United Nations Human Rights Council

BACKGROUND GUIDE

Vancouver Model The Twentieth Annual Session | January 29–31, 2021

Dear Delegates, William Tsai Secretary-General My name is Nick Liu, and I am thrilled to serve as your Director at UNHRC at VMUN 2021. Alongside myself are Rafeeq Kassam-Jiwani, your Chair, and Katrina Sun, your Assistant Director, who are both juniors at West Point Grey Academy. All three of us on the staff team are looking forward to a weekend filled with thoughtful discourse, intense Vivian Gu debate, and memorable moments. Director-General I am currently a senior student at Fraser Heights Secondary School, and I have been Derek Wu immersed in the Model United Nations community ever since I entered high school. I Chief of Staff often think back to why I fell in love with MUN: the committees filled with young diplomatic minds, sparks of clashing debate, and midnight crises filled with betrayals and Tyler Rosenzweig surprises. Albeit cliché, my career would not be worth it if not for the close friends forged Director of Logistics from the occasional late-night rants and countless embarrassing moments.

I am sure each delegate is familiar with the difficulties that COVID-19 has brought the past year; however, that has not changed the value Model United Nations possesses in Joyce Chen training public speaking and diplomacy skills. In light of those challenges, I implore you USG General Assemblies to take this year’s online conference as an opportunity to research more about the unprecedented and unexpected situations that can affect the human rights of migrant Ethan Jasny workers and . USG Specialized Agencies If you have any concerns or questions leading up to the conference, please do not hesitate Vivian Liang to contact either myself or one of my fellow Dais members via email at [email protected]. USG Conference The Dais team is beyond ecstatic to welcome you to the United Nations Human Rights Council at VMUN 2021. Jonah Ezekiel USG Finance With warm regards,

Laura Choi Nick Liu USG Communications UNHRC Director

Armaan Jaffer USG Delegate Affairs

Mia Tsao USG Delegate Affairs

Position Paper Policy

What is a Position Paper?

A position paper is a brief overview of a country’s stance on the topics being discussed by a particular committee. Though there is no specific format the position paper must follow, it should include a description of your positions your country holds on the issues on the agenda, relevant actions that your country has taken, and potential solutions that your country would support.

At Vancouver Model United Nations, delegates should write a position paper for each of the committee’s topics. Each position paper should not exceed one page, and should all be combined into a single document per delegate.

For the United Nations Human Rights Council, position papers are not mandatory but highly recommended, especially for a delegate to be considered for an award.

Formatting

Position papers should:

— Include the name of the delegate, his/her country, and the committee

— Be in a standard font (e.g. Times New Roman) with a 12-point font size and 1-inch document margins

— Not include illustrations, diagrams, decorations, national symbols, watermarks, or page borders

— Include citations and a bibliography, in any format, giving due credit to the sources used in research (not included in the 1-page limit)

Due Dates and Submission Procedure

Position papers for this committee must be submitted by midnight on January 22nd, 2021. Once your position paper is complete, please save the file as your last name, your first name and send it as an attachment in an email, to your committee’s email address, with the subject heading as your last name, your first name — Position Paper. Please do not add any other attachments to the email or write anything else in the body.

Both your position papers should be combined into a single PDF or Word document file; position papers submitted in another format will not be accepted.

Each position paper will be manually reviewed and considered for the Best Position Paper award.

The email address for this committee is [email protected].

Human Rights of Migrant Workers ...... 3 Overview ...... 3 Timeline ...... 4 Historical Analysis ...... 6 Case Study: South Africa ...... 6 Case Study: Post-World War II ...... 7

Case Study: Persian Gulf ...... 8 Past UN/International Involvement ...... 8 International Labor Organization ...... 8

International Organization for Migration ...... 9

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers ...... 9

UN Involvement Impacting Female Migrant Workers ...... 9

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) ...... 10

Global Compact on Migration (GCM) ...... 10 Current Situation ...... 11 Women Migrant Workers ...... 12

Case Study: Italy and Xenophobia ...... 12

Case Study: Philippines and Remittances ...... 13

Case Study: Qatar and the World Cup ...... 14 Possible Solutions and Controversies ...... 14 Ratification of the 1990 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers ...... 14

Human Rights Data Collection, Reporting, and Monitoring Systems ...... 15

Reducing Reliance on Migrant Remittances ...... 16

Reforming Temporary Worker Programs...... 16 Bloc Positions ...... 16 Migrant-Receiving Countries ...... 17

Migrant-Sending Countries ...... 18 Discussion Questions ...... 19 Bibliography ...... 20

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 1 Strengthening Protection Policies ...... 24 Overview ...... 24 Timeline ...... 25 Historical Analysis ...... 26 Past UN/International Involvement ...... 29 Regional Conventions ...... 29

UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime ...... 30

UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) ...... 30 Current Situation ...... 30 Technology and Social Media ...... 31

Case Study: Transnational Scandals ...... 32

Case Study: Anonymous Trump-Ukraine Whistleblower ...... 33 Possible Solutions and Controversies ...... 33 International Protection and Reporting Mechanisms ...... 33 Protection from Discrimination and Criminal Prosecution ...... 34

Performance Reviews ...... 35 Bloc Positions ...... 35 Asia-Pacific ...... 35

United States ...... 36

Latin America and the Caribbean...... 36

European Union and the ...... 36

Africa ...... 37 Discussion Questions ...... 37 Additional Resources ...... 38 Bibliography ...... 39

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 2 Human Rights of Migrant Workers

Overview

For centuries, humans have migrated from their homelands in search of a better life, whether it be to find economic opportunities and security (known as the pull factor), or to flee their current hostile situation because of war, violence, persecution, and climate change (known as the push factor). The United Nations defines a migrant worker as “a person who is engaged or has been engaged in a remunerated activity in a State of which he or she is not a national.”1 In 2019, there were an estimated 164 million migrant workers worldwide.2 Most of these are legal migrant workers with temporary status and limited rights, but this figure also includes estimates of workers who do not have legal status, yet still perform essential jobs, often in domestic or health care help.3 Major hubs for migrant workers include the Arab states, countries in the European Union, and the United States.4

Migrant workers make up almost 5 percent of the workforce in migrant-receiving countries, making their economic contributions—particularly in unskilled or low wage sectors—significant to these countries’ economies.5 In addition, low and middle-income migrant-sending countries rely on remittances sent back home from workers abroad, which, in 2019, reached approximately USD 551 billion in value worldwide.6

Although international migrant workers are essential to most world economies, they are often granted limited rights in the country they work in. Migrant families frequently inhabit hostile living environments with limited access to healthcare and are often subjected to discrimination and xenophobia. They are also routinely threatened with deportation if they do not cooperate with their employers, making human rights abuses in the workplace nearly inevitable.

Conversely, granting migrant workers the same rights as citizens would result in many migrant-receiving nations limiting the number of workers allowed entrance into their country.7 This is because the economic and political cost of extending benefits to non-nationals is deleterious to the nation, whether it be the high price of providing

1 “International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers.” OHCHR, December 18, 1990, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CMW.aspx. 2 Natalia Popova and Mustafa Hakki Özel, ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers: Results and Methodology, Geneva: International Labour Office, 2018, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/--- publ/documents/publication/wcms_652001.pdf. 3 Victoria Castillo Rueda, Women migrant workers’ labour market situation in West Africa, Geneva: International Labour Organization, 2020, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/--- publ/documents/publication/wcms_652001.pdf. 4 Popova and Özel, “ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers: Results and Methodology.” 5 Ibid. 6 Dilip Ratha, “Data Release: Remittances to Low- and Middle-Income Countries on Track to Reach $551 Billion in 2019 and $597 Billion by 2021,” World Bank Blogs, October 16, 2019, https://blogs.worldbank.org/peoplemove/data-release-remittances-low-and- middle-income-countries-track-reach-551-billion-2019. 7 Martin Ruhs, “Less Is More When It Comes to Migrant Rights,” The Conversation, October 2, 2013, https://theconversation.com/less-is-more-when-it-comes-to-migrant-rights-18811.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 3 healthcare, safe housing and social services to the workers or the provocation of anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobia amongst its citizens. Furthermore, restricting admittance into migrant-receiving countries is disadvantageous to the migrant workers and migrant-sending countries, as it denies employment opportunities for workers and impacts the amount of remittances transferred back to the origin countries.

