MSMUN XXXV

Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural CommitteeBackground Information

Chair: Koshy George

Topic 1: Global Refugee Crisis

Currently, the world is experiencing a refugee crisis unlike any it has ever seen before. At

the end of 2014, worldwide displacement reached a record high of 59.5 million people. Of these

people, 19.5 million are refugees. Moreover, half of these refugees are children. In all regions,

this number is expected to continue to rise due to both decades-old and new conflicts.

The largest driver of refugees is the Syrian Civil War, producing 3.88 million refugees in

2014. The last time this number of refugees was recorded was in 2011 when 3.8 million Afghans

were reported as refugees. Prior to the civil war, Syria was not even in the top 30 refugee produc-

ing countries. Now, on average, one out of four refugees is Syrian. The majority of Syrian

refugees flee to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. As a re-

sult, Turkey surpassed Pakistan as the largest refugee hosting country with 1.6 million refugees.

Turkey has spent approximately $4.5-6.5 billion in response to the influx in refugees, including

building some of the nicest facilities. Despite this, Turkey still feels the strain from refugees, es-

pecially near its border. Lebanon and Jordan are home to 1.15 million and 654,100 refugees, re-

spectively. Each country’s corresponding economy and infrastructure, which were already suffer-

ing before the influx of refugees, have been exhausted. Unlike Turkey, these countries do not

have the financial means to support refugees and are continuously underfunded. Due to this, both

countries have had to increase border control and restrict the number of refugees coming in. Af-

ter Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia are the second and third largest refugee producing countries.

Together with Syria, these countries account for 7.6 million or 53% of all refugees in 2014. The

War in Afghanistan produced 2.6 million refugees in 2014 with the majority fleeing to Pakistan

and Iran. The struggle between the Somali government and Al Shabaab produced 1.11 million

refugees in 2014 with the majority fleeing to Kenya and Ethiopia.

Outside of the Middle East and North Africa region, Europe is also experiencing an un-

precedented influx in refugees. In 2015 alone, over a million migrants and refugees entered into

Europe. The majority of these refugees come from Syria to Europe by sea through either the cen-

tral or eastern Mediterranean. According to Frontex, the European Union’s (EU) external border

agency, 2,860 refugees died trying to cross the central Mediterranean in 2015. The majority of

refugees arrive in EU member states closest to the Mediterranean Basin, namely Greece and

Italy. The Dublin Regulation requires refugees stay in the first country they arrive, and make that

country responsible for processing all asylum applications. If refugees illegally travel to other

EU states, they can face deportation. This disproportionately burdens Greece and Italy, as well as

other EU member states closest to the Mediterranean Basin. In 2013, Greece attempted to in-

crease border control and restrict migration under Operation Aspida which included the construc-

tion of a fence on the border of Greece and Turkey. Despite Greece’s attempts at limiting migra-

tion, it still receives the most refugees as of 2015. Unlike Greece, in 2013 Italy instituted Mare

Nostrum, a search and rescue program, which is credited with saving over 100,000 refugees. In

2014, it was replaced by Frontex’s Triton program which has both a smaller purview and budget.

After two boats carrying refugees capsized off the coast of Libya in April 2015, EU leaders

tripled Triton’s budget to 9 million euros, but still received criticism for refusing to broaden its

purview. Moreover, refugee detention centers in Greece and Italy have been accused of abuse

and neglect. In Italy, the Bossi-Fini immigration law mandates that refugees must find work be-

fore entering the country which makes illegal migration punishable by fine or jail. In Greece,

refugees are often placed with criminal detainees in detention centers. Hungary’s September

2015 emergency laws allow police to operate detention centers, and make illegal border crossing

as well as aiding refugees punishable by prison time. By contrast, countries in northern Europe

with stronger economies have comparatively well-run asylum centers in addition to substantial

resettlement policies. Currently, countries have been unable to overcome nationalist interests in

order to create a common response to the global refugee crisis.

