and over-surveillance of the refugees would be inhuman and not morally right as they are already leaving their homes.
When the committee put these ideas to the vote, the vote ended in a tie, with eleven voting for and eleven voting against The Happy Independence Day and the Light in the Dark directives. The Under Secretary generals determined that the second directive put to the vote, the Light in the Dark, was chosen based on committee rules.