"Not On My Doorstep" Campaign

In the years leading up to the city of Occrea gaining independence, citizens of Crel Onar's surrounding regions began a campaign against Occrea accepting immigrants from other planets. While the campaign never achieved its goal of preventing aliens living in Occrea, it did however prove a major factor in Occrea's move to become independent.

The Conflict

Prelude

Occrea was a big and powerful city in the nation of Crel Onar, home to about a third of the country's population. While Crel Onar did not accept interplanetary refugees, Occrea had the legal right to accept any foreign immigrant they chose. When they began accepting extraterrestrial refugees, only a minority of Occrean citizens protested, but it was hugely unpopular in the rest of the country.
One major contributing factor was that the central Crel Onar government had to fund the settlement of all refugees, even ones they wouldn't have chosen to accept, which of course came out of the taxpayer's pocket. An anti-immigration culture in the rest of Crel Onar already existed but was growing, thanks in part to government propaganda. On the back of this the "Not On My Doorstep" campaign was launched.

Deployment

The campaign began as a simple door-to-door petition signing in Bel Ono, one of Occrea's neighbouring minor cities. More than half of the population of Bel Ono was made up of people who had chosen, or their ancestors had chosen, to move away from the other small cities and settlements which had been swallowed up by Occrea as it had expanded, rather than become Occrean citizens. The petition gained over a hundred thousand signatures and was submitted to the Crel Onar government. However the government were powerless to act on its demands to send all aliens packing.
Another petition began, this one online and gaining millions of signatures. This one was directed at the Occrean government, demanding they comply with their nation's regulations. The government responded with a diplomatically worded but very firm reply outlining their legal position and their moral duty to provide for people who had lost literally their entire world.
Recognising that a different approach was needed, the campaigners moved from petitions to more direct action.

Battlefield

Delegations of activists moved to Occrea. One group positioned themselves outside key official buildings, making as much noise as possible. Other groups sought out areas populated by alien refugees and began making trouble for them, mostly by way of graffitti and vandalism of the residences in question. When one group was rounded up and arrested, another simply took their place. Initially the actions weren't violent in nature, but things soon took a darker turn.

Conditions

When personal attacks on aliens began, the Occrean government, having already appealed to the central government and got no action in return, closed down all entrances to the city to try to prevent any more activists getting in and sought legal advice on the strongest action they could take against the perpetrators without central support. The Crel Onar government made a statement condoning the violence in one breath and condoning the illegal cordoning off of the city in another.

The Engagement

With the Occrean government's hands tied legally, the perpetrators got off with minimal charges, and some vigilantes in the city decided to take matters into their own hands. The Miners Town Brawl resulted in several deaths on both sides and made global news. The government of Deyfenny reached out to Occrea to offer prevention support in problem areas, and deployed military personnel to aid the Occrean law enforcement. This did not go down well with the Crel Onar government but they made no public criticism.
Word reached the Republic of Ors through some of the extraterrestrial refugees of the situation. At the time, the planet of Naldu had no official capital, and a bid to declare Occrea as such was opposed by too many other Naldu countries and subsequently failed. However the Republic was able to legally justify making their own charges against activists who had committed violent crimes against any citizens of any planet in, or diplomatically connected to, the Republic. As a result, most of the perpetrators who were still in Occrean custody were given harsh prison sentences. Unusually, these were carried out in Occrea rather than in the Republic, in consideration of the fact that this was the first time in history that an alien goverment had interfered with a legal situation on Naldu.
Most of the activists who had avoided capture or had not been able to be charged under the Republic's law figured now was a good time to leave the city and regroup. A few remained, and within days of their comrades' sentencing, an innocent Occrean citizen--not an alien, but a native Ecrel with a facial disfigurement and skin condition--was brutally murdered.
At this point the Crel Onar government finally stepped in and declared that any member of the campaign who did not leave Occrea within forty-eight hours would be charged with accessory to murder and suspected terrorism. They also dropped legal proceedings against Occrea for closing their borders. Members of the campaign were warned that any further illegal activity would be considered an act of terrorism and charged accordingly.
Most of those who had not already withdrawn their support for the campaign when the violence began did so following the statement. The originators of the campaign, which had been continuing putting pressure on the politicians all this time, made statements condoning the violence and appealing to all supporters to stick to the law. However one of them was subsequently identified as directly involved in the Miners Town Brawl, and was the first to be arrested on the terror charge. However they got away with an accessory to murder charge instead considering the declaration about terrorism had been made after the event.
The remaining supporters continued demanding political action but no more violence occurred. Soon after, negotiations began to declare Occrean independence. Although this wasn't the outcome that the campaign had intended, most Crel Onar citizens considered it an acceptable outcome, since it would mean strict border control and their taxes wouldn't be involved in alien immigration. Over time the campaign slowly fizzled out.

Outcome

A year or so after the campaign ended, an official working in Crel Onar's government turned out to have been a supporter of the campaign for its entire duration. The scandal resulted in their immediate dismissal and severely disrupted the ongoing independence negotiations, which were delayed by months.

Aftermath

From time to time, an individual or small group has attempted to restart the campaign, but Crel Onar turned their gift for propaganda on them and it quickly disappeared.

Historical Significance

Legacy

Monuments to victims of the activists can be found in Occrea. The one in Miners Town has proved controversial since it marks only the event and not the individuals who died. The reasoning being that those who died were all either activists themselves or those who tried to take the law into their own hands, neither of which should be officially condoned.
As Crel Onar surrounds Occrea, one of the terms of negotiation was that aliens could travel through it to reach other countries where they were allowed to stay. For decades only a handful of aliens were brave enough to do so, but over the centuries the hostility gradually diminished and now most feel safe doing so.
Governments of Crel Onar since Occrea's independence have striven to break away from the country's image of an insular dictatorship that turns a blind eye to injustice. While they still have very strict immigration laws, they are very welcoming to visitors, even from other planets. A little of the historical attitude still remains in some rural areas, which foreigners of all types tend to avoid, but otherwise the society is considered a lot more evolved than their anti-alien ancestors.