The main protection for migrant workers to ensure basic human rights is the 1990 UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, which is currently signed by 55 countries. Article 7 of the Convention protects these rights regardless of "sex, race, color, language, religion or conviction, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, nationality, age, economic position, property, marital status, birth, or other status." 8 However, this Convention has been signed by almost no migrant-receiving countries, thus limiting its impact and effectiveness.9

The principal debate of this committee must be focused on how to ensure basic human rights for migrant workers while understanding the political, social and economic consequences to both migrant-receiving and migrant-sending countries. While the 1990 UN Convention establishes a framework for human rights of migrant workers, the UNHRC has a duty to further promote and protect these rights.

Timeline

1600s-1800s — The African slave trade—the largest mass forced labour migration in history—takes place. Colonial powers forcibly remove people from their homes and bring them to work, without remuneration and without freedom, in the plantations of the New World.10

1834-1917 — Early migrant workers are bound by labour contracts to British colonists. Indentured labour is little better than slavery and is characterized by poor working conditions, extremely low wages, and untenable hours. The majority of the labourers migrate from China and India.11

1840s-1900 — Migrant workers from all parts of southern Africa are recruited by settler colonialists to work in the diamond and gold mines. Workers are forced to live in cramped and isolated living quarters, separated from the white urban areas.12

1919 — The International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Constitution of 1919 calls for the “protection of the interests of workers when employed in countries other than their own.” 13 This is the first time that an international organization recognizes the rights of migrant workers.

8 OHCHR, "International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers.” 9 Antoine Pécoud, “The Politics of the UN Convention on Migrant Workers’ Rights,” Groningen Journal of International Law, 5, no. 1 (January 2017): pp. 57-72, https://doi.org/10.21827/59db6983b848b. 10 “A History of migration,” Striking Women, n.d., https://www.striking-women.org/module/migration/history-migration. 11 Ibid. 12 Janice Fine, “Migration and Migrant Workers in the Post-Apartheid Era,” Global Labour Journal 5, no.3 (2014), https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/2281/2295. 13 “Fair Migration Agenda (Labour Migration),” International Labour Organization, n.d., https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-migration/fair-migration-agenda/lang--en/index.htm.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 4 1942-1964 — The Bracero Program is agreed upon by the United States and Mexico to alleviate the worker shortage in the United States created by World War II.14 The program allows Mexican citizens to take temporary agricultural work in the United States, however they are often underpaid and live in substandard housing.

1950s-1960s — Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Scandinavian countries implement guest worker programs to recruit unskilled workers from southern and eastern European countries in the years following World War II.15

1970s — The oil boom in the Persian Gulf creates a growing demand for migrant labour in oil, construction, and industrial sectors.16 1.3 million workers, primarily from Egypt, Yemen, and Palestine, relocate to the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait, often living in alienated and isolated conditions.17

July 1, 2003 — The Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families enters into force following ratification by 20 countries.18 The Convention protects migrant workers’ rights by guaranteeing a minimum degree of protection; however, its effectiveness is limited because no migrant- receiving nations sign the treaty. As of 2020, the treaty is ratified by 55 countries, but they are primarily migrant- sending countries.19

2010 — Qatar wins the bid to host the FIFA World Cup in 2022. Migrants from Bangladesh, India, and Nepal begin work on a series of building and industrial projects, but often face unsafe working conditions, cramped living quarters, and non-payment of wages.20

September 2015 — The UN adopts the Sustainable Development Goals that serve as a blueprint to address global challenges by 2030. Targets 8 and 10 include protection for migrant workers by securing safe working environments and encouraging well-managed migration policies.21

December 2018 — The Global Compact on Migration (GCM) is signed by 164 member states.22 The compact outlines 23 objectives for the holistic management of migration, including the rights of migrant workers. The compact does not impose any policies on member states and is not legally binding; instead, it is a compact of

14 “U.S. and Mexico Sign the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement,” History.com, October 7, 2019, https://www.history.com/this-day- in-history/us-mexico-sign-mexican-farm-labor-agreement-bracero-program. 15 Sarah Parry, “Guest worker,” Encyclopædia Britannica, May 21, 2013, https://www.britannica.com/topic/guest-worker. 16 Anisur Rahman, “Migration and Human Rights in the Gulf,” Middle East Institute, February 2, 2010, https://www.mei.edu/publications/migration-and-human-rights-gulf. 17 Hélène Thiollet, “Managing Migrant Labour in the Gulf: Transnational dynamics of migration politics since the 1930s,” HAL, July 18, 2016, https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01346366/document. 18 “International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers.” OHCHR, December 18, 1990, https://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CMW.aspx. 19 Pécoud, “The Politics of the UN Convention on Migrant Workers’ Rights.” 20 Pete Pattisson, “Migrant Workers in Qatar Face 'Structural Racism' Says UN Report,” , July 15, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/15/migrant-workers-in-qatar-face-structural-racism-says-un-report. 21 “The 17 Goals - Department of Economic and Social Affairs,” United Nations, 2015, https://sdgs.un.org/goals. 22 “Governments Adopt UN Global Migration Pact to Help 'Prevent Suffering and Chaos',” UN News, December 10, 2018, https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/12/1028041.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 5 good faith and urges cooperation across nations. Critics of the agreement suggest that a good faith compact does not enforce nations to comply with the terms of the compact, and thus may largely be ignored.23

2020 — The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic sweeps the world and strands thousands of migrant workers, highlighting their precarious and vulnerable circumstances. Many of these migrant workers are stranded between countries, have lost their jobs and housing, and have no access to testing or basic healthcare.24

Historical Analysis

The search for decent work and the quest for a better life has driven migration for centuries. Migrant workers often flee difficult circumstances—including poverty, famine and war—to seek work in other countries where they hope to find new economic opportunities. In Asia, much of the migrant mobility was driven by Chinese and Arab traders utilizing sea routes between India, Europe and West Africa.25 European colonization of the New World provided many citizens with the opportunity to migrate in search of employment. In Africa, historically, much of the migration involved hunting or pastoralism, driven by a search for food security.26

With the rise of global colonialism and capitalism, the demand for workers continued to grow. This new demand fueled the growth of highly unethical labour practices, including slavery and indentured servitude. The African slave trade was the largest forced migration in history. 10 million workers were forcibly removed from their home countries and transported to the Americas to work on sugar, tobacco, and cotton plantations without remuneration.27 Following the Slave Abolition Act of 1833, the British Empire used indentured workers as a replacement for slaves.28 These workers, primarily from India and China, were bound by labour contracts to work abroad for terms of five years or more. Between 1833 and 1917, millions of Chinese and Indian workers were sent to the British colonies in South America, Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, where they laboured in plantations and on construction projects.29 The working conditions were poor, the pay minimal, and the hours punitive. The British Empire abolished indentured labour in 1917 due to an increase in political pressure, particularly after the Indian national movement exposed the oppression and exploitation of the system.30

Case Study: South Africa

Migrant workers have laboured in southern Africa since the mid-1800s. They initially worked as farm labourers and then later found jobs in the diamond and gold mines, which required hard, manual work and a cheap and

23 ““The United Nations' Global Compact for Migration Is a Success for Some and a Failure for Others,” Munk, January 17, 2019, https://www.munkgc.com/politics/the-united-nations-global-compact-of-migration-is-a-success-for-some-and-a-failure-for- others/. 24 “Migrants Stranded 'All over the World' and at Risk from Coronavirus,” UN News, May 7, 2020, https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063482. 25 Striking Women, “A History of migration." 26 Ibid. 27 Ibid. 28 Ibid. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 6 constant labour force. Labourers were recruited from poorer neighbouring nations and tribes, including Mozambique, Botswana, Lesotho, and eSwatini, and were paid a much lower wage than local South Africans. Racism and migrant labour have long been intertwined—the prejudice that existed towards Black workers resulted in them living in cramped and isolated living quarters, separated from the white urban areas.31 Foreign labourers, who were also poor and uneducated, worked at the mercy of the rich, white mine-owners. Many of these workers were unregulated and therefore vulnerable to exploitation, low pay, and abuse.

