Head Chair: Dominic Busch Vice Chair: Rena Cohen Moderator: Jacob Coleman
Position papers will be due on February 5th, 2021. The position paper format, and all other important conference documents, can be found on our conference website, http://lhhsconference.weebly.com/. Email all position papers to our committee email:[email protected] Feel free to contact us via email if you have any questions or concerns!
Greetings delegates! My name is Dominic Busch and I will be your head chair. I am currently a senior at LHHS and have been a part of MUN for all four years of my high school experience. At school I have been on the water polo and swim team for all my time at lhhs, hoping to continue swimming in college. I also have been a part of many clubs such as FCA. When I am not working on school work I enjoy going to the gym, swimming, or playing video games with my friends.
Hello delegates, my name is Rena Cohen and I will be your vice chair for our annual conference. I am currently a junior, and I have been involved in MUN since 7th grade. Outside of school, I love to play tennis, guitar, and hang out with friends. I also run a debate club at LHHS called JSA and I have been president for the past 2 years.
Hi delegates! My name is Jake Coleman, and I am a junior here at LHHS. I have been a part of the MUN program since 9th grade, taking a break last year, and I am very excited to return and have the privilege to be your moderator this year. While School keeps me pretty busy, my favorite things to do include working out, hanging out with friends, and going to the beach in my free time and on weekends. In addition, I have wrestled for 5 years now and hope to place high up in the state, if there is a season this year or next.
Topic A: Human Rights of Refugees
Background: Human rights is defined as “basic freedoms which should be enjoyed by all despite race, ethnicity, interests, or any other defining features”. In the global arena, human rights are recognized as the standard of behavior, but due to the declining political and social status of many countries, and despite international law, refugees are, in many cases, unprotected by a stable nation, and fall victim to serious human right violations/abuses. In situations of war and conflict, many are forced to flee their homes in fear of prosecution or other seemingly dangerous conditions. Many take little to nothing with them, and lack the money and resources to regain their way of life. In the midst of all of their hardships, they are often denied the right to seek asylum due to their cultural beliefs, ethnicities, educational status, and fear of their designated nation. Refugee camps are regularly accepting refugees in need of a temporary living environment, but refugees in many cases have stayed there permanently with no foreseeable future in their current nation and lack a nation willing to take them in. In addition, these camps are often unsanitary and over populated. It is also widely recognized that most refugees and asylum seekers have faced some form of torture in their lives, and must receive special attention as a result of such injuries. In December of 2018, the UN Human Rights Office published a report talking about the rual conditions that Lyberian Refugees face including, “Unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary detention and unlawful deprivation of liberty, rape and other forms of sexual and gender-based violence, slavery and forced labour, extortion and exploitation by both State and non-State actors.” Essentially, refugees are in need of assistance from stable nations willing to grant them basic human rights and freedoms. This has become even more clear now, with the rise of Covid-19, in which many refugees are at more risk than the average population. Considering the poor infrastructure and living conditions of many refugee camps, it is more important than ever to help these refugees survive through the pandemic which has taken away many of their incomes.
UN Involvement: The United Nations clearly addresses that the human rights of refugees should be held to a standard. To aid refugees in any way possible, the UN established the UNHRC to help displaced refugees find asylum, as well as set the guidelines for basic human rights. Through this, the UN Declaration of Human Rights was established. According to the UN Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14, every refugee has the right to seek and enjoy asylum. In addition, the rights of refugees, according to the UN, include freedom of religion, expression, and freedom from torture. However, the 1950 Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees concluded that persons involved in serious crimes of war, or any actions that oppose the ideals of the UN, should not enjoy the standards of Article 14 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Moving on, the UN also allies with numerous NGOs and corporations to allow refugees to enjoy basic human rights. NGOs such as the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have aided the UN in helping refugees enjoy basic human rights, including support for refugee camps. Overall, the UNHRC has set the guidelines for human rights, and it is doing all it can to ensure that refugees enjoy these rights.
Country Blocs African Group: The African Group generally has been in favor of taking in refugees despite its lack of resources. This bloc believes that these distressed people can’t simply be turned away with nowhere to go. However this attempt at help has now greatly threatened many african nations due to the ever present threat of Covid-19. Covid-19 has caused a mass reduction in support from the World Food Programme due to fear of infection. This has caused many refugees, who are already in cramped locations, to begin to starve as well. This shortage on supply lines has damaged the food market, causing prices to rise and refugees to look for ways to obtain any small bit of food.. This has greatly hurt the African Group due to the large amounts of refugees indeed.
Asia Pacific Group: The APC believes that joint advocacy, capacity strengthening, resource sharing and outreach are the keys to ensuring the rights of refugees and settling them until they can return to their homes. The APC wants to help these people with a group effort. Of the 3.5 million refugees in Asia most of them come from Afghanistan and Myanmar. Asia being close to these two nations has served as a safe house for the people of these nations for many years. However with the rise of Covid-19, many refugees are residing in extremely crowded camps, with a high chance of becoming infected with covid due to the poor infrastructure and lack of healthcare these refugees have.
