UNHCR UN High Commision for Refugees

UNHCR UN High Commision for Refugees Ensuring The Rights Of Displaced Persons Post-Crisis Refugee Rehabilitation

Delegates and Faculty, I d like to welcome you to UCI s 25 th annual High School Model United Nations Conference. My name is Sarah Ahmad, and I am proud to serve as the Secretary-General for UCIMUN s 25 th anniversary. As per tradition, the conference will be hosted at UCI s Student Center, the hub of our beautiful and eco-friendly campus. Here at UCI, we strive to provide an enriching environment through competitive debate at both the novice and advanced level, with a strong emphasis on the educational gain of the students. UCI is proudly recognized as a research university; one that fosters culturally aware students, both connected to the global community and passionate about the state of global affairs. We hope to capture this drive towards advancement and amity through our conference theme this year, Pursuing peace and security in today s global landscape. All of our topics feature an emphasis on current events, from the ongoing Middle Eastern refugee crisis to the war on terrorism in today s modern scene. Our staff s goal is to not only provide delegates with high quality debate, but also with an opportunity to immerse themselves in intellectual discussion of issues that are relevant to the community around them. The committees will revolve around the attainment of peace and security in areas such as public health, humanitarian crises, as well as large-scale crime. Our theme will allow delegates to research relevant topics that will better their understanding of the current state of world affairs, as well as help them brainstorm fresh, creative solutions that are applicable to these recent issues. My staff has been working tirelessly towards conference preparations and we can t wait to see you all conference weekend! The hard work, dedication, and research that has gone into preparation thus far will only be furthered with the insightful opinions and discourse that is to come from our delegates. I encourage delegates to look beyond these documents, and to approach their topics not just as a mode for comprehensive debate, but as real world issues in need of feasible, pragmatic solutions. Best Regards, Sarah Ahmad Secretary-General UCIMUN 2016-2017 2 U C I M U N

Greetings Delegates! My name is Vidhi Bhatia and I am your Under-Secretary of Mains! I am very excited to meet you all in April, and I am sure that this conference will be an amazing experience for us all. Let me begin by introducing myself. I am a fourth year student at UCI and I am a double major in International Studies and Political science, with a focus in international organizations and diplomacy. This is my second year with UCI MUN, last year I was the director for UNICEF at this conference. This year our committees are DISEC, UNODC, UNHCR, and WHO. This year our theme is Peace and Security, both extremely important in our current times. Throughout this conference, we encourage all delegates to think not only about their own nation s affairs, but of your nation s role in the world as well. Peace and security are an integral part of every person s life on this planet, and it is imperative that both be preserved for the sake of humanity. There is a lot of negative, but students and delegates such as yourselves are the future of the world, and your opinions and efforts are the decisions of the future. Although we do not expect delegates to have all of the answers, we do expect delegates to think outside of the box and to think of the peace and security of the world as a whole. This year at UCI MUN we have decided to implement a new aspect to our conference. We will be implementing something called whiteboard sessions, in which we will encourage out of the box thinking for our delegates. Whiteboard sessions will be an informal conversation between delegates and their Dias. The Dias will use the whiteboards in each room to brainstorm and give the delegates an opportunity to express their own opinions on the topics in their committees. The goal of these sessions is to make delegates understand that the problems that they are attempting to solve are not just theoretical, but that they are problems that you as individuals can help solve. These sessions will aim to give delegates a greater perspective not only on their topics, but on the world as whole, and become global citizens. I am looking forward to meeting you all at conference and I hope that you all are as excited to debate the topics that our directors have been working so hard on. This is a learning experience, and I hope that each and every one of you take advantages of the opportunities that will be in front of you; during conference, in the real world, and within your lives as well. Best, Vidhi Bhatia Under-Secretary of Mains UCI MUN 2017 3 U C I M U N