Questions to Consider:

1. Is your country affected by the global refugee crisis? If so, how is it dealing with it?

2. What is your country’s refugee policy?

3. What humanitarian assistance is most needed by refugees and how can SOCHUM pro-

vide it?

Sources:

http://www.global-refugees.info

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34131911

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/08/28/world/europe/countries-under-strain-from-euro-

pean-migration-crisis.html?_r=0

http://www.cfr.org/migration/europes-migration-crisis/p32874

http://www.unhcr.org/558193896.html

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/06/09/world/migrants-global-refugee-crisis-mediter-

ranean-ukraine-syria-rohingya-malaysia-iraq.html

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/explainer-current-refugee-crisis-article-1.2404579

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/10/the-refugee-crisis-the-view-from-tur-

key/410683/

http://carnegieendowment.org/2015/09/21/jordan-s-refugee-crisis/ihwc

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/13/world/middleeast/a-refugee-crisis-in-lebanon-hides-in-

plain-sight.html?_r=0

Topic 2: Prisoners’ Rights

Following the large-scale human rights abuses committed in World War I and World War

II, the international community came together in order to protect these rights. Many of these in-

ternational human rights laws deal explicitly with the rights of prisoners.

The first of these is the Third Geneva Convention, an international treaty adopted in 1949

which addresses the treatment of prisoners of war (POWs). It requires that POWs be treated hu-

manely and not subjected to torture or medical experimentation, as well as provided with ade-

quate shelter, food, clothing, and medical supplies. Moreover, it prohibits discrimination against

POWs based on sex, race, nationality and religious or political beliefs. In addition, common Arti-

cle 3 of the Geneva Conventions addresses situations of non-international armed conflicts. It re-

quires the humane treatment of people in enemy hands which includes the prohibition of murder,

mutilation and torture, as well as cruel, humiliating, and degrading treatment. In 1957, the Stan-

dard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (SMRs) were approved by the Economic

and Social Council. While not legally binding, SMRs are internationally recognized as guidelines

for the treatment of prisoners. SMRs are divided into two parts: rules of general application and

rules applicable to special categories. Part I defines standards related to areas such as accommo-

dation, hygiene, clothing and bedding, food, recreation, medical services, and discipline. Part II

addresses standards for prisoners under sentence and outlines guiding principles which empha-

size the importance of prisoners’ continuous relationship with society and social rehabilitation.

Although previous international laws prohibit torture, the Convention against Torture and Other

Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment takes it a step further by defining tor-

ture and outlining measures to prevent it. Divided into three parts, Part I defines torture and es-

tablishes preventive measures as well as international jurisdiction to prosecute violators, Part II

creates the Committee Against Torture which is responsible for investigating accusations of tor-

ture, and Part III addresses the terms of adoption, ratification, and amendment of the convention.

Moreover, in 2002 the General Assembly adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention

Against Torture which established a system of regular visits by international and national organi-

zations to prisons in order to prevent torture. In 2010, the General Assembly adopted the Basic

Principles for the Treatment of Prisoners which re-affirms the human rights of prisoners pro-

tected in previous laws. Most recently, in October 2015, the UN revised the SMRs. Now dubbed

the Mandela Rules, these revisions include important advances in areas such as access to health-

care, solitary confinement, and intrusive searches. Notwithstanding these advances, the revisions

were criticized for failing to address discrimination against sexual orientation and gender iden-

tity.

Despite these internationally agreed upon standards, discrimination and torture in prisons

across countries is still at large. While it is often only high profile cases of discrimination and

torture, such as Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and Heoryong concentration camp, that receive

international attention, these are widespread abuses that implicate the majority of countries. Ac-

cording to Amnesty International, 141 countries have been reported in relation to torture in the

past five years.