Case Study: Post-World War II

In the years following World War II, the number of migrant workers worldwide increased exponentially. In the United States, there was a severe domestic labour shortage during and following World War II. To resolve this shortage, the American government introduced the Bracero program in 1943, which allowed short term contract workers from Mexico to work legally in the United States.32 Although the program provided a reliable labour supply for the Americans, critics contended that it merely served to legislate the use of cheap labour. It is estimated that over 4.5 million Mexicans obtained legal work under this agreement.33 The program continued until 1964, and by then, the American agricultural industry was incontestably dependent on Mexican migrant workers.

In Europe, rapid industrial growth after World War II created a demand for manual labour. For example, the German "gastarbeiter" program (which translates to "guest worker") encouraged temporary workers to find employment in Germany.34 Labourers from , Greece, Italy, and Yugoslavia met this demand, and worked on building and construction projects to help rebuild the German economy.35 Similar programs existed in the Scandinavian countries, as well as Belgium and the Netherlands. Britain and France also attracted workers from countries in North Africa and other former colonies to help with the rebuilding of their economy and infrastructure.36 Overall, this period is characterized as having positive benefits to both the migrant-receiving and migrant-sending countries. For the migrant-sending countries, ample remittances were sent back home and abundant foreign employment opportunities offset the high local unemployment rate. For migrant-receiving countries, workers proved essential to buttress a thriving, growing economy. By the 1970s, oil prices rose dramatically, halting economic growth and lowering the demand for migrant labour in Europe. Because of this, many European countries, including Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and France, passed laws to restrict the

31 Janice Fine, "Migration and Migrant Workers in the Post-Apartheid Era," Global Labour Journal 5, no. 3 (2014), https://mulpress.mcmaster.ca/globallabour/article/view/2281/2295. 32 Brent Funderbunk, “Operation Wetback,” Encyclopædia Britannica, September 4, 2017, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Operation-Wetback 33 Ratha, “Data Release: Remittances to Low- and Middle-Income Countries on Track to Reach $551 Billion in 2019 and $597 Billion by 2021.” 34 Parry, “Guest worker.” 35 “Migrant Labour,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, April 25, 2018, https://www.britannica.com/topic/migrant-labour. 36 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 7 entrance of migrant workers.37 In Germany, for instance, the federal cabinet declared a ban on the recruitment of foreign workers in November of 1973.38

Case Study: Persian Gulf

The oil boom in the Persian Gulf of the 1970s and 1980s created a growing demand for migrant labour in the oil, construction, and industrial sectors.39 By 1975, 1.3 million unskilled labourers, primarily from Egypt, Yemen, and Palestine, relocated to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait, often living in alienated and isolated conditions. 40 This trend continued as more lavish building projects were undertaken in the 1980s, which demanded higher skilled workers. At this time, there was growing preference for Asian labourers from countries such as India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, as Arab workers were increasingly considered politically unsafe.41 In the 1990s, workers from China and Russia began migrating to the Persian Gulf, creating a diverse migrant workforce that exceeds over 15 million migrants to this day. 42 The Persian Gulf countries have embraced a philosophy of more workers/less rights, and though they admit many workers, the conditions are often abysmal and workers are denied their basic rights. This is because the labour laws in countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar do not meet international labour standards for the protection of migrant workers.43

Past UN/International Involvement

International Labor Organization

Protection of migrant workers has been globally recognized since the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Constitution of 1919 called for “the protection of the interests of workers when employed in countries other than their own.” 44 Since then, the ILO has championed the human rights of migrant workers by developing international labour standards and establishing policies and programmes to ensure the fair treatment of all labourers. The ILO was responsible for two significant conventions that were the precursors to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers. These are the legally binding Migration for Employment convention of 1949 and the Migrations in Abusive Conditions and the Promotion of Equality of

37 Christof Van Mol and Helga De Valk, “Migration and immigrants in Europe: A historical and demographic perspective,” in Integration processes and policies in Europe: Contexts, levels and actors, ed. R. Penninx, & B. Garcés-Mascarenas (Springer, 2015), 31-55, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21674-4_3. 38 “Labour Migration,” Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community, January 8, 2019, https://www.bmi.bund.de/EN/topics/migration/immigration/labour-migration/labour-migration-node.html. 39 Rahman, “Migration and Human Rights in the Gulf.” 40 Thiollet, “Managing Migrant Labour in the Gulf: Transnational dynamics of migration politics since the 1930s.” 41 Rahman, “Migration and Human Rights in the Gulf.” 42 Ibid. 43 Ibid. 44 “Fair Migration Agenda (Labour Migration),” International Labour Organization, n.d., https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour-migration/fair-migration-agenda/lang--en/index.htm.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 8 Opportunity and Treatment of Migrant Workers of 1975. 45 The first convention mandates that ratifying countries extend the same rights to migrant workers as their national counterparts and the second convention addresses irregular migration. The ILO is also responsible for compiling and researching data on migrant labour in various geographic regions. For instance, a recently released report on women migrant workers in West Africa seeks to develop a methodology for comparable reports to be developed for all of Africa.

International Organization for Migration

In 1951, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) was founded to resettle approximately 11 million people displaced by the Second World War. The IOM is an intergovernmental organization that works with countries on all areas of migration, including migrant workers.46 In 2018, the UN appointed the IOM as the administrative body for the newly established United Nations Network on Migration. The IOM successfully negotiated the terms of the Global Compact on Migration (GCM), and is responsible for implementing the GCM’s objectives, including data collection, assigning proof of legal identity, and improving circumstances in the home country to minimize migration. One of the successes of the IOM has been the establishment of the migration data portal, which provides migration statistics and global migration data. This data has been essential in revealing the human rights abuses that are occurring worldwide due to COVID-19.47

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers

In 1990, the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families was ratified as a multilateral treaty that now has the support of 55 parties. The treaty officially came into force on July 1, 2003, following ratification by 20 countries.

The Convention was primarily authored by migrant-sending countries to ensure the protection of their own workers abroad; however, many migrant-receiving countries perceive the Convention as a limitation on their own sovereignty over immigration. Some countries also believe that it is not the economic responsibility of the host country to protect non-citizen migrant workers. Thus, the Convention is not supported by many migrant- receiving countries, including the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.48 Given that it remains one of the most undersigned treaties in international human rights law, it has limited effectiveness in accomplishing its original objective of protecting migrant workers.49

UN Involvement Impacting Female Migrant Workers

There are several UN initiatives that specifically impact female migrant workers. In 2000, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, was ratified by 175 countries.50

45 Ryszard Cholewinski, “Protecting Migrant Workers in a Globalized World,” migrationpolicy.org, March 2, 2017, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/protecting-migrant-workers-globalized-world. 46 “IOM History,” International Organization for Migration, March 28, 2019, https://www.iom.int/iom-history. 47 “Migration Data Relevant for the COVID-19 Pandemic,” Migration Data Portal, June 26, 2020, https://migrationdataportal.org/themes/migration-data-relevant-covid-19-pandemic. 48 OHCHR, “International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers.” 49 Pécoud, “The Politics of the UN Convention on Migrant Workers’ Rights." 50 Rueda, "Women migrant workers’ labour market situation in West Africa."