Dear Delegates, Welcome to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) at the UCIMUN 2017 conference. My name is Mimi Gau and I am one of the co-directors of UNHCR. I am are excited to be working together to give you all a great experience in this committee. I am delighted to say that this is my fifth year involved in MUN. I was involved in my high school s MUN program and now this is my first year involved in UCIMUN. I am a second year full time student at University of California, Irvine and I am majoring in pharmaceutical sciences. I always loved keeping up with current events and believe it is important for young people to know what is happening around the world. In my free time, you can catch me eating, watching Friends, or playing basketball. Best regards, Mimi Gau Director, UNHCR unhcrucimun@gmail.com Dear Delegates, My name is Fei Gao and I am one of the co-directors of UNHCR. I am a sophomore student at University of California, Irvine and I am majoring in Psychology and Social Behavior. I plan to attend law school in the future. This is my second year in UCIMUN and also my second year for serving in the high school conference. I was an assistant director for UCI MUN high school conference last year. I am really excited and we are looking forward to meeting you in the conference this year! The United Nation High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) was created to protect and assist refugees. UNHCR tackles issues focusing around refugees such as asylum and migration, ending statelessness, public health, and etc. The delegates of UNHCR this year will debate the topics of Ensuring the Rights of Displaced Population and Post Crisis Refugee Reintegration. Although they are focusing on different aspects of the life of the refugee population, the topics are connected at the root. Reintegration and guaranteed life are the most concerned topics recently and they are correlated with the theme of preserving peace and security in a global sphere, which is the conference s theme this year. I encourage you to consider the issues not in a partial view but in a humanitarian and realistic view as well. Best regards, Fei Gao Director, UNHCR unhcrucimun@gmail.com 4 U C I M U N

TOPIC A: ENSURING THE RIGHTS OF DISPLACED PERSONS Introduction Since the beginning of the 21st century, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been focusing on resolving the large displaced population. War-torn areas creates unsafe environments for civilians forcing refugees to leave their homes seeking safety within their country or into others. These civilians are described as the displaced population which includes refugees, displaced persons, and the internally displaced population. The United Nations stated on Resolution A/RES/41/128 that all individuals, are entitled to participate in, contribute to, and enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development, in which all human rights and fundamental freedoms can be fully realized (1). Current war torn areas such as Syria, Iraq, and Central African Republic lack proper monitoring of protection of the displaced population s rights. According to UNHCR, there are currently 65.3 million forcibly displaced people globally, 21.3 million refugees and 10 million stateless people (14). The displaced populations are entitled to humanitarian rights, but they are left to starve with no shelter or safety due to the lack of protection from the state. Refugees rights are protected by the 1067 Protocol and the internally displaced population s rights are protected by the Guiding Principles on the Internally Displaced (8). Both documents state that the government of the states are the primary protection of these rights. However, the lack of transparency of the states leaves UNHCR to wait on the sidelines before assisting the displaced population who have already been facing human right violations. UNHCR continues to make efforts to ensure states enforce humanitarian rights for the displaced population. It is important to analyze and resolve all factors that leave the displaced population unprotected from their rights. 5 U C I M U N

Topic Description Ending Statelessness The displaced populations is estimated to cover about 11 million displaced persons worldwide (14). According to the 1954 Convention, a stateless person is defined as a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law (15). Statelessness may occur for a variety of reasons, including discrimination against particular ethnic or religious groups or on the basis of gender; the emergence of new States and transfers of territory between existing States (State succession); and conflict of nationality laws (2). Stateless persons are often denied the protection of basic rights such as identity documents, employment, education, and health services. For example, Nepal failed to accommodate for the displaced population that is attempting to acquire proof of citizenship. From the report of the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Nepal s failure in its legislation led to an issue on documenting Nepal s newborn children and displaced children. (5). If the newborn fails to be documented, they would count as a stateless person and have no right to acquire education and access the health care and other public benefits. Peace and Security According to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, refugees entering other nations are entitled to physical safety, freedom of thought, of movement, and freedom from torture and degrading treatment (15). The increased number of refugees in need of humanitarian assistance has led to a decrease in monitoring the upkeep of refugee camps to meet the needs of all the refugees. For example, Africa s Great Lake refugee crisis in 1990s reported peace violators and possible terrorists living in the refugee camps (9). The refugees living in those refugee camps have a higher potential of violated physical safety, despite the intended nature of a refugee camp being a safe environment. One the key aspect in 6 U C I M U N

ensuring the human rights of displaced populations is the Non-refoulement act of 1977. This universally accepted law-specifically applying to countries who have signed the 1951, 1954 convention, the 1967 Protocol Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, or the 1984 Convention Against Torture- protects against refugees return to a country for fear of persecution (7). The displaced person should not be returned to the potential executor in their asylum country. Refugees who are seeking proper security are rejected from governments and forced to return to war-torn lands that are not sustainable to live on. Assisting Internally Displaced Population Internally displaced populations (IDP) continue to live in vulnerable situations, but are entitled to basic rights. IDP s are protected by the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement of 1998. The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement are a compilation of international human rights and humanitarian law such as the right to basic humanitarian assistance, the right to be protected from physical violence, the right to education, freedom of movement and residence, political rights, and the right of resettlement (10). Although the operations from UNHCR are aimed to help people who are going through the process of displacement, the primary responsibilities of IDP protection is the governments of the states with IDPs. However, even as late as 1988, international organizations and non-governmental organization s watched while a quarter of a million IDPs died in Sudan for the government s lack of food and emergency supplies (9). This result is due to the lack of transparency in these war torn areas to ensure that the displaced population is accommodated with protection and basic rights. 7 U C I M U N

