Chapter 538: Change of Policy
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Watching such a huge number of heads bobbing up and down in agreement, Emilia barely managed to suppress her amused smile as she pretended to clear her throat. "A-hem, another problem that no one seems to care about is what happens to people who have been forsaken by their own."
She paused, the amusement in her eyes fading away this time. "More often than not, those who dare to speak out against a corrupt system only manage to spark some small change on the larger scale, if that, but end up taking a severe backlash on a personal level."
Facing the silent crowd, Emilia knew that at least some of them must have recalled how they had suffered under the suppression of the previous government. And worse, none of them could even flee if they wanted to, impoverished as they already were.
The crimson-haired girl sighed. "A few of them do manage to flee in time, but unfortunately, there aren't many places for them to go." She frowned. "If they are rich and well connected, it's still somewhat fine. They can use their own resources to negotiate and come to terms with some place that might be willing to offer them refuge, but what of the others?"
This was the most demanding task thrown her way by the prime minister of Phoenix in exchange for helping her out in Alexander's case, and even Emilia had to consider accepting it very carefully.
After all, not everyone who fled from their own governments did so for pleasant reasons, and filtering the ones that needed to be turned away from those who really needed to be sheltered was an extremely sensitive process with a lot of risk factors.
To make matters worse, it was also a surefire way to sour relationships with many, with little to no benefit in return.
It was clear why even with the vast influence Bellatrix had in Phoenix, she knew she couldn't implement this type of policy in her own country. After all, even if she proposed a bill like this, there was no way it would pass the elected assembly.
But Emilia was different. She was the Empress of Blue Dawn, deeply loved and adored by her people, and she could do whatever she wanted.
Of course, the crimson-haired girl didn't agree to it right away, but since Bellatrix was willing to meet all her conditions even after she made significant changes to her request, Emilia finalized a version of the 'refugee' policy that she personally felt wouldn't hurt her empire in the long term as long as she handled things well.
Turning her eyes from the crowd to the main camera, the crimson-haired beauty smiled. "Today, as the Empress of Blue Dawn, I would like to say this to every such person in this world."
"Those who are no longer welcome anywhere else and can make their way over here, you can come and will be sheltered." She paused. "But beware that you will also face a trial for your crimes in Blue Dawn."
Emilia smiled. "During your trial, your movements will be a little restricted, but once it's over, you can be sheltered and protected by the Empire if you're cleared."
Her smile faded away. "If you are judged to be someone who is either too much of a risk to be allowed to mingle with our people, or someone who needs to be put to justice first, you will be free to make a choice. Either accept it… or leave."
Naturally, the implication was that anyone who had nowhere else to go could freely come and try their luck with Blue Dawn without any fear of repercussions.
After all, if they didn't like where it was going in the end, they could always leave, couldn't they?
Of course, Emilia was well aware that doing it this way will greatly increase the load on her empire's judicial system, but she'd already consulted with both Noelle and Crystal about it.
According to them, after the initial influx of cases that had been pending from the previous government, a large part of their judiciary body was only working an hour or two a day at most, and could easily take double or even triple the load without being stressed.
Plus, with the empire's court hearings being so expedited due to not being encumbered by thousands of conflicting rules and laws, even the cost of each case was actually quite minimal.
The occasional fines and punishments they handed, while only a fraction of what some of the other countries did, still ended up being many times more than what was needed to make the justice system in Blue Dawn work, even with all the salaries of the judges and staff being taken into account.
But obviously, all of this was only true to a certain extent. Both Noelle and Crystal agreed that if their current workload were to be increased by more than ten times, the judiciary will slowly but surely start to build a backlog.
And if each case started taking weeks or even months, the somewhat informal and expedited approach that the empire had might soon become extremely unreliable.
That was why, after careful consideration, Emilia also added the guideline that domestic cases would always be given priority, and only excess resources of the judiciary would be used when available to handle the refugee cases.
The crimson-haired girl was relieved to see that the crowd didn't seem upset by her admittedly somewhat radical decisions, and was even happily accepting it all.
She couldn't help but sigh. 'Such good children… I really have to do my best to take care of them as long as I can…'
Fortunately, she'd already prepared something good for everyone, to soothe the pain from what she had expected would be a bitter pill.
"Lastly, I also wanted to make a few changes to how our clinics and hospitals work." She paused. "I know all the doctors and nurses have already been working diligently and sincerely, but I believe we can have a system where the patients and their families don't have to suffer so much, without being unfair to those who practice medicine."
After pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts, Emilia smiled. "I don't think it should cost someone an arm and a leg to fix a broken finger. So from this day forth—"
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