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 9 This protocol is a significant law enforcement accomplishment and its signatories are mandated to create trafficking legislation that protects the rights of women and children.51 In response to the 2019 Trafficking in Persons Report, 168 governments have implemented domestic legislation criminalizing all forms of human trafficking, a strong indication of the protocol’s success.52 Australia, New Zealand, the United States, and are examples of countries that have enacted strong trafficking legislation.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

In 2013, the UN General Assembly made a Declaration of the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, recognizing that migration is key to sustainable economic development. 53 As a result, migration was included in the 17 UN Sustainable Goals, established in September 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The two targets most relevant to migrant workers fall under category 8 of "Decent Work and Economic Growth" and category 10 of "Reduced Inequalities."54 In response to meeting these goals, the ILO released official guidelines for collecting statistics on international migration.55 A recently released 2020 report documents the progress of these goals and—though a few areas have shown improvement, including improving maternal health and increasing women’s representation in government—these gains have been largely offset by the detrimental effects of the worldwide pandemic.56

Global Compact on Migration (GCM)

In December 2018, 164 nations adopted the United Nations Global Compact on Migration for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM), which highlights the benefits of migration, but also details subsequent challenges for individuals and countries that are a part of a migration route (origin, transit or destination).This includes policies in the origin countries that offer quality employment opportunities to their own people, collaborative agreements between countries to ensure safe passage of migrants, and the admissions policies of the destination country.57 The Compact outlines 23 objectives that aim to help countries define policies for transnational cooperation in

51 Kelly E. Hyland, "The Impact of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children," Human Rights Brief 8, no. 2 (2001): 30-31, http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1492&context=hrbrief. 52 “2019 Trafficking in Persons Report,” US Department of State, June 2019, https://www.state.gov/wp- content/uploads/2019/06/2019-Trafficking-in-Persons-Report.pdf. 53 General Assembly resolution 68/4, Declaration of the High-level Dialogue on International Migration and Development, A/RES/68/4 (3 October 2013), https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_RES_68_4.pdf. 54 “The 17 Goals - Department of Economic and Social Affairs,” United Nations, 2015, https://sdgs.un.org/goals. 55 ICLS/20/2018/Room document 11, Statistics on international labour migration, 20th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, October 10-19, 2018, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/--- dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_436343.pdf 56 “Sustainable Development Goals Report – United Nations Sustainable Development,” United Nations, 2020, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/progress-report/. 57 “Governments Adopt UN Global Migration Pact to Help 'Prevent Suffering and Chaos',” UN News, December 10, 2018, https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/12/1028041.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 10 areas such as data collection, assigning proof of legal identity, and improving circumstances in the home country to minimize migration.58

Although the Compact reaffirms human rights for all migrant workers, many countries—such as the United States, Australia, Austria, and Poland—opted out of the negotiation and signing process. They did so as a result of internal concerns that the Compact would inspire even more migrants, or that the Compact would erode individual states’ abilities to determine their own immigration laws.59

Current Situation

According to the ILO’s 2018 Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers, there are currently 164 million migrant workers worldwide—96 million of whom are men and 68 million of whom are women.60 About 60 percent of these migrant workers are concentrated in three regions: North America, Northern, Southern, and Western Europe, and the Arab states.61 Much of the wealth accumulated by these migrant workers is sent back to their home countries in the form of remittances; in 2019, the top five remittance recipient countries were India, China, Mexico, the Philippines, and Egypt. 62 Remittances are vital to migrant-sending nations’ economies, representing up to 10 percent of a country’s GDP.63

For migrant-receiving countries, there is usually a trade-off between human rights for migrant workers and the number of migrant workers that are granted entry. Some countries have comparatively open admission policies but provide almost no rights to the migrants. For instance, in Saudi Arabia, migrant workers do not have the freedom to change jobs, do not get vacation time, cannot form unions, and do not have access to non- governmental organizations (NGOs) or other human rights groups because these groups have all been shut down.64 Other countries offer rights to migrant workers nearly equal to those of their own citizenry, but have more restrictive admission policies.65 In fact, Europe has been nicknamed "Fortress Europe" because many of its countries focus on border control and have a prevalent negative attitude towards immigration.66 For example, Germany has recently introduced a new policy that focuses on attracting highly skilled or educated workers, but has restricted access to other types of unskilled workers.67 In the United Kingdom and Italy, policies have focused

58 “The United Nations' Global Compact for Migration Is a Success for Some and a Failure for Others,” Munk, January 17, 2019, https://www.munkgc.com/politics/the-united-nations-global-compact-of-migration-is-a-success-for-some-and-a-failure-for- others/. 59 Ibid. 60 Popova and Özel, "ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers: Results and Methodology." 61 Ibid. 62 Ibid. 63 Ibid. 64 “Saudi Arabia: Migrant Workers Have No Unions to Protect Their Civil and Human Rights, Leaving Them at Risk of Abuse,” Gulf Centre for Human Rights, May 19, 2019, https://www.gc4hr.org/news/view/2135. 65 Ruhs, “Less Is More When It Comes to Migrant Rights.” 66 Jessica Hagen-Zanker and Richard Mallett, “Migration Policy: Three Things to Know about 'Fortress Europe',” ODI, October 20, 2015, https://www.odi.org/blogs/9995-migration-policy-three-things-know-about-fortress-europe. 67 “Germany Outlines Plan to Attract Skilled Migrant Workers,” DW.COM, December 16, 2019, https://www.dw.com/en/germany- outlines-plan-to-attract-skilled-migrant-workers/a-51701315.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 11 on tighter border control in order to restrict migrants from entering the country.68 Unfortunately, migrant rights can be affected either way; if migration policies are very restrictive, migrants are more likely to enter countries through unregulated means. Unsafe migration routes and exorbitant rates for transportation place these workers at significant risk for abuse and exploitation from the profit-hungry smugglers. In fact, the UN estimates that more than 60,000 migrants worldwide have died in transport since 2000. 69 Conversely, the more open the admissions policy, the more likely it is that labour and social rights will not be granted to migrant workers. This is because granting extensive rights—including social security, healthcare, vacation, fair wage, and collective bargaining—can be extremely costly to the migrant-receiving country, counteracting the economic benefit of hiring cheap, migrant labour.

Women Migrant Workers

According to the International Labour Organization, 41.6 percent of all international migrant workers are women.70 They are responsible for up to 300 billion USD in remittances each year back to their countries of origin. However, many female migrant workers face specific barriers because of their gender. For example, 73.4 percent of all migrant domestic workers are women who are often employed in the unregulated domestic sector, working in private homes where they are more susceptible to abuse and exploitation. 71 In the Arab states, migrant domestic workers depend on their employers for legal status, so women live in fear of deportation if they speak out against unfair or abusive practices. Other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Malaysia, and Thailand, will deport a migrant woman worker if she becomes pregnant. In Southeast Asia, women migrate from Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Vietnam to migrant-receiving nations such as Thailand and Malaysia. The predominant work for these women is in the garment and electronics industry. Many of the women are undocumented, work long hours, and live in substandard housing.

Case Study: Italy and Xenophobia

Though Italy has historically had open admission policies for migrant workers, in recent years, it has introduced increasingly restrictive responses to migration, largely focusing on deterrence. Because of its geographic location, Italy bears the brunt of migrants who flee Africa in search of safer working and living conditions. In 2008, a bilateral agreement between Italy and Libya allowed Italy to forcibly return illegal migrants caught crossing the Mediterranean. In 2012, this practice was terminated when the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Italy was violating human rights by returning the migrants to an unsafe and harmful situation.72 Subsequently, the refugee crisis of 2015, which brought 1 million refugees into Europe as a result of the Syrian Civil war, fuelled a xenophobic and anti-immigrant sentiment among many of the right-wing populist parties in Europe, including Italy’s Lega Nord. In 2018, the election campaign of Matteo Salvini centered around anti-immigration rhetoric,

68 Hagen-Zanker and Mallett, “Migration Policy: Three Things to Know about 'Fortress Europe.'” 69 “Governments Adopt UN Global Migration Pact to Help 'Prevent Suffering and Chaos',” UN News, December 10, 2018, https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/12/1028041. 70 Popova and Özel, "ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers: Results and Methodology." 71 Ibid. 72 “Why EU States Are Converging on Restrictive Migration Policies, despite Their Different Political Traditions,” EUROPP, July 24, 2019, https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2019/07/17/why-eu-states-are-converging-on-restrictive-migration-policies-despite- their-different-political-traditions/.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 12 which threatened to deport the 600,000 illegal migrants living in Italy.73 The coalition ruling party has now enacted more restrictive legislation around illegal immigrants and asylum seekers.

Italy’s agricultural sector heavily relies on migrant workers, many of whom are from Romania and sub-Saharan Africa. Because of the restrictive immigration laws, the workers are often undocumented, work without labour rights, and are paid well below minimum wage. The coronavirus has sparked a new migrant labour crisis in Italy, as many of the Romanian workers have returned home, leaving the agricultural crops to rot. The migrant workers from Africa are primarily undocumented asylum seekers and the virus has restricted their movement and confined them to the asylum shelters or rural ghettos.74 The failing agricultural industry has prompted renewed debate on the regularization of migrant workers, resulting in a draft decree to grant valid work permits to undocumented workers for up to six months.75 The pandemic has exposed the reliance of Italy’s economy on undocumented migrant workers, even though, up to this point, the social and political sentiment of the country has been undeniably anti-immigrant.

