General Assembly Study Guide [B]
Asian International Model United Nations 2016
General
Assembly
By the Academic Committee, Jan. 2015
STUDY
GUIDE
A-Refugee
Deportation
Directors:
Sung Hoon (Terry) Lee
Yi Hong Huang
Assistant
Directors:
Zhen Xi (Ria) Park
Jiang Xu
Andrea Wang
Yamillet Payano
Yuan Min Wee
Kimberly Tan
Sheng Yan Piao
Hak Jun (Joseph) Kim
Mark Ruckthongsuk
Welcome Letter from Directors
Dear Delegates,
It is with great pleasure to welcome all of you to the General Assembly of AIMUN 2016. GA is one of the largest committees of United Nations that represents all 193 member states, and this year’s conference will include over 100 delegates representing their respective nations. We have selected two topics of debate for this year’s conference: Refugee Deportation and International Drug Problems.
As directors of GA, it is our duty to answer to any concerns or questions that you have before and during the conference. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions regarding the conference or the topics. We are looking forward to having another vibrant and thought-provoking debates for this year’s conference, and we are all very excited to greet you all!
Our emails are: terrycq94@gmail.com & susanhyh@pku.edu.cn
Best Regards,
Terry Lee & Yihong Huang
Directors, United Nations General Assembly
Asian International Model United Nations 2016
Contents
2.1 Human Rights 6
2.2 Domestic Security 6
2.3 Financial burden 7
3.1 Members of Refugees Convention 1951 9
3.2 Non-Members 10
4.1 Previous attempts by UN 12
4.2 previous attempts by NGOs 13
4.2.1 The Women's Refugee Commission 13
4.2.2 International Rescue Committee 14
4.2.3 Refugee International 14
Statement of Problem
The number of refugees worldwide is currently estimated to be 12 million and the number of those who are seeking asylum in the developed world has increased tenfold from early 1970s. Refugee deportation has been a long-standing problem in the international community, with recent cases around the world once again bringing this situation to the world’s attention.
According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, a refugee is classified as someone who is: "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country."
The idea of asylum can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and ancient Egyptians where common beliefs were that people who sought sanctuaries in holy places could not be harmed or deported. The Second World War witnessed a massive number of refugees due to the political instability that followed the conflicts. In recent decades, refugees from Middle East, Southeast Asia and other areas under political dispute have remained a withstanding problem that needs to be addressed with utmost attention. Meanwhile, as the trend of globalization accelerated, patterns of global migration have become increasingly complex, including different types of refugees. There are those who have to take refuge at another country to save their lives, and there are economic migrants who choose to migrate in order to improve their future economic prospects, which the two should be seen as fundamentally different. The process of such classification adds to the difficulties of resolving the issue. Only a minority of failed asylum seekers actually ever leave, voluntarily or otherwise. However, Large-scale deportation of asylum seekers may simply not be possible under liberal democracies.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly to lead and coordinate the global actions to protect the rights and safety of refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide, which protests and condemns refugee deportation as an infringement of basic human rights. UN’s efforts towards refugee problems also include the designation of June 20th as World Refugee Day, which is dedicated to raising awareness of the refugee problems throughout the world. The 1951 Refugee Convention, along with the protocols put into effect in 1967 to classify the status of refugees, became the foundation of refugee protection. The 1951 Refugee Convention clearly stated that “no contracting state shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”
Domestic governments and United Nations, including other international agencies, have struggled with the problems of providing adequate humanitarian assistance to refugees from third world countries, which also coincides with the efforts of the first world countries to avoid floods of unwanted asylum seekers arriving at their doorsteps. Therefore, when faced with refugee exodus, some countries allow their border agency to deport refugees who are not qualified for asylum.
For millions of refugees around the world, returning to their home countries in better economic and political situation remains as the most ideal outcome. Voluntary repatriation requires the full commitment of the country of origin to help reintegrate its own people and the continued support of the international community. However, the crux of the problem lies at recognizing the difference between voluntary repatriation and forced deportation. Ensuring the exercise of a free and informed choice of refugees symbolizes the respect of their basic human rights.
Background Information
It is generally accepted that developed countries have duty of upholding rights and thus they are responsible for coping with the recent refugee crisis. However, receiving countries also have a burden of resolving resultant domestic social problems. Owing to this, a lot of receiving countries have become reluctant to take more refugees. They usually consider whether or not to deport these refugees based on three main criterions: human rights, domestic security and financial burden.