HagaMUN – 6,7 and 8 March 2020

 General Assembly 2Supporting the Economic Inclusion of Refugees (UNHRC)6th, 7th and 8th of March 2020Gymnasium Haganum, The HagueForum: GA2Issue:Supporting the Economic Inclusion of RefugeesStudent Officer:Rina Joyce Sulit Velasquez Position:Co Chair of GA2Introduction**Please note that in this topic the best resolution will be sent to the UNHRC Model Refugee Challenge. If chosen, the best resolution will be sent to the official UNHCR organization, may be taken into consideration during debate, and a reward will be given. For more information, delegates are invited to visit , for specific details.Whenever a certain nation might be going through a type of crisis, many displaced citizens will become refugees. Emergencies that have resulted in a mass exodus of refugees include the Syrian Civil War, the Yemen Emergency, the Rohingya Crisis or the current unstable government of Venezuela. An unknown reason that hasn’t been exposed in the media wholly, are climate refugees, where the reason for their departure emerge from environmental issues, such as extreme weather conditions or more specifically, the inhabitants of the country, Tuvalu.The largest introduction of refugees originate from the Syrian Civil War, where in 2015 it gained the largest concern of any refugee crisis thereafter. Many of these refugees travel by dinghy and chase upon their desire of new life. Generally, their arrival is at European nations or bordering countries where they are able to apply for refugee status as an asylum seeker. Once in such countries, many refugees struggle assimilating into their new ‘home’ becoming a newer, lower class in this unfamiliar location. Controversy arises when refugees generate complications in their new surroundings. For instance, the Paris attacks were conducted by two terrorists whomst carried artificial Syrian passports and were accepted as refugees or the rise in petty theft and rape in Sweden. These obstacles have made an increasing amount of citizens deter from supporting pro-refugee causes.The overwhelming amount of refugees globally exceeds 70 million, a large majority of our population. Despite the number of involved parties intensifying with, seemingly, no end, the United Nations has made this issue a top priority, and is constantly concerned with this matter.Definition of Key TermsRefugeesThis term refers to those individuals who were forced out of their current living situation due to war, violence, etc. They were forced into this arrangement and was ultimately their only choice. They are not to be confused with migrants who willingly depart.Economic InclusionThis term is concerned with the equal opportunity for all individuals regardless of race, gender, state, or any other individual cases. Their equality extends in all economic endeavors of a country, whether they are employers, employees, consumers or citizens. They are to be involved in the market economy and all roles associated with it: including access to limitless opportunities.Asylum SeekerThese people pursue safety in another host country. Therefore they apply for asylum in such nations, where they may receive protection and the legal rights as a refugee.Immigration Is a term that refers to the actions taken to become legal citizens in a nation other than their own.EmigrationOften used with the term immigration, it is essentially the opposite of the aforementioned act. Instead, it indicates the act of leaving a country permanently.Immigration IntegrationAs defined by the United Nations, “refers to the incorporation of new elements (immigrants) into an existing social system”. Stateless PersonThis individual does not belong in any country, thus not having citizenship anywhere. Their lack of nationality and protection is not tied to any given government, which arises complications in their legal human rights. When stateless, they may not be able to attend public schools, own property, attain marriage licenses, and operate other legal actions.Background InformationRefugee statusIn order to legally gain refugee status, individual parties must apply for the condition and await processing. In 2016-2016 alone 2.6 million applications were received for such status, and less than 60% were accepted. In 2014-2015, one million people were forced to leave the European Union and return to country of origin or apply elsewhere. Those rejected rose greatly from 1.4 million people to five million people in the span of five years in 2016. Aforementioned values are comparable to the United States, where there were 1.5 million individuals in 2011 to the colossal increase to three million in 2016, from simply only one nation. Yet, orders to retire weren’t met when less than 40% of individuals actually returned. Refugee integration into societyThis attempt relates to the Sustainable Development Goal 16 from the United Nations in 2016, which states “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all, and build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all level”. All around Europe, nations are unable to agree with the best way to aid refugees, thus having differing systems throughout. However all European Nations have established a guarantee of basic rights and access to the asylum procedures and protections. This arrangement discourages refugees from moving from nation to nation in Europe, and strays away from this complication. Social integration may specifically be concerned with education, employment, shared norms and contacts with inhabiting individuals. However, major disadvantages include the many mishaps of racism conducted towards refugees as they struggle through integration in a new environment; these actions may string from long standing xenophobia. From refugee camps A great conclusion over time, is the deviation from makeshift camps to unification into society. Rather they raised standards for assimilation into daily life in these countries. The way of living in these refugee camps may become dangerous, such as a camp in Calais, France which hosted 10,000 refugees, an overwhelming amount to stabilize. Nations that host refugeesSeen above is a graph highlighting host countries most responsible for housing refugees from 2017 to 2018 (numbers may vary today in 2020)Gratefully, many nations have opened their doors for refugees seeking asylum globally. The most