On the 1st of August, a 3-year-old prevision by the Department of Immigration Services expired without being renewed by the President. Originally established in the wake of the Mallacaland Civil War as tens of thousands arrived weekly in Slokais, the Emergency Status for Mallacaland Victims of War (ESMVW) allowed for a temporary stay on just a work visa until the prevision ended. However, with the Weasley administration refusing to renew the ESMVM, thousands still waiting for citizenship must either leave the country or become undocumented.
Aida Binti Arshad arrived with her two sons in September of 2022 after their home in rural Mallacland was destroyed by fighting. Her husband had already been working in San Jose since 2021, so Aida hoped the process toward citizenship would be simple. However, due to many Mallacans already having family in the country, the fast track for the relatives of citizens was delayed as thousands of applicants were in front of her. Aida began working at a Grocery store in the San Jose suburb of Daoxi Hills, where she said she sometimes faced discrimination and rude comments from customers and staff. Aida recalls that one day an older couple stopped her on her way to work and demanded her immigration papers. The local police were then called leading to a “tense couple of hours” as Aida was questioned despite qualifying under the ESMVM. “It was obvious they wanted to scare me,” Aida says. “Some people just don’t like immigrants”
Aida was eventually granted a hearing by the South San Fernando DIS Office. After reviewing prior documents from Mallacaland and reading personal testimonials from her employer, Aida was successfully granted citizenship in May of 2024 by order of a Judge. “I was so, so happy, even though this country always has not been the kindest, I am proud to be Slokasian”. However, many other Mallacans have not been so lucky, those unable to find work quickly or those who have received poor testimonials from employers are more likely to not receive citizenship and can either be placed on a short-term visa or flat-out ordered to return to Mallacaland.
Currently, there are estimated to be around 850,000 Mallacans in Slokais, about 150,000 lived in Slokais prior to 2021, and since then around 85,000 have become citizens mostly through the ESMVM process. However, with the end of ESMVM, Mallacans waiting on citizenship have defaulted to the standard non-working six month residency status. At the current rate of the process, it’s estimated to be well into the 2030s before all the ESMVM cases are met. This leaves thousands of immigrants with a choice, return home and face possible violence and political instability, or stay and avoid police detection and have to live as non-citizens.
In addition, Mallcans have faced discrimination from the public as far-right groups have called for mass deportation of “useless citizens”. In their eyes, the Mallcans are taking up valuable space within the social safety net and using all the benefits of a citizen without being citizens themselves. Recently, a protest occurred outside a large resort in Ciudad Esenavda, where an alleged Mallacan murder suspect was said to have worked. The protests turned violent after a large amount of the hotel staff were seen leaving with the suspect through a back entrance. Ultimately, Ciudad Esenavda Police cleared the suspect of any charges although it still didn’t stop online discourse against Mallacan workers.
Aida’s children have become an active part of their community, 13-year-old, Riayal has joined the youth program of a local football club while 9-year-old, Naseem is an avid reader and has been active with the local library. Aida and her children are no less Slokasian than any other family, yet sadly many just like them are not so lucky. Aida’s cousin who remains unnamed for legal protection has been forced into low-wage agricultural jobs due to being unable to secure a work permit. He has also been pressured to join a local gang as payment for his transfer into Slokais by smugglers back in 2022. These roles encourage stereotypes, yet will sadly have to be played by many Mallacans with the end of ESMVM.
Some local municipalities such as the City of Southland in New Liverpool had refused to carry out police action against those waiting on citizenship, a decision that has drawn threats from the executive branch-controlled Department of Immigration Services (DIS). Meanwhile, the parliamentary Ministry of Internal Affairs has expanded the number of caseworkers and judges to speed up the citizenship process, although processing is still conducted by the DIS.