Case Study: Philippines and Remittances

The Philippines is a migrant-sending nation, and for decades, it has exemplified a pervasive culture of migration. During the 1970s, the Philippines experienced an economic recession which prompted many workers to search for better employment opportunities elsewhere. Chiefly, the Gulf States became a labour migration magnet and new markets also opened up in Southeast Asia and East Asia, resulting in further migration diversification.76 Today, approximately 10 percent of the Filipino population (about 10 million people) are migrant workers living abroad.77 Approximately 4.9 million are permanent settlers living primarily in the United States; 4.2 million are temporary workers; and an estimated 1.2 million are undocumented migrants, primarily working in Southeast Asia and the United States.78

The Philippines has enjoyed remarkable economic growth in recent years, but this has not dampened the number of migrant workers leaving the country. The Philippines is renowned for progressive policies and legislation that provide protection to migrant workers who are working abroad, including the 1995 Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act. A key aspect of the Act is ensuring the destination country has adequate existing labour and social laws in place to protect the migrant worker.79 The Philippines is considered a global leader in the development of migrant labour policy and it continues to encourage migration to its citizenry.80 As a result, their

73 Ibid. 74 Hsiao-Hung Pai, “Italy's All Too Revealing Call for Regularising Migrant Labour,” openDemocracy, May 6, 2020, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/italys-all-too-revealing-call-for-regularising-migrant-labour/. 75 Ibid. 76 Maruja M.B. Asis, “The Philippines: Beyond Labor Migration, Toward Development and (Possibly) Return,” migrationpolicy.org, November 30, 2017, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/philippines-beyond-labor-migration-toward-development-and- possibly-retun. 77 Ibid. 78 Ibid. 79 Ibid. 80 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 13 economy relies heavily on remittances and, in 2019, money sent back from migrants abroad reached an all-time high of 33 billion USD.81

Case Study: Qatar and the World Cup

The Gulf States have been a migrant workers’ hub since the 1970s. Work opportunities in the region have been largely characterized by plentiful temporary work combined with substandard working conditions and abusive conditions. A newly released UN report highlights significant human rights abuses against migrant workers, particularly those working to prepare Qatar to host the World Cup in 2022.82 Of the 2 million migrants in the region, most come from South Asia and East or West Africa.83 The report documents a plethora of abuses including “non-payment of wages, unsafe working conditions, racial profiling by the police, and denial of access to some public spaces”.84 The report also criticizes "kafala," a sponsorship system in which workers are not allowed to change jobs without their employer’s approval. These systemic power imbalances between employers and migrant workers mean that many workers cannot speak out against the injustices.85 Countries like Qatar have relied heavily on migrant workers to support their economy, but they are unwilling to extend basic labour and human rights to migrant workers. The recent UN report has put pressure on Qatar to make changes; the government has recently said it will abolish the kafala system and establish a minimum wage in the coming year. Only time will tell if the changes are implemented.86

Possible Solutions and Controversies

At its core, a resolution from the UNHRC must promote the protection of human rights, address situations of violations, or make recommendations to solve human rights abuses. The fundamental issue of human rights abuses for migrant workers (both legal and illegal), predominantly stems from substandard working conditions and unfair labour practices in migrant-receiving countries. Any resolution will need to consider the differing human rights situations of legal permanent migrant workers, legal temporary migrant workers, irregular migrant workers, and female migrant workers. The UNHRC should develop solutions to encourage a higher level of ratification of the Convention, promote better reporting and monitoring, support remittance use to develop local economic programs, and develop guidelines for migration policy that respects human and labour rights.

Ratification of the 1990 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers

The 1990 Convention is presented by the Office of the UN High Commissioner of Human Rights as one of the core international treaties of human rights. However, compared to other such treaties (including the Rights of the Child or Elimination of Discrimination Against Women), it has a shockingly low ratification rate at less than

81 Melissa Luz Lopez, “Remittances Surge to Fresh Peak in 2019,” CNN, February 17, 2020, https://www.cnnphilippines.com/business/2020/2/17/Remittances-December-2019.html. 82 Pete Pattisson, “Migrant Workers in Qatar Face 'Structural Racism' Says UN Report,” The Guardian, July 15, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/15/migrant-workers-in-qatar-face-structural-racism-says-un-report. 83 Ibid. 84 Ibid. 85 Ibid. 86 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 14 30 percent. More importantly, none of the signatories are the main Western migrant-receiving nations, including Germany, United States, United Kingdom and France (countries who typically have a positive track record in supporting human rights). There are a number of reasons why this might be, including misguided assumptions of what the requirements are and the provision in the Convention that mandates the extension of human rights to irregular workers. The benefits to ratification are clear for human rights—countries that ratify the convention must pass legislation that complies with the human rights that are outlined in the Convention, including extending equal treatment to migrants and nationals. It also stipulates that irregular migrants must see their human rights respected.

One of the challenges is that migration is not a balanced equation. Not surprisingly, the nations who have ratified the Convention are migrant-sending countries—countries who rely on remittances sent back home and who would also like to see their own nationals’ human rights protected while they work abroad. Migrant-receiving countries have little incentive to sign the Convention. They are concerned about the economic drain that extending rights to irregular migrants and temporary migrants entails, worried about potential restrictions that the Convention may place on their own migration policies, and uneasy about the unfair burden of providing human rights to another country’s citizenry. In order to encourage more signatories, an education and awareness campaign needs to be developed that will clearly articulate the benefits of the Convention and what exactly is required of the State (both legally and politically) in order to ratify it. The UNHRC should also be involved in more research and gain more understanding of why so many countries are not signing or ratifying the Convention. It should also set a reasonable target goal of ratification by 75 countries, with at least some of them migrant-receiving nations, by the year 2025.

Human Rights Data Collection, Reporting, and Monitoring Systems

Every country needs to establish a data collection process and monitoring system on migrant workers to ensure that the basic requirements of the Convention are being met. The ILO has established guidelines for collecting statistics on migrant workers, though enforcing the collection of data can be difficult, and varies from country to country. Much of the data collected relies on an individual country’s own sources, including population censuses, household surveys, and labour force surveys.87 It is also challenging for countries to collect statistics on undocumented or unregulated workers. The ILO and IOM, in conjunction with international organizations, must collaborate and assist the host country to collect data and to establish monitoring systems for human rights abuses. It is also essential that these organizations work with countries who have not signed the Convention, so human rights abuses can be tracked and uncovered worldwide. One such success is the recent 2020 UN report on human rights abuses of migrant workers in Qatar while preparing for the World Cup in 2022. This report has resulted in the Qatar government agreeing to implement significant changes, including plans to abolish the kafala system and establishing a minimum wage in the coming year.88

87 “Labour Migration,” Migration Data Portal, June 9, 2020, https://migrationdataportal.org/themes/labour-migration. 88 Pattisson, “Migrant Workers in Qatar Face 'Structural Racism' Says UN Report.”

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 15 Reducing Reliance on Migrant Remittances

Though the number of migrating workers is growing worldwide and offers international economic benefit, both the SDGs of the UN and the objectives of the GCM have targets to help migrant-sending countries develop policies and incentives to keep workers employed in their home country. The GCM aims to reduce “the adverse drivers and structural factors that hinder people from building and maintaining sustainable livelihoods in their countries of origin.” The majority of migrant workers are between the ages of 25 and 64, indicating that home countries are losing their prime workforce to host countries.89 Vocational training programs, entrepreneurship development and finance loans for micro- and small enterprises are examples of programs that stimulate local jobs. Migrant-sending countries should be encouraged to develop local job programs, which can be funded by a percentage of the remittances sent back from migrant workers abroad. The ILO has completed a number of country case studies (e.g., Bangladesh, Mexico and Nepal), that demonstrate the value of using remittances to promote job stimulation back home. Overall, it creates a mutually beneficial situation for both the migrant and the countries of origin and destination.90

Reforming Temporary Worker Programs

Temporary labour programs are popular among countries, such as the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, who are trying to address labour shortages for short-term projects. These programs usually have more human rights abuses associated with them, including lack of freedom of movement (i.e. being tied to one employer), no path to permanent immigration status, inability to bring family members with them, difficulties engaging in union or collective bargaining activity, and substandard labour conditions.91 In addition, because the target workers are often unskilled and poor, they routinely pay exorbitant fees to third party entities for job placement and transit to their destination countries. Though the amount of abuses vary from country to country, the nature of these programs make human rights violations more common. The UNHRC, in conjunction with the ILO and the IOM, should develop guidelines and recommendations for alternatives to temporary worker programs. The guidelines should include recommendations on best practices for granting full human and labour rights to migrant workers.