impactful nations, as investigated by Amnesty International most recently, include Turkey with over 3.7 million refugees, Jordan with over 2.9 million refugees, Pakistan with over 1.4 million refugees, Uganda with over 1.1 million refugees, and Bangladesh, Iran and Ethiopia all with values almost at one million. Lebanon, in fact, houses 156 refugees per 1000 inhabitants, a high ratio that certainly is no small feat, others include 23 refugees per 1000 inhabitants in Sudan, 25 refugees per 1000 inhabitants in Sweden and 20 refugees per 1000 inhabitants in Malta. Countries such as Jordan, Sudan, and Iran are hardly recognized for their efforts, unlike more known countries like Germany. However, wealthier states have been seen to prearrange policies to decentivize refugee arrival; then hypocritically place responsibility of lack of refugee inclusion on other nearby nations. Economic impactIn the beginning, the major spending costs alert and worry nations as they must protect a larger majority of residents. However, it has been seen that in the medium term it has generated larger values of outputs, thus benefiting economic markets globally. In fact, GDP could be 0.2% higher in an European Union baseline, high skilled scenario. It will also improve unemployment levels, and is hoped to boost 0.3% of more employed people. However, if it is measured upon low skilled workers, values will depress at an only 0.1% increase by 2020. Seeing as both scenarios are at the two extremes, a midway balance may be the best way to consider the aforementioned statistics. However in both sequences of events the European Union improves, thus impelling EU nations to include refugees in their economic market systems. Working class asylum seekersOftentimes these groups of individuals are younger and are at the prime time for working class age. This benefits countries because they may contribute to the workforce. However, the aforementioned individuals are generally low skilled and in most cases lack the requirements for certain hiring professions. Therefore, only a limited amount are able to pursue such careers. Moreover, in Scandinavian countries such as Sweden or Norway, they have implemented programmes for an easier integration into employment for refugees. Around 70% of asylum seekers in total are in this age group and the influx of such a group have distorted the age distribution greatly. Their population has increased to 1.26 million people from 2014 to 2015; this mass group of people have only been growing as of late. Especially since, Europe has been known to have an aging population, where in the EU it is only 63% of their individuals are 16 to 65. Breakdown of refugees globallyIn a world of over seven billion people, as of right now, 70.8 million of our population are considered forcibly displaced worldwide. In essence, this calculates to 1 in 113 people are considered internally displaced, as a refugee or an asylum seeker. Over half of the aforementioned individuals originate from Syria, South Sudan and Afghanistan. However, in 2018, the greatest number of new asylum seekers hail from Venezuela where applications reached 341,800 people who wanted to escape the situation of Venezuela. These displaced beings range from all ages and groups, dishearteningly, over 90% of 15,140 children in the Mediterranean (2017) were travelling alone. In the same area and time, over 3,000 people lost their lives at sea trying to cross the Mediterranean, men, women and children alike.Major Countries and Organizations InvolvedUNHRC (The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees works specifically to aid refugees in any means possible globally. They currently are available for alleviation in 143 countries and have over 16,000 employed members in order to do so. They handle data of almost four million stateless people, although real world numbers may exceed theirs greatly. On their site, their main goal is stated as, “We work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge, having fled violence, persecution, war or disaster at home.”IOM (International Organization for Migration)Established in 1951, the International Organization for Migration (The UN Migration Agency), is an intergovernmental organization that works to provide services for refugees, displaced persons and asylum seekers. They were recently accredited as a related United Nations organization in September 2016. They are accessible to 173 countries and have offices in over 100 nations, they are truly available all over the world in times of conflict. Their observed components are between “migration and economic, social and cultural development, as well as to the right of freedom of movement.”TurkeyThe member state, Turkey, is identified as the most valuable country in regards for placing refugees in state. They hold the highest number of Syrian refugees and their count reaches millions. In fact, they have had only one case of a returned refugee, amongst 3.6 million refugees, 300,000 asylums seekers, and 100 stateless individuals. Alongside their own nation’s walls, they most recently, on the 15th of January, 2020, donated $300,000 to the UNHRC agency.Timeline of EventsDateDescription of event1947The International Refugee Organization is created following WWIIDecember 14, 1950UNHRC is established July 28, 1951The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees begins (The 1951 Refugee Convention)October 1967United Nations Convention and Protocol, Relating to the Status of Refugees is signed by 146 nationsMarch 15, 2011 - OngoingThe Syrian Civil War begins2015Beginnings of the Rohingya Refugee CrisisNovember 14, 2015Paris Attacks reveal that the terrorists were accepted as refugees with counterfeit Syrian passports2016UN Summit for Refugees and MigrantsRelevant UN Treaties and EventsThe Sustainable Development Goal 16 (SDG 16) pertains to the integration of refugees into society, more specifically the goal states, “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”Originating from the UNHRC, The 1951 Refugee Convention, is the key document for the whole basis of the organization. It was ratified by 143 countries and more specifically, constructs the internationally recognized definition of refugee, drafts the rights of displaced persons and the legal requirements given by the state.UN Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees