ScalaMUN 2015: A Wave of Migration
Research Report
Security Council
“Outlining possible measures to harbor refugees in their country of
origin, financed by MEDCs”
Presidents: Ruben Tricoli & Camille van Weert
Forum: Security Council
Issue: Outlining possible measures to harbor refugees in their country of origin, financed by MEDCs
Introduction
Due to the many problems that come with harboring a safe home for the many refugees that are
fleeing from the unstable situation in their home countries, there have been many outcalls from both
politicians and citizens for different solutions to the issue at hand. One possible solutions would be to
attempt to create safe places for the refugees to live within their home country. The refugees could
then remain in their home country safely in locations supported by richer western countries. This
solution could possibly solve many problems the international community is currently struggling with
in regards to the refugee crisis.
If executed properly, this solution would remove the need for the refugees to integrate into a culture
completely new to them, a process which could take many years and is extremely straining and
expensive for all parties involved. Furthermore, it would allow the refugees to quickly move back into
their own country after the conflict is over.
Definition of Key Terms
MEDC’s
More Economically Developed Countries, is a sovereign state that has a highly developed economy
and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations.
Refugee
A civilian fleeing from dangerous situation like war or environmental
disturbances like a natural disaster. International law states that: refugees a who
cannot return to their country of origin, due to fear of persecution are entitled to claim
protection, or asylum, in the country they fled to.
ECOSOC
ECOSOC, one of the six main organs of the United Nations established by the UN Charter
in 1946, is the principal body for coordination, policy review, policy dialogue and recommendations
on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as for implementation of the internationally
agreed development goals.
ECOSOC serves as the central mechanism for the activities of the United Nations system and its
specialized agencies, and supervises the subsidiary and expert bodies in the economic, social and
environmental fields.
General overview
Start of the conflict
Around 2010 there were multiple uprisings in different Arab nations, these nations were: Tunisia,
Libya, Egypt and Syria. The cause for these uprisings was the demand for a democratic system in
these countries. All of the mentioned countries had a dictator as leader and the people wanted
change and more power to the people and therefore started protesting. In Egypt and Tunisia these
protest went more or less peaceful compared to Libya and Syria, which developed into civil wars. The
Libyan conflict was aided by the NATO countries, establishing a no flight zone over Libya, by basic air
supremacy doctrine and the NATO countries targeted positions of the Khadaffi regime.
The conflict in Syria followed as people noticed the success of the revolutions in the other countries.
This conflict is still ongoing and has split the nation into different territories. The western nations
decided to help the rebel groups by supplying them with weapons, the same strategy they used in
Afghanistan in the 1970 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. As there are a lot of different
rebel groups fighting for different ideas in Syria these weapon supplies have a tendency to fall into
the wrong hands. The biggest and most problematic group fighting in Syria is the Islamic State (IS). IS
is one of the most dangerous groups fighting in the region. They are relentless towards people who
are not Sunni and to those who don’t want to follow their ideas. They also see the western world, the
USA in particular, as their arch enemy.
In September 2014 the USA and a coalition consisting out Arabic and NATO countries, decided to
start targeting IS strongholds with air strikes, since the rise of the caliphate was accelerated and they
reached 40 km from Erbil, the Kurdish capital in Iraq. In the summer of 2015 the Russian federation
decided to help the Assad regime, an ally of the Russian federation, with air strikes against all fighting
parties against the government army. There have been reports of Russian troops fighting in Syria,
these reports have been about volunteer soldiers on the ground. The Russian federation also has an
airbase in the northern part of Syria near the town named Latakia.
The conflict has left over 250,000 people dead, and displaced half of the country's population.
Reasons for migration
Migration is often instigated by a combination of economic, social and political factors. People
migrate because of the situation in their home country in contrast to the situation in the country of
destination. Of course, one’s decisions in case of emergency can often not be defined very rationally,
but the following reasons for migration to a specific country are a great outline for the possible
motivations for certain choices migrants make.
The main pull factors are, for example, a stable economy, a lower unemployment rate, a good
healthcare system, a strong social security network, high incomes and religious freedom. It is a
common misbelieve that immigrants are taking all jobs in the country of destination; many natives in
More Economically Developed Countries (MEDCs) do not wish to do the jobs that require manual
labor. The payment for these jobs in MEDCs is a lot higher than in most countries large groups of
citizens emigrate from. That is why immigrants are often happy to take these jobs. The push factors
are strongly related to the pull factors; the income and unemployment rate are relative, for example.
