UN High Commission on Refugees TOPIC AREA A: Migration to the Arabian TOPIC AREA B: Border-Crossing Risks Introduction Welcome to the Commission on Refugees! Migration today is runs deeper than one might think. According to the United Nations, there are over 232 million migrants living outside of their home. While there are many conflict refugees, economically driven migration is the most common form of human movement. These are individuals who typically have to leave their home country for better economic and labor opportunities. Moreover, they often send remittances back to family, a common byproduct of global economic migration flows. These migrants are overwhelming from the developing world. Migrants from the global south often look for better economic opportunities in developed north states, but there are trends to parts of the world, where this is not the case. History of the Commission on Refugees When the United Nations was founded in 1945, the international community was challenged by several large refugee crises in the wake of World War II. As a response to these challenges, the International Refugee Organization IRO) was created by the General Assembly of the United Nations. This was the first global effort to tackle the problems of refugee movements. The IRO was later replaced by the current UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1950. It has the mandate to co-ordinate international efforts to protect refugees and offer resolutions to
refugee-producing conflicts. Before all else, the main goal of the UNHCR is to guarantee the rights and well-being of refugees. It seeks to ensure that all individuals have the right to claim for asylum and find safety in another country. It also seeks to assure that refugees have the option of return, integrate in their new host society or to be resettled in a third country. Over the past decades, the mandate of the UNHCR has grown to include the management of humanitarian assistance to not only refugees, but also internally displaced persons (IDPs). IDPs are individuals who fall under legal designation of a refugee according to the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. As of the end of 2015, the UNHCR is administering major refugees missions in the states surrounding Syria, South Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chad, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Migrants and refugees are often times difficult to distinguish. There are several international documents to assist your understanding of the status of migrants. General Assembly Resolution 45/158 offers us comprehensive definitions and concepts on the rights of migrant workers. The International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families states the following: "The Convention works to clearly establish whom migrant workers are and delineate their rights. In Article 2 of the Convention, migrant workers are distinguished as: (a) The term "frontier worker" refers to a migrant worker who retains his or her habitual residence in a neighboring state to which he or she normally returns every day or at least once a week; (b) The term "seasonal worker" refers to a migrant worker whose work by its character is dependent on seasonal conditions and is performed only during part of the year;
(c) The term "seafarer", which includes a fisherman, refers to a migrant worker employed on board a vessel registered in a State of which he or she is not a national; (d) The term "worker on an offshore installation" refers to a migrant worker employed on an offshore installation that is under the jurisdiction of a state of which he or she is not a national; (e) The term "itinerant worker" refers to a migrant worker who, having his or her habitual residence in one State, has to travel to another State or States for short periods, owing to the nature of his or her occupation; (f) The term "project-tied worker" refers to a migrant worker admitted to a State of employment for a defined period to work solely on a specific project being carried out in that State by his or her employer; (General Assembly Resolution 45/158) 1 The Convention goes on to declare rights for these types of regular migrants. These rights include basic freedoms, such as: the freedom to leave and enter their state of origin; protection against inhumane treatment in the workplace, which includes both physical and sexual abuse and compulsory labor; the freedom to personal thought and religion; and the freedom to own property and not have it confiscated. Migrant workers also have the right to stand before court for due process, to privacy, to transfer their earnings, and to information. More importantly, the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families establishes that migrant workers should have work conditions and compensation equal to that of nationals (Solomon). TOPIC AREA A: Migration to the Arabian Peninsula Migration to the countries of the Persian Gulf region has been going for the past four decades, but has shown signs of increasing even more. A country with a tremendous amount of migrant growth is Qatar. It has one of the fastest growing economies in the region, mostly due to construction, a part of the labor market which tends to be filled by migrant workers. Migrants come primarily from South Asian countries like 1 International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. 18 December 1990. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/cmw.htm
India, Pakistan, and Nepal, but also the Philippines, Bangladesh and other Middle Eastern states. Recently, under much criticism and suspicion, Qatar was awarded to hold the 2022 FIFA Football World Cup tournament and, as a result of the responsibilities of hosting a major international sporting event, is likely to experience even more economic growth. Demand for migrants will be linked to this. For many years, Qatar has been criticized by the international community for its near-slavery work conditions. Migrant workers receive work permits under the country s Kafala System, a system of oppression and exploitation. Workers are tied to migrant s legal status by their employer, which gives employers direct control over their lives. Migrants very often have to surrender their passports upon entry and request exit permits that only their employers can obtain through the government. Workers lose their status if they fail to renew their papers. The system restricts the right of free movement and does not allow for citizenship. Qatar has been very wary about the growing number of criticisms. It consistently denies any violations take place. The government has prevented information from leaking out about work conditions, often expelling international media and critical foreign journalists. As a countermeasures, they have undertaken efforts to make public their efforts to improve work conditions. Questions a Resolution Should Answer 1. Can the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families is comprehensive be used in addressing migrant issues in Qatar? 2. What issues do migrant in Qatar face? What efforts have been underatken to address the growing number of criticisms?
3. In what way can labor agreements and treaties resolve some of the human rights violations for migrant workers? Topic Area B: Border Crossing Risks The risks that migrants take to cross borders is in all the news. In the past three years, more than two million people have fled the conflict zones in Syria and Iraq. Turkey and Jordan and usually the first destination for these conflict refugees, but also Lebanon, as well. More and more refugees are taking on the risks of crossing the Mediterranean Sea to seek refuge in European countries. Refugees cross many dangerous obstacles, from hazardous weather conditions to police brutality, being attacked by criminal groups and being subject to smugglers. Refugees and migrants are routinely subject to unlawful push-backs and ill-treatment by border police. Many are forced to pay bribes. Not even the government refugee shelters are safe enough, getting attacked and burnt down, showing that governments need to take better care and protect these shelters. While the influx of refugees from conflict areas seeking shelter in Europe unceasingly increases, the European leaders are struggling to resolve this burning issue. Italy, Greece, the FYR Macedonia and Serbia are the major transit points for the refugees, and the authorities of these countries are challenged to address the needs of new arrivals. Many people decide to go to Europe on the boat, and more than 2000 people have died in that matter, trying to reach the safety of Europe s shores. Governments need to actively support search and rescue operations. In Athens, NGOs and representatives of central and local authorities provide shelter and necessary living conditions. In the FYR Macedonia, the local Red Cross has
worked with UNHCR to help separated families reunite again. In Italy, an ancient monastery and a former school have been transformed into temporary accommodation for a limited number of people. In Serbia, UNHCR has supported authorities in receiving new arrivals, supplying them with tents and accommodation halls. On the other hand, Hungary has been planning to protect its borders from the influx by building a fence, preventing many migrants from meeting their families who live in other parts of Europe. That is why many humanitarians have called upon Europe to protect the people, not the borders. Bloc Positions Several bloc positions can be created to deal with border crossing issues. Firstly, those frontline countries that are most directly by border crossings could find common ground for a resolution. Examples could be Cyprus, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Hungary, who are overwhelmed with Syrian refugees entering Europe. Another bloc could be the members of the European Union, who are facing increasing pressures to establish limits to accepting refugees. Here, Austria, Germany, Denmark and Sweden are the most desired final stops for forced migrants. States that produce cross border migrants are also of interest. North African states (Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Morocco), Central American states (El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico) and West African countries (Liberia, Sierra Leone) all are migrant producing states. Questions a Resolution Should Answers 1. What is more important for European countries, legality of immigration or human rights? 2. What could be the framework for protecting human rights of refugees? 3. Does the arrival of refugees represent possible threat to national security?