is a treaty that oftentimes is used alongside the 1951 Refugee Convention. Signed on October 4 1967, it has been essential to confirming the collaboration of the 146 countries that have ratified the document.Listed below are relevant UN resolutions to this topic:New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, 3 October 2016 (A/RES/71/1)Format and Organizational Aspects of the international migration review forums, July 15 2019, (A/73/L.99)Modalities for the Intergovernmental Conference to Adopt the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, 22 January 2018 ((A/RES/72/244)Protection of Migrants, 17 December 2015 (A/RES/70/147)International Migration and Development, 19 December 2014 (A/RES/69/229)To see more United Nations related events, delegates may note such events specified in the timeline portion of this research report or may visit, assembly/resolutions/index.asp, to see the full list of all United Nations related resolutions.Previous Attempts to solve the IssueSince 2015, the past five years have been heavily implicated with aid and solutions for the refugee crisis. Mass numbers of organizations and specific individuals have poured their lives into this situation. Much progress has been made considering the severity of this issue, however the work is far from done.The Sustainable Development Goal 16, tackles rather a lot of topics, but their initiative in mind relates to refugees. As of right now, the SDG 16 as a whole has been ongoing for a couple of years with signs of clear improvement. They had recently published all progress reports in 2019 of nations’ achievements thus far. For example, as written by the secretary general in their progress report, “(Arab Region) The region is the origin of over half the world’s refugees (while also being home to one third of them). Youth unemployment in the Arab region exceeds 30 per cent, and reaches 48 per cent among young women.” Possibly the most influential and successful name in the refugee crisis is the UN organization the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. At present they work on a non-profitable $8.6 billion dollar budget as of 2019, a monumental growth from their original budget of $300,000. Since their establishment, they have supported the lives of 59 million refugees with numbers rising everyday. They are proven to be very effective; the traction and inspiring work they have done has made everything they do possible.Possible SolutionsDelegates should take into account the new social norms that are accustomed to the refugees’ unfamiliar setting. It would help strengthen social security and make refugees more comfortable with their new life. More specifically, social programmes for integration may be constructed with others in their same position, so that assimilation will not be done alone. These programmes may aid refugees in improving social relationships in the workplace.In order for refugees to better accustom themselves to their new setting, improved policies in protecting them against xenophobia will be of great importance. In company with an easier, simpler way for refugees to alert and communicate with an entity about discrimination in the workplace. They would closely work with the authorities to make sure that policies are followed through.Delegates may consider strengthening contracting laws and policies for hiring foreigners in their community. They should allow more leeway for them in order to incentivize and help refugees ease into their new environment; such laws may include better welfare.Statistics from the past have examined that there is a lack of high skilled and educated refugee workers, although they are at the ideal working age. If we were to better establish an educational programme for refugees it may be easier for them to encounter long term professions. This programme may provide advice on interviews, resumés or any job that may be lacking specific to each country. Better skilled workers in any country may impact the economic market more and supplement the nation’s GDP. However, it should be noted that low skilled jobs are essential to any society, and these roles still need to be attended to.Delegates are not limited to these examples and are encouraged to generate creative and new ideas for better debate!Bibliography“About IOM.” International Organization for Migration, 23 Jan. 2020, iom.int/about-iom.“EMIGRATE: Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary.” Cambridge Dictionary, dictionary.dictionary/english/emigrate.“Global Facts and Figures about Refugees.” Amnesty International, en/what-we-do/refugees-asylum-seekers-and-migrants/global-refugee-crisis-statistics-and-facts/.“Goal 17 .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations, United Nations, sustainabledevelopment.sdg17.Parry, Sarah. “Immigration.” Encyclop?dia Britannica, Encyclop?dia Britannica, Inc., 2 Oct. 2019, ic/immigration.“Refugee Statistics: Key Facts on Displaced People.” Help Refugees, refugees-statistics/.“Stateless Persons.” Icelandic Human Rights Centre, humanrights.is/en/human-rights-education-project/human-rights-concepts-ideas-and-fora/the-human-rights-protection-of-vulnerable-groups/stateless-persons.“Turkey.” Turkey | Global Focus, reporting.node/2544.United Nations. “Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.” UNHCR, en-us/protection/basic/3b66c2aa10/convention-protocol-relating-status-refugees.html.United Nations. “Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.” UNHCR, protection/basic/3b66c2aa10/convention-protocol-relating-status-refugees.html.United Nations. “Figures at a Glance.” UNHCR, figures-at-a-glance.html.United Nations. “Model UN Refugee Challenge.” UNHCR, model-un-refugee-challenge.html.United Nations. “Rohingya Emergency.” UNHCR, rohingya-emergency.html.United Nations. “Syria Emergency.” UNHCR, syria-emergency.html.United Nations. “UN Human Rights Committee Decision on Climate Change a Wake-up Call: UNHCR.” UNHCR News, .“What Is a Refugee? Definition and Meaning: USA for UNHCR.” Definition and Meaning | USA for UNHCR, refugee-facts/what-is-a-refugee/.Appendix or AppendicesDelegates are invited to view the links below to read more about the reason of displacement of refugees, such as the Rohingya Crisis or the Syrian Civil War. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download