Eastern European Group: The EU is currently trying to enforce a containment policy on refugees in Libya. In addition, the EU took in half the number of refugees in 2017 than it did in 2016. Overall, this block is very anti-immigrant, and has little interest in protecting the rights of refugees. Refugees usually require a lot of government aid in order to take them in which the EU simply has not been willing to give away. In order to stop these refugees from coming to the EU it would be very beneficial to alleviate areas of high conflict, therefore, eliminating issues that create refugees can solve the issue. Europe does not see it as their responsibility to grant rights like asylum to all refugees. This feeling of being against the intake of refugees has increased with the rise of Covid-19, leading to strong anti refugee sentiments.
Latin American And Caribbean Group: This bloc has always had a helpful hand in the field of human rights. In order to make refugees feel more accepted and safe, this bloc finds it crucial to help ease racial tension and avoid discrimination.. Many refugees are generated in Mexico due to government corruption and poor quality of life. Many of these refugees feel they are denied human rights. This has become more prevalent with the Covid pandemic sweeping many nations, driving up prices and decreasing the amount of available jobs, placing many refugees in situations in which they have no way to support themselves. This has also led to some governments banning any intake of refugees as to protect the individuals who already live in a nation. Western European and Other Groups: Western Europeans are very opposed to refugee immigration much like Eastern Europeans. This bloc sees refugees as leeches and a threat to the economy. Western Europeans do not wish to accept refugees; however, they don’t necessarily encourage violating rights of refugees 150,000 refugees were accepted in 2017 which is around half the amount expected in 2016. Western Europeans believe they must put their own citizens before refugees. This sentiment has increased with the rise of Covid-19 as refugees have been found to be more at risk of Covid-19 due to their living conditions and low income. This danger has caused anti refugee sentiments to rise due to the pandemic.
Questions to consider:
How has Covid-19 impacted your nation’s view on refugees?
How do the human rights of a refugee differ from the human rights of others residing in stable nations?
Is it ever appropriate for a nation to deny the right of asylum to a one seeking it?
What can be done to assure refugees aren’t denied their basic rights?
How does/what type of discrimination often leads to the denial of human rights to refugees?
Where (what countries) have rights of refugees been violated?
How can a nation protect refugees from Covid-19 while protecting their own citizens?
Sources:
“Refugee Rights.” Human Rights Watch, www.hrw.org/topic/refugee-rights.
“Asylum & the Rights of Refugees.” International Justice Resource Center, 2 Aug. 2019, ijrcenter.org/refugee-law/.
“STUDY GUIDE: The Rights of Refugees.” Study Guide - The Rights of Refugees, hrlibrary.umn.edu/edumat/studyguides/refugees.htm.
Schwartz, Eric. “Protecting the Human Rights of Refugees and Other Forced Migrants: Challenges at Home and Abroad.” Refugees International, Refugees International, 19 Sept. 2019, www.refugeesinternational.org/reports/2019/9/19/protecting-the-human-rights-of-refugees-and-other-forced-migrants-challenges-at-home-and-abroad.
“Refugee Protection.” Human Rights First, www.humanrightsfirst.org/topics/refugee-protection.
Dunn, Elizabeth Cullen. “The Failure of Refugee Camps.” Boston Review, 24 Nov. 2015, bostonreview.net/editors-picks-world/elizabeth-dunn-failure-refugee-camps.
Alejandro Moreno, MD. “Human Rights Violations and Refugee Health.” JAMA, JAMA Network, 7 Mar. 2001, jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1844137.
World Legal Information Institute (WorldLII), www.worldlii.org/.
“USA: ‘You Don't Have Any Rights Here.’” Amnesty International, www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2018/10/usa-treatment-of-asylum-seekers-southern-border/.
“UN Releases Report on Human Rights Abuses of Migrants and Refugees in Libya (December 20, 2018).” ASIL, www.asil.org/ILIB/un-releases-report-human-rights-abuses-migrants-and-refugees-libya-december-20-2018.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. “As COVID-19 Pandemic Roils Latin America, Venezuelans Face Wave of Evictions.” UNHCR, www.unhcr.org/en-us/news/stories/2020/10/5f6929854/covid-19-pandemic-roils-latin-america-venezuelans-face-wave-evictions.html.
Pack, Jason, et al. “Migration Trends in Eastern Europe during COVID-19.” Middle East Institute, 20 Nov. 2020, www.mei.edu/events/migration-trends-eastern-europe-during-covid-19.
“COVID-19 and Refugees in Asia: A Crisis Waiting to Happen.” Home - Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office for Regional Cooperation in Asia, www.fes-asia.org/news/covid-19-and-refugees-in-asia-a-crisis-waiting-to-happen/.
“Refugees in Africa 'Even More Vulnerable than Ever' amid COVID Crisis | | UN News.” United Nations, United Nations, news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1068021.
“COVID-19: Ensuring Refugees and Migrants Are Not Left Behind.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 16 Apr. 2020, www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/health-determinants/migration-and-health/news/news/2020/4/covid-19-ensuring-refugees-and-migrants-are-not-left-behind.