Bloc Positions

Countries have differing stances depending on whether they are a migrant-sending country, a migrant-receiving country, or both. Migrant-sending countries rely on remittances sent back from their workers abroad and do not want to jeopardize their relationships with the migrant-receiving countries. However, migrant-sending countries also wish to ensure that the human and labour rights of their citizenry abroad are protected. Conversely, most migrant-receiving countries are concerned with the economic, political and social effects that migrant workers

89 Popova and Özel, "ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers: Results and Methodology." 90 “A Migrant Centred Approach to Remittances (Labour Migration),” ILO, n.d., https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/labour- migration/policy-areas/remittances/lang--en/index.htm. 91 Daniel Costa and Philip Martin, “Temporary Labor Migration Programs: Governance, Migrant Worker Rights, and Recommendations for the U.N. Global Compact for Migration,” Economic Policy Institute, August 1, 2018, https://www.epi.org/publication/temporary-labor-migration-programs-governance-migrant-worker-rights-and- recommendations-for-the-u-n-global-compact-for-migration/.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 16 have on their own citizenry. Migrant-receiving countries have an economic incentive to maintain an inward flow of migrant workers to fill gaps in their labour market. However, they also need the ability to set their own migration legislation, including policies that determine who is admitted and under what circumstances deportation is allowed.

Migrant-Receiving Countries

Overall, the countries that embrace the most immigrants, both temporary and permanent, are the United States, Germany, United Kingdom, Spain, Canada, France, Australia, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Each of these countries have their own mix of permanent immigrants, temporary workers, asylum seekers, and irregular workers.

Europe

Most European countries are migrant-receiving nations. Generally, these countries have excellent labour and human rights policies for their own citizenry, and many extend basic human and labour rights to migrant workers. However, these countries are reluctant to sign the Convention as they perceive it will limit their sovereignty on immigration policy.92 The trend in Europe over the last two decades has been the implementation of increasingly restrictive immigration policies, particularly as they relate to unskilled labourers. After the 2015 refugee crisis, Hungary restricted migration and enacted a law that criminalized humanitarian aid to migrants.93 Other countries with right-wing populist governments followed suit, including Austria, Italy, Greece, and Poland.94 European countries that have relatively more open migration policies include the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

North America

The United States has one of the most open admissions policies in the world, though in comparative terms, it has become increasingly more restrictive under the anti-immigration Trump administration. The United States relies heavily on the tens of thousands of temporary Mexican migrant farm workers. Though the rate of migration from Mexico to the United States has declined in the last decade, the temporary migrants still represent a substantial percentage of the American workforce. 95 The United States is generally resistant to offering significant rights to its temporary migrant workers. President Trump’s anti-immigration policy has meant the admissions numbers are at the lowest they have been since 2008. However, due to COVID-19, a stalling economy, and the need to harvest the agricultural crops, Trump has relaxed policy to allow for workers to enter.96 The U.S. has not endorsed the Convention and did not support the Global Compact on Migration in 2018. Canada is also a primarily migrant-receiving country, has open admissions policies and generally extends human and labour

92 Pécoud, “The Politics of the UN Convention on Migrant Workers’ Rights.” 93 “Hungary,” migrationpolicy.org, July 1, 2020, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/country-resource/hungary. 94 “World Report 2019: Rights Trends in European Union,” Human Rights Watch, January 17, 2019, https://www.hrw.org/world- report/2019/country-chapters/european-union. 95 Elizabeth Grieco and Brian Ray, “Mexican Immigrants in the U.S. Labor Force in 2000,” Migration Policy Institute, March 1, 2004, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/mexican-immigrants-us-labor-force-2000. 96 “Coronavirus, New Threat for Mexican Migrant Workers in the U.S.”. Inter Press Service, April 2020, http://www.ipsnews.net/2020/04/coronavirus-new-threat-mexican-migrant-workers-u-s/.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 17 rights to its workers. However, Canada has recently begun issuing more temporary work visas in place of permanent work visas, which has resulted in less robust access to services. 97 Finally, although Mexico is predominantly a migrant-sending nation, it also receives many migrants from other parts of Central America. Mexico was one of the original authors of the 1990 Convention and signed as a migrant-sending nation, but increasingly it is also receiving migrants from other parts of Central America and is now being tasked with extending human rights to these workers.98

Africa and the Asia-Pacific

Migrant-receiving countries in Africa and the Asia-Pacific largely receive migrant workers from neighbouring, poorer countries. Key migrant-receiving countries in Asia are Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Thailand. India is also a top migrant-receiving nation, with most of its labourers coming from the geographic neighbours of Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.99 The top migrant-receiving countries in Africa are South Africa, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. 100 Almost all of the migrants entering these countries are from neighbouring nations, and generally come on temporary or unregulated terms. Human rights abuse of migrant workers and discrimination are common in these countries.

Arab States

Since the 1970s, the Arab States, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE, have been a receiving hub for migrant workers. There are millions of migrant workers, both legal and illegal, working in the Arab states. In general, the Arab states have open admissions policies for work, most often for temporary and unskilled labor. However, many abuses have been reported on the working and living conditions of migrant workers. None of the Arab States have signed the Convention.

Migrant-Sending Countries

Many countries in the Asia Pacific region, such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Nepal, are predominantly migrant-sending nations. Their economies are dependent on remittances sent back home. In Africa, a similar situation exists with both regional migration and international migration. The primary migrant- sending countries are Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Sudan.101 These countries send workers to Europe, the Arab States, and North America, in addition to regional neighbouring countries. India is the top migrant- sending country in the world, and 50 percent of the migrants go to one of three destinations—Pakistan, United States, and the United Arab Emirates. 102 Latin American countries are also migrant sending-nations with a

97 “Migrant Workers - the Issues,” Canadian Council for Refugees, n.d., https://ccrweb.ca/en/migrant-workers-issues. 98 Pécoud, “The Politics of the UN Convention on Migrant Workers’ Rights.” 99 Phillip Connor, “India Is a Top Source and Destination for World's Migrants,” Pew Research Center, May 31, 2020, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/03/india-is-a-top-source-and-destination-for-worlds-migrants/. 100 “Economic Development in Africa: Migration for Structural Transformation,” UNCTAD, n.d., https://unctad.org/en/Pages/ALDC/Africa/EDAR2018-Key-Statistics.aspx. 101 “Economic Development in Africa: Migration for Structural Transformation,” UNCTAD, n.d., https://unctad.org/en/Pages/ALDC/Africa/EDAR2018-Key-Statistics.aspx. 102 Connor, “India Is a Top Source and Destination for World's Migrants.” https://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2017/03/03/india-is-a-top-source-and-destination-for-worlds-migrants/.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 18 significant portion of their workers going to the United States, Argentina, and Peru.103 Many of these workers are undocumented and domestic workers.

Migrant-sending countries generally are supportive of policies in destination countries that extend more rights to migrant workers. However, because their economies rely heavily on remittances, they also do not want to jeopardize work opportunities abroad for their citizens. Some migrant-sending countries, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, have policies in place to protect their workers abroad, including not allowing labourers to work in countries that do not extend basic human rights. For the most part, migrant-sending countries are signatories to the Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers.

Discussion Questions

1. In general, does your country have a good track record on human rights abuses or are human rights abuses common?

2. Is your country a migrant-receiving nation, migrant-sending nation, or both? What are the push and pull factors of this migration?

3. What is your country’s stance and cultural attitude on immigration and foreign workers?

4. Has your country signed the Convention? If not, why might that be the case?

5. What policies are in place in your country to encourage workers to stay in their home country and contribute economically?