Questions to Consider:

1. Are your country’s prisons up to par with international standards?

2. Has your country been accused of violating prisoners’ rights?

3. How can prisons be improved?

Sources:

http://www.cfr.org/human-rights/geneva-conventions/p8778

http://www.redcross.org/images/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m3640104_IHL_Summary-

GenevaConv.pdf

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/TreatmentOfPrisoners.aspx

http://legal.un.org/avl/ha/catcidtp/catcidtp.html

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CAT.aspx

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/BasicPrinciplesTreatmentOfPrisoners.aspx

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=52190#.Vp_K3TaMDBJ

http://www.penalreform.org/priorities/global-advocacy/standard-minimum-rules/

http://www.amnesty.org.au/hrs/comments/37463/

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2004/05/10/torture-at-abu-ghraib

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2014/11/20/torture-kidnapping-and-gu-

lags-north-koreas-alleged-crimes-against-humanity/

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/09/world/cia-torture-report-key-points.html

Topic 3: Women’s Rights

Within the first year of the United Nations’ founding, the Economic and Social Council

established the Commission of the Status of Women which is the primary worldwide intergov-

ernmental body dedicated to the advancement of gender equality and empowerment of women.

One of its first accomplishments was securing gender neutral language in the Universal Declara-

tion of Human Rights. In 1975, the General Assembly declared it International Women’s Year

and the following decade the UN Decade for Women. Every five years for the next 20 years, the

UN held a world conference on women. The first conference was held in 1975 in Mexico City.

In 1979, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Dis-

crimination Against Women (CEDAW), which is a landmark treaty for international women’s

rights. It not only defines what constitutes discrimination against women, but also establishes

anti-discrimination and women’s rights guidelines that bridge both the public and private sphere,

including politics, employment, education, health, marriage, and family life. Moreover, it is the

first treaty to affirm women’s reproductive rights and acknowledges the influence of culture and

tradition in shaping gender roles and family relations. In 1980, the Second World Conference on

Women was held in Copenhagen and called for stronger measures to safeguard women’s right to

own property and receive inheritance as well as child custody. The following conference, held in

Nairobi, resulted in the Nairobi Forward Looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women. In

1993, the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against

Women which is the first declaration to specifically target violence against women. The articles

not only provide a comprehensive definition of violence against women, but also moves it from

the private to public sphere. The fourth conference held in Beijing established the Beijing Plat-

form for Action which singled out 12 critical areas concerning women. Many of these areas of

concern were then integrated into the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2010, the UN

General Assembly decided to create the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of

Women (UN Women), an organization tasked with achieving gender equality and women’s em-

powerment.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia became the final country to give women the right to vote in elec-

tions. Although this was an important victory for women across the world, there remains work to

be done. Women still do not receive equal treatment in politics, business, and education. Al-

though the percentage of women in parliament has roughly doubled in the last 20 years, women

only make up 22 percent of people in parliament today. When it comes to leadership positions,

such as Head of State or Government, there are only 22 women in positions of leadership. More-

over, women not only make, on average, 60 to 75 percent of a man’s wage, but work in more

vulnerable and low-paid jobs. Starting from a young age, many women are not afforded the same

opportunities as men. Despite numerous studies which show that increasing girls’ education con-

tributes to higher economic growth, many girls still do not receive due to traditional, religious

and cultural beliefs. Women are also disproportionately subjected to domestic violence. It is of-

ten unseen or not reported and can occur anywhere in the world, not just underdeveloped coun-

tries. Other forms of violence against women include genital mutilation, acid burnings, dowry

deaths, and honor killings are still prevalent in the world.

Questions to consider:

1. What is the status of women’s political, economic, and social rights in your country?

2. Has your country had success in improving women’s rights in these areas?

3. How can women’s rights in these areas further be improved worldwide?

Sources:

http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/women/

http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/global-norms-and-

standards

http://www.unwomen.org/en/about-us/about-un-women

http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures

http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/economic-empowerment/facts-and-figures

http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/ending-violence-against-women/facts-and-figures

http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/women-s-rights/violence-against-women/violence-

against-women-information