Bloc Positions Asia and Pacific Areas Asia and Pacific areas contain internally displaced populations and refugees who are mainly from Myanmar and Afghanistan. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has expressed its concern on the impact of refugee flows to its member s own economic development. Delegates representing these countries may focus their research on IDPs and refugees relevant to their country s situation in order to provide feasible solutions that are currently being employed within their nation. European Union Members of the European Union are the major asylum providers for the refugees. Turkey, Greece, Libya are the examples of the transit countries in Europe, who are facing the challenge of overwhelmed national emergency response capacity. Some members have expressed disapproval on further refugee acceptance. It is important to focus and stick to specific country policies, when doing research the most current updates on the situation and policies of these countries must be analyzed for fruitful debate. Africa Major crisis are raised in Central African Republic (CAR), South Sudan and Nigeria. There are also new conflicts emerging in Yemen and Burundi. The displaced population are mainly resettled to the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom, Canada and Sweden. A part of the population is also internally displaced in its own country or transferred to other nearby countries. Although there s a strong need of African refugee acceptance, the deep-rooted xenophobic problem in South Africa should also not be ignored. (UNHCR Africa) 8 U C I M U N

Middle East Refugees from Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan take up most part of the refugee population. For example, the current Battle of Mosul in Mosul, Iraq has the displaced population facing mass executions, starvation, systematic rape, violence, and human right violations. Iraq is projected to have over 11 million civilians in need of humanitarian aid. Delegates that are representing these nations should give weight to the current status of crisis within their assigned country and research into potential solutions as crisis areas and heavily impacted refugee accepting nations. Committee Goals As a committee, countries should collaborate together to create innovative solutions to be able to secure rights to the displaced population. Countries should keep in mind the different types of displaced populations (statelessness, internally displaced population, and refugees) are in different situations. The committee's goal is to find solutions regarding implementation of basic rights for the displaced population. Basic rights include humanitarian rights, political rights, and resettlement rights. Areas of crisis should be put at utmost priority for the committee seeing as those locations have high concentrations of the displaced population and lack the protection of basic rights. It is important to create lasting infrastructure in developing nations and improving upon existing policies in developed nations to ensure a more unified system that accounts for future refugee crisis. Countries with similar policies are encouraged to work together to provide security for the displaced population. 9 U C I M U N

Research Questions 1. What are your countries policies with internally displaced population? 2. Has your country been affected with the displaced population? What actions did your country take? 3. What are the steps to apply for asylum in your country? 4. What international conventions and legislation has your country signed onto or supported? 5. Does your country monitor humanitarian right violations? 10 U C I M U N

TOPIC B: POST-CRISIS REFUGEE REHABILITATION Introduction According to UNHCR, Of the 14.4 million refugees of concern to UNHCR around the world, less than one per cent is submitted for resettlement (11). The lack of quality post-crisis refugee rehabilitation keeps refugees restricted to refugee camps. Post-crisis refugees face what UNHCR calls the three R s (return, reintegration, reconstruction). This process of assisting the displaced population from an asylum country to a third country to help them return to their homes, if safe, is integral to restore peace in post-conflict zones. Refugees that choose to resettle in another country may benefit from legal and physical security, including access to acquire civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. In UNHCR s report on refugee reintegration, 24 percent of all submissions were survivors of violence and torture which is the highest percentage of the last six years, and [refugees departure] have increased as well during the course of 2015 where 80,000 individuals departed to resettlement countries with UNHCR s assistance. (6). Reintegration is significant because it is the most durable solution for refugees to stabilize their life, but this process is only able to aid a small number of refugees. Based on the most recent calculation from UNHCR, the flow of the displaced population has surpassed its past record of 51.2 million in 2014 and reached its highest point of 59.5 million in 2015(3). One in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. The sudden increase of these numbers increases the burden on both the crisis countries and the asylum countries. 11 U C I M U N