6. How much does your country’s economy rely on remittances sent back from workers abroad?

7. How much does your country’s economy rely on migrant workers?

8. How can the UNHRC develop policies that help protect illegal migrant workers?

9. How should the UNHRC and the international community approach situations in which a country’s policies encourage the discrimination of migrant workers?

10. How can the UNHRC assist countries in collecting data and monitoring human rights abuses of migrant workers?

103 Trevor Sutton and Dan Restrepo, “Getting Migration in the Americas Right,” Center for American Progress, June 24, 2019, https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/security/reports/2019/06/24/471322/getting-migration-americas-right/.

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Pattisson, Pete. “Migrant Workers in Qatar Face 'Structural Racism' Says UN Report.” The Guardian, July 15, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/15/migrant-workers-in-qatar-face- structural-racism-says-un-report.

Pécoud, Antoine. “The Politics of the UN Convention on Migrant Workers’ Rights.” Groningen Journal of International Law. 5, no. 1 (2017): 57–72. https://doi.org/10.21827/59db6983b848b.

Popova, Natalia, and Mustafa Hakki Özel. ILO Global Estimates on International Migrant Workers: Results and Methodology. Geneva: International Labour Office, 2018. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/--- dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_652001.pdf

Rahman, Anisur. “Migration and Human Rights in the Gulf.” Middle East Institute, February 2, 2010. https://www.mei.edu/publications/migration-and-human-rights-gulf.

Ratha, Dilip. “Data Release: Remittances to Low- and Middle-Income Countries on Track to Reach $551 Billion in 2019 and $597 Billion by 2021.” World Bank Blogs, October 16, 2019. https://blogs.worldbank.org/peoplemove/data-release-remittances-low-and-middle-income-countries- track-reach-551-billion-2019.

Rueda, Victoria Castillo. Women migrant workers’ labour market situation in West Africa. Geneva: International Labour Organization, 2020. https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/--- protrav/---migrant/documents/publication/wcms_751538.pdf.

Ruhs, Martin. “Less Is More When It Comes to Migrant Rights.” The Conversation, October 2, 2013. https://theconversation.com/less-is-more-when-it-comes-to-migrant-rights-18811.

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Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 22 Thiollet, Hélène. “Managing Migrant Labour in the Gulf: Transnational dynamics of migration politics since the 1930s.” HAL, July 18, 2016. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01346366/document.

“U.S. and Mexico Sign the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement.” History.com, October 7, 2019. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-mexico-sign-mexican-farm-labor-agreement-bracero- program.

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“Why EU States Are Converging on Restrictive Migration Policies, despite Their Different Political Traditions.” EUROPP, July 24, 2019. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2019/07/17/why-eu-states-are- converging-on-restrictive-migration-policies-despite-their-different-political-traditions/.

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Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 23 Strengthening Whistleblower Protection Policies

Overview

According to the Open Society Foundation, a “whistleblower is understood as someone working for an organization who discloses information that they believe shows evidence that may be illegal, unethical, or could cause harm to others.”104 This right to “to seek, receive and impart information through any media” is protected in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; hence, whistleblowers play a key role in a civil and just society by revealing information that is in the public’s best interests.105 Whistleblowers are key actors in the fight against corruption and are essential to keeping both private and public organizations accountable.106 Strong protections for whistleblowers are therefore essential for potential informants to feel safe while reporting corruption, human rights abuses, and other wrongdoing.

Whistleblowing is a highly charged issue among governments and corporations worldwide, particularly when the information revealed is classified, strategic, or confidential. As a result, currently, whistleblowers reveal information at great personal risk. Whistleblowers may be subject to intimidation and abuse by coworkers or superiors, lose their jobs and their career path, suffer social stigma by being labelled a traitor or a spy, or face criminal prosecution and potential incarceration. Some potential whistleblowers believe they have a moral responsibility to report wrongdoing and therefore choose to do it, no matter what the personal cost. Others want to work through safe and established reporting channels and will only disclose information if ample protections are in place. These protections may include source confidentiality, exemption from criminal and civil lawsuits, or psychological support.107

Whistleblower protection varies considerably from country to country, and the laws and protections in place depend on a country’s commitment to an honest and transparent democracy. Whistleblower protection has been a part of international law since 2003, when 140 countries signed the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC).108 In 2015, the UN also released a report that made a series of recommendations on how countries and international organizations could improve whistleblower protections by reducing loopholes that allow organizations and governments to circumvent current protection policies.109 To date, some countries have

104 “Why Whistleblowers Matter,” Open Society Foundations, December 2019, https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/explainers/why-we-need-whistleblower-protections. 105 “‘Silence Is Too Often the Only Safe Option Left’ – New UN Report on Sources and Whistleblowers,” OHCHR, October 15, 2015, https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16635. 106 “Whistleblower Protection”, in “Global Corruption: Law, Theory & Practice - Third Edition, ed. Gerry Ferguson (Victoria, BC: University of Victoria, 2018), https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/global-corruption-law-theory-practice-third- edition-ferguson. 107 Open Society Foundations, “Why Whistleblowers Matter." 108 “Guidance for Whistleblowers Outside the U.S.,” National Whistleblower Center, August 20, 2020, https://www.whistleblowers.org/know-your-rights/international-whistleblower/. 109 “Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression,” A/70/361, United Nations General Assembly, September 25, 2015, https://www.undocs.org/A/70/361.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 24 no protection whatsoever for whistleblowers; some only enact weak guidelines, while others, like the United States, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, have very strong whistleblower legislation.110

A contentious issue in whistleblowing is the unauthorized disclosure of information that may place a nation's or organization’s economic, political, or military interests at risk. This issue was particularly prominent in the cases of Katharine Gun—a translator working for a British intelligence organization—who exposed an American plot to spy on the UN, and , an information technology (IT) systems expert at the (NSA) in the United States, who revealed information about unauthorized surveillance of American citizens. In both cases, national governments considered Gun and Snowden as criminals, rather than whistleblowers who revealed information that the public had a right to know.111

The principal debate of the committee must be how to ensure that whistleblowers are protected in order to allow reports of human rights abuses to be made public, while understanding the legitimate concerns of organizations and governments to maintain jurisdiction over certain types of information, particularly information vital to national security. While the UNCAC issues protection to whistleblowers by international law, many countries still have insufficient whistleblower protection policies in place. Thus, it is the duty of the UNHRC to further the discussion on ensuring the protection of whistleblowers worldwide.

Timeline

695 — King Wihtred in Kent, England offers a monetary award to encourage workers to report people who are working on the Sabbath.112

1863 — The United States False Claims Act, a precursor to whistleblower laws, encourages the reporting of fraud during the American Civil War and offers potential whistleblowers both financial reward and protection from retaliation.113

1972 — The Watergate scandal occurs due to the actions of anonymous informant "Deep Throat," who exposes the offences of the Nixon administration and is instrumental in eventually bringing down the Nixon presidency.114

1998 — Whistleblowing in the United Kingdom is protected by the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA), a landmark piece of legislation that is considered one of the strongest in the world.115

110 National Whistleblower Center, “Guidance for Whistleblowers Outside the U.S.” 111 Yuwei Hu, “China's Informant System Differs from Western Whistleblowers: Experts,” Global Times, February 12, 2020, https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1179364.shtml. 112 “The History Of Whistleblowing in America,” Whistleblowers International, November 16, 2016, https://www.whistleblowersinternational.com/what-is-whistleblowing/history/. 113 Ibid. 114 Olivia B. Waxman, “History of Whistleblowers Before Trump Impeachment Inquiry,” Time, September 26, 2019, https://time.com/5684536/whistleblower-history/. 115 Ferguson, “Whistleblower Protection.”

