An Address to the League of Continental Nations Regarding Resolution 004, the 1909 Resolution on Refugees, Presented by King Ingvar of Vinland
Applause greets the visiting head of state as he enters into the Leagues speaking chambers. Ingvar of Vinland steps up onto the stage. He wears a high-collared and badge-decorated royal blue naval uniform with a white sash and golden epaulettes. The mans hairline has receded slightly over a worry-worn brow, and though his red-tinged blond beard is speckled with grey, his blue eyes sparkle with intensity and purpose. The audiences applause fades as the King of Vinland steps onto the podium, clears his throat one final time and begins.
Respected representatives of the League of Continental Nations, I thank you for your welcome. We live in trying times, and it brings warmth to my heart to see so many working together with the earnest goal of forging a better future for the world.
Yet I am not here to praise. I am here to address a terrible event, one of the greatest catastrophes to ever befall modern Europe- the massive human displacement and ethnic cleansing taking place in Russian-annexed Poland. When I first became aware of the extreme and punitive measures taking place to pacify the population, I was immediately struck with a profound sense of alarm for the lives of these human beings, these fellow children of God. It was this sense of alarm, this sense of Christian duty that drove me to involve myself, my family and my nation with the welfare of the population.
It was through these firm beliefs and principles that I first set out on the path that has led me to where we all stand today. This path has led to many hardships, setbacks and difficulties, but never have I swayed from it, and so long as I am able I shall not stray from it in the future.
First, I sought out to halt the catastrophes in progress: the expulsion of the Prussians, and the brutality wielded as a political tool against the Poles. Through diplomatic channels I implored the Tsar to treat his new subjects with dignity becoming of a victorious conqueror and upstanding, pious king. Alas, it was and remains my personal failing that despite my best efforts, I was unable to change his heavy-handed methods of dealing with dissent.
At the task of preventing this catastrophe, we, as a collective of nations, have failed. Let us not congratulate ourselves on being great and noble, selflessly charitable, or worldly humanitarians. What we are doing now, in aiding the evacuation of the countless refugees, is as a direct result of our lack of strong action to protect the right of the displaced to continue living in the lands that have been their homes, and the homes of their ancestors, for centuries. Through this, we are beginning to make amends for our failure to protect the life, safety and homes of millions of people, for our failure to stand against what I believe to be a massive violation of the intrinsic rights of man, which are so fundamental to the function modern civilization.
However, despite the course of events that have led us to where we are now, nothing can take away from the great efforts being made by nations both in and outside of Europe to alleviate the unfolding crisis. This is a peacetime effort the scale of which I could have never imagined, now unfolding before our very eyes. Though we have not preserved the rights to a homeland held by the displaced, we have ensured that many of them will be able to find peace, land and prosperity anew.
In Vinland, our hardy people hail from all corners of Europe. They came from Scandinavia, the Russias, the German states and many other disparate countries. They fled wars, poverty, enslavement and famine, in search of peace, prosperity, unfettered liberty and new beginnings. So they did in the past, and so they shall do in the present. Hospitality is a rich virtue among the Vinlanders, and we are prepared to take in these refugees with open arms. We have done what is within our power to gather a transport fleet, sailing under the Vinlandic flag, to aid in this transportation.
At home, we have prepared for this influx with the massed construction of new homes across the nation. We have thrown open the gates to west, so that farmers may establish new homesteads in the vast prairies of the Vattenmark. We have built ever greater industries where labourers may find work in the great cities of Dammark and Nya Sverige. The fishing fleets of both the eastern and western coasts grow ever larger, and opportunities abound in the bustling cities in the heart of Vinland.
Across the world, it is my hope that all other nations intent on aiding those in need will make similar preparations. While may not act perfectly in hindsight, we act to the best of our abilities and knowledge in the present. It is critical to appreciate the magnitude and importance of what we are undertaking. Never before has such a humanitarian crisis faced the modern world, and I dearly hope that never again will we be tested with such a weighty responsibility.
May God protect the displaced, and may they be guided to better futures.