Democratic Times News Service, Queensgrace: The High Fellsian government has announced it will finance a major hospital development in Taragai aimed at treating those injured and displaced by the country’s civil war. The hospital, located near the town of Tariaraat in western Taragai, will be funded in whole by the Fellsian government’s international development agency, which will also provide construction materials and medical staff for the facility.
“The Tariaraat High Fellsian Medical Center represents our commitment to aiding the dispossessed and vulnerable—those suffering most from violence unleashed by the warring parties in Taragai,” said Fellsian Chancellor A. Francis Ryong at a sendoff ceremony for the nearly 60 doctors and nurses who will be sent to staff the hospital. “By providing cutting-edge care for Taragaians in need, we fulfill our commitment to constructive engagement with that nation’s people.”
Fighting between regime, monarchist, and rebel forces in Taragai have sent thousands fleeing their homes since violence began early this year. Although signs of a brokered peace led many to return to their homes, the resumption of conflict and the entrance of foreign militaries into the fray have displaced thousands, according to humanitarian groups. Border guards at High Fells’s Cheojin border crossing, the main entrance point for those arriving from Taragai, have reported record high crossing attempts in the month of December, the majority unregulated by High Fells’s overburdened immigration authorities. Although winter weather may reduce the number of refugees attempting to cross into High Fells, it is expected that numbers will rise again in the spring.
The prospect of refugees arriving from Taragai has already rattled Fellsian society, where it’s estimated that over one million economic migrants from Taragai worked as miners, domestic laborers, and service workers before fighting began. In border regions such as Cheojin, Taragaian faces are a common sight, spurring tensions as High Fells continues to battle with high unemployment and a sluggish economy.
In Cheojin last month, a “Say No to Taragaians” rally drew thousands to the city’s square as angered residents demanded a shutdown of Taragaian immigration. An attempted arson attack on a dormitory said to be hosting Taragaian refugees on December 18th also rattled nerves in the city, and across the country, where Chancellor Ryong’s government holds only a narrow and unwieldy legislative majority. Queensgrace’s attempts at talks with Xiomeran-backed monarchist forces in western Taragai, which control the area around the Fellsian border, in hopes of reducing the flow of refugees into High Fells have reportedly been rebuffed.
High Fells’s involvement in the civil war raging on its northeastern border has so far been limited, as the government appears consumed by the economic crisis domestically, including the third straight year of shortages of coal and heating oil during the Christmas season. As Misumi and Xiomera have announced that it would send soldiers to fight for rival factions in Taragai’s war, High Fells has kept the military in a peacetime state. Prior to the announcement of the Tariaraat hospital, High Fells’s involvement in the war had been confined to calling for a peace process and condemning unspecified “foreign actors” for their involvement in the conflict.
Aid groups have applauded High Fells’s pledge to build the medical center as a step towards rebuilding Taragai’s medical infrastructure and alleviating the humanitarian crisis. With workers and materials to be brought in via airstrip outside Tariaraat, the hospital is expected to begin admitting patients by the end of January—a rapid timeframe.
Reports from Queensgrace also indicate that the government appears open to taking steps towards joining the proposed Promethean Sea Council, an initiative led by Haesan to promote cooperation on economic and political affairs in Eastern Hesperida.