Topic Description War-torn Areas War-torn areas are specific areas in which the conflict is ongoing and could not be resided in due to the safety concern. These areas have produced the highest frequency of refugees. Refugees are left with no security and face human rights infringements. Unresolved crisis, such as the conflict in the Syrian Civil War, have provided one of the major flows of refugees. [The current crisis] included new or reignited conflicts in Burundi, Iraq, Libya, Niger and Nigeria, together with older or unresolved crises in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Yemen (4). Post-conflict rehabilitation focuses on humanitarian, emergency relief, demilitarization, and political, social, and economic reconstruction. Specifically in war torn areas, the UNHCR has deployed Quick Impact Projects with the assistance from World Bank, deployment of human rights monitors, an International Tribunal, emergency assistance, and other resources specific to the country s situation in order to help broaden accessibility of reintegration programs for refugees (12). As the number of refugees growing, the refugees fail to receive proper humanitarian rehabilitation. Asylum for Refugees Recent flow of the asylum application has increased far beyond than those over the last thirty years. The large amount of the dislocating population exposed the flaw in the asylum system and also brought an urgent need to the receiving countries. Crisis in Central America: On April 5th 2016, UNHCR called for immediate action on helping current asylums in Central America. Tracing back to 2015, 3423 people were seeking asylum in Mexico and a majority of them were from El Salvador and Honduras. According to statistics provided by UNHCR, This was a 164 per cent increase over 2013 and a 65 per cent increase since 12 U C I M U N

2014 (3). A more rapid increase in the flow of the refugees to asylums countries was observed in 2016. As UNHCR concluded, The crisis in Central America urgently requires a stepped-up protection response and a regional approach to sharing responsibility for this growing crisis (13). The EU Common Basic Principles of Immigrant Integration states that employment is a key part of the integration process and is central to the participation of immigrants, to the contributions immigrants make to the host society, and to making such contribution visible. (6) Host countries struggle to accommodate the sudden influx of refugees and are often not prepared with efficient policies regarding to apply for an asylum. Return, Reintegration, Reconstruction According to the UNHCR s global trend report for 2015, the number of people in the displaced population reached the number of 65 million (14). The majority of the displaced population would eventually go through a repatriate process if the armed conflict is receded in their homeland. However, returning to home country is only the beginning of the reintegration process due to many complications. Refugees homelands are torn up with the aftermath of a war torn area. Homes, businesses, and farmland have all been destroyed during their period at the refugee camps making it difficult to return to a citizen contributing society. For example, some of the 160,000 Eritrean refugees who fled to Sudan during the war of Eritrea s independence stayed in Sudan for decades. According to the report of US committee of Refugees, the delay of the large scale reintegration is due to the friction between the Eritrea s government and international organizations (8).The lands where Eritrean people were supposed to return were also damaged and need advanced skills to be recovered. The aftermath of the armed conflicts in the Eritrea s independence war left no livable land for the refugees to return to. Proper and detailed reconstruction and reintegration plans are important for refugees to safely return back to their homeland. 13 U C I M U N

Bloc Positions Asia & Pacific countries Countries in Asia and Pacific areas should investigate the topic based on their own country policies and situations. There are repressions of free speech on different degrees in those countries, which makes it harder for the humanitarian workers to assist the refugees. European Union The increasing migration flow has influenced numerous European countries. The flow of refugees not only increases the burden of response capacity of the Union, but also reveals a lot of other social issues such as Islamophobia and xenophobia. The members of the EU expressed their concerns regarding all kinds of issues brought by the sudden refugee flow. Regarding the EU s refugee policy, there is still a vast amount of displaced persons along the borderlines of these countries that are waiting for reintegration. Middle East There are currently persisting armed conflicts raging in countries throughout the Middle East. People fleeing from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan make up more than half of the displaced population. They are accepted by countries such as Turkey and Lebanon. It is almost impossible for displaced persons to acquire working permission and other human rights in these countries. Richer Gulf nations such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain have not signed on to refugee conventions, and so they do not formally accept any refugees. 14 U C I M U N

Committee Goals For this topic, the Chair recommends that delegates do not limit to researching only countries with an on-going crisis, but rather broaden the scope of your research to the situation of the receiving countries as well. It is important to keep in mind that nearly half of the displaced population is seeking asylum out of their home state. By the end of the discussion, we hope to see delegate s create comprehensive solutions for the topic addressed above. The solutions shall reflect your own understanding of current issues and your country's policy on the issue. Delegates are reminded to think in the real-world setting when creating solutions that are feasible and comprehensive. We expect you to have a deeper understanding of the topics and how this topic relates to the conference theme of Peace and Security. It is crucial to look into all related aspects and develop a set of global solutions. Research Questions 1. Why does the flow of refugees put pressure on the facilitation of receiving countries? In particular, please think about your own country s situation including financial, social and normative aspects. 2. What is your country's policy with refugees seeking reintegration? 3. Is your country or your neighboring countries affected by the influx of refugees? 4. Has your country hosted refugees? What did your country do to accommodate for these people? 15 U C I M U N

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