However, there are also many pull factors that have nothing to do with the country of destination.
Religion, politics and war are the three main reasons for emigrating. One has to take into account
that when a citizen is fleeing the country for one of these reasons, and especially for war, their
destination and the journey are the least of their concerns.
Advantages of refugees staying in their home country
There are many advantages to creating safe places within the countries of origin of the refugees for
them to stay in. If properly executed, a plan like this could help a great deal in solving many of the
issues currently faced by the European nations in the refugee crisis, whilst also providing a solution
for the humanitarian issues the refugees face in the unsafe places they fled from.
A large problem the European countries have in this crisis is the huge amount of funds necessary to
provide for the hundreds of thousands of refugees they have to take into their countries. All these
refugees have to be provided with homes, education and medical care, which costs tremendous
amounts of money for the countries.
Finances are, however, not the only issue facing the European countries, as the countries these
refugees are fleeing to are often very densely populated, which makes it even more troublesome for
governments to provide homes for these people, as there isn’t enough space available to provide for
the many refugees fleeing to Europe. The issue of the lack of space combined with cultural conflicts
often caused by refugees moving in from a completely different region, illustrates perfectly why
creating safe spaces for the refugees to live in their home countries might be a better idea. The
culture difference is also a problem for the inhabitants of the European citizens, as they have trouble
communicating with the refugees; this leads to political uproar and conflict within the European
countries. With this solution, however, the refugees wouldn’t need to learn a new language or
change their values to fit into the Western culture they are not used to, but they could keep
practicing their own culture and following their own educations.
While large investments from Western countries would obviously be necessary to realize this plan,
costs in the long run would be lower, as the refugees do not have to be taken care of medically or
educated in the densely populated Western countries and could quickly build their old life back up
after the conflict has been solved.
Major Parties Involved
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Human rights organization of the UN. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees was established on December 14, 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The
agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve
refugee problems worldwide. It’s primary goal is to protect refugees and enable them to apply for
asylum in different countries.
Syria
In Syria a large conflict is going on and which many people are fleeing the country.
Due to cruelties going on the country. The fight has been going on for 4 years and
the large cities like Homs and Damascus have been destroyed. The actions of IS are one of the
reasons people are fleeing, the civil war started as a move towards a more
democratic Syria, but is turning into a harsher ruled country if IS will win in the
conflict. Parties fighting them are Russia, allies of Assad, USA with its coalition
consisting of multiple western and Arabic countries.
European Union (EU)
This area of cooperating countries has been the destination of the majority of the refugees. The EU
consist mainly out of MEDC’s and this is a major pull factor for economic migrants. Also the EU has
become a symbol for peace for people that left their country because of an ongoing armed conflict
this is one major pull factor, there are many reasons to come to Europe, but this also causes many
problems. With the current surge of refugees there are too few accommodations for the amount of
refugees and there are a lot of logistics problems. Therefore human rights and fundamental rights for
refugees can’t be fully granted.
Timeline of Events
1950
UNHCR established.
2010- Ongoing
Armed conflicts in Arab countries as result of Arab spring.
2014- Ongoing
Biggest surge of refugees, around 4 million Syrians have left their country, according to UNHCR
sources
Possible Solutions
Safe zones within the countries in which the conflict is ongoing, such as Syria. These ‘’Safe havens’’
would have to be financed by more economically developed countries, as the countries in the conflict
do not have the means to support such safe havens, nor do they have the political stability to be
trusted with harboring a safe environment for the refugees.
To ensure the safety of the refugees in the safe havens set up in their home country, a neutral body
must be used to ensure the safety of the refugees, such as a UN peacekeeping unit.
Bibliography
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/09/09/european-union-calls-for-refugeeredistribution-as-continent-strains-under-human-influx
http://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-plans-to-redistribute-up-to-160-000-refugees-who-arrive-in-italygreece-and-hungary-1441288367
https://gfycat.com/DelayedArtisticGuppy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_migrant_crisis
http://www.oi.acidi.gov.pt/docs/pdf/The%20evolution%20of%20migration%20flows%20in%20Europ
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/refugees
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http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/world/middleeast/russian-soldiers-join-syria-fight.html?_r=0