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 25 2003 — The United Nations adopts the Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), which is signed by 140 nations. Article 33 of UNCAC provides for the protection of reporting persons (i.e., whistleblowers). The wording of the Convention makes protection optional, instead of mandatory.116

2006 — WikiLeaks is founded by in the United States, with the intent of publishing news leaks and provided by anonymous sources.117

2013 — Edward Snowden, a U.S. National Security Agency employee, makes classified information available to The Guardian and the Washington Post about government surveillance activity targeting American citizens.118

2015 — After consultation with many countries worldwide, the United Nations General Assembly releases a report on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression. This report sets out guidelines for protection of whistleblowers and sources.119

2016 — The Panama Papers are leaked on WikiLeaks, exposing corrupt financial practices for offshore entities. Politicians, celebrities, and wealthy business leaders from over 200 countries are named in the papers.120

2017 — The international #MeToo movement emerges, using social media as a platform for reports of sexual abuse.121

November 2019 — The European Union (EU) passes the European Union’s Directive for the Protection of Persons Reporting on Breaches of Union Law, also known as the "Whistleblower Protection Directive."122

December 2019 — Ophthalmologist Li Wen-liang at Wuhan Central Hospital in China issues warnings to medical personnel on the COVID-19 coronavirus disease via WeChat.123

Historical Analysis

Whistleblowing has been integral to fighting fraud, corruption, and wrongdoing throughout history. The earliest known example of whistleblowing legislation is from medieval England (695), when King Wihtred of Kent encouraged workers to report people who were working on the Sabbath. In return for the information, the king offered a significant monetary reward.124 In the United States, one of the earliest reports of whistleblowing was in 1778, when Samuel Shaw and Richard Marven, two American navy seamen, accused Esek Hopkins, a high- ranking officer in the United States Continental Navy, of torturing British prisoners of war. Hopkins retaliated

116 Ibid. 117 Open Society Foundations, “Why Whistleblowers Matter.” 118 Hu, “China's Informant System Differs from Western Whistleblowers: Experts.” 119 United Nations General Assembly, “Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression.” 120 Open Society Foundations, “Why Whistleblowers Matter.” 121 Kayla Matthews, “The Complex World of Whistleblowers in Tech,” TechTalks, August 31, 2018, https://bdtechtalks.com/2018/08/31/world-of-whistleblowers-in-tech/. 122 Lucinda Pearson, “Press Release: Historic Day for Whistleblowers as EU Agrees Pathbreaking Legislation,” Transparency International EU, March 21, 2019, http://transparency.eu/press-release-historic-day-whistleblowers/. 123 Hu, “China's Informant System Differs from Western Whistleblowers: Experts.” 124 Whistleblowers International, “The History Of Whistleblowing in America.”

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 26 by instituting criminal proceedings against the whistleblowers, but Congress intervened—dismissing Hopkins and clearing Shaw and Marven.125

The act of offering financial incentives for key information is controversial but has been utilized in various countries over time. In the United States, for example, the False Claims Act was passed during the Civil War (1861-1865) to help combat fraud by offering monetary rewards for the disclosure of information. 126 Additionally, during World War II, Jan Karski from the Polish Home Army met with Western Allied leaders to expose the horrific conditions of Jewish concentration camps in Poland.127 Karski eventually met with American President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1943, but his report was largely ignored and disputed by Western leaders, indicating a lack of support for whistleblowers during this time. A few high-profile whistleblower cases resulted in renewed attention in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of the better-known cases in the United States during this time included Karen Silkwood, who exposed hazardous conditions at an Oklahoma plutonium plant, and the , which revealed mismanagement of the .128

The United Nations Convention Against Corruption came into force in 2005. The Convention has now been endorsed by 140 signatories and 187 parties. Despite this, a 2011 study conducted by Open Society Foundations estimated that only about 30 countries worldwide have sufficient whistleblowing legislation in place.129 Notably, the United Kingdom has strong whistleblower protection under its Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA), which was passed in 1998 and protects workers in the public, private, and contracting sectors.130 Similarly, South Africa passed its Protected Disclosures Act in 2000, which sets out procedures for how employees may disclose information and the ensuing protection they are entitled to. 131 The United States also passed the National Whistleblower Protection Act in 1989, which puts into law the protection of federal whistleblowers who work for the government and who report abuse, mismanagement, or a threat to public health or safety.132 Conversely, although the Parliament of India passed the Whistleblower Protection Act in 2014, it is still yet to be operationalized because of concerns around national security.133 Botswana’s legislation, the Whistle Blowing Act of 2016, also needs improvement, as it currently requires reports to be made only to authorized reporting entities and also imposes criminal penalties for inaccurate disclosures.134

125 Brian Naylor, “'Whistleblowing Is Really In Our DNA': A History Of Reporting Wrongdoing,” NPR, September 25, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/09/25/764010989/whistleblowing-is-really-in-our-dna-a-history-of-reporting-wrongdoing. 126 Whistleblowers International, “The History Of Whistleblowing in America.” 127 Nissan Tzur, “The man who told the world about the Holocaust - and wasn’t believed,” The First News, July 13, 2018, https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/the-man-who-told-the-world-about-the-holocaust---and-wasnt-believed-1109. 128 Waxman, “History of Whistleblowers Before Trump Impeachment Inquiry." 129 Open Society Foundations, “Why Whistleblowers Matter.” 130 Ferguson, “Whistleblower Protection.” 131 “Protecting Whistleblowers in South Africa: How Well is the Law Working for People?,” Government Accountability Project, n.d., https://www.whistleblower.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/SA-Report-PDF.pdf. 132 "Whistleblower Protection Act Information," U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, January 30, 2004, https://www.sec.gov/eeoinfo/whistleblowers.htm 133 “Where the Law Stands on Whistleblowers in India - Infosys Episode,” The Economic Times, October 26, 2019, https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/where-the-law-stands-on-whistleblowers-in- india/infosys-episode/slideshow/71770940.cms. 134 “Botswana,” PPLAAF, n.d., https://www.pplaaf.org/country/botswana.html.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 27 Whistleblowing has always been hazardous because retaliation is common and can be devastating for a whistleblower’s career. In the past twenty years, there have been many high-profile cases in which the whistleblower has experienced significant retaliation. For example, in 2003, Katharine Gun—who worked in British intelligence as a translator for the Government Communications Headquarters—exposed a classified memo that detailed an American plot to spy on members of the UN in order to garner support for the War. Gun was arrested, lost her job, and was set to be tried under the Official Secrets Act; however, the British government eventually dropped the case, seemingly because the case opened up a much broader question on the legality of Britain’s war on Iraq.135 Concurrently, in one of best-known whistleblowing cases in India, Satyendra Dubey, an employee of the Indian Engineering Services, was murdered after exposing corruption in national highway contracts by writing a letter detailing the irregularities to the Prime Minister.136 Though three men were convicted in his killing, they were widely believed to be scapegoats and that high-ranking officials who were actually culpable remained free.137 In South Africa, Jimmy Mohlala reported abuses by an African National Congress (ANC) party leader concerning a ZAR 1.2 billion contract for the Mbombela Stadium project for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In retaliation, Mohlala was shot by masked hitmen in 2009.138 To date, no charges have been laid for his murder and the corruption case has been dropped due to insufficient evidence.139 As well, in 2013, Edward Snowden leaked classified information about possible surveillance activity on the part of the American government on its own citizenry. As a result, Snowden is currently in exile in Russia; if he returns to the United States, he will be tried as a traitor under the Espionage Act.140 In 2015, Miranda Brown lost her job at the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights after she disclosed that UN peacekeepers were abusing children in the Central African Republic.141 In this case, the UN chose not to act on the report of human rights abuses, while Miranda Brown has been denied employment at the UN.142 All of these cases point to the precarious situation whistleblowers place themselves in when they speak out on corruption and abuse.

Whistleblowing is seen as a key tool in fighting corruption and is one of the most important ways to expose wrongdoings in both public and private sector organizations.143 More needs to be done worldwide by legislators and organizations to ensure that reports of wrongdoing are handled in a thorough manner and that appropriate levels of protection are in place. The most successful whistleblowing systems have different reporting avenues (such as a hotline, a trusted intermediary, and online website), have strong communication between the

135 “Ten Years on What Happened to the Woman Who Revealed Dirty Tricks on Iraq War Vote?,” The Guardian, March 3, 2013, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/03/katharine-gun-iraq-war-whistleblower. 136 “3 Convicted for Satyendra Dubey Muder,” Hindustan Times, March 22, 2010, https://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/3- convicted-for-satyendra-dubey-muder/story-g1QmggIwji6JOmuKt1TzSJ.html. 137 Ibid. 138 Government Accountability Project, “Protecting Whistleblowers in South Africa: How Well is the Law Working for People?" 139 Sizwe Sama Yende, “Assassinated Jimmy Mohlala's Widow Last Got an Update in 2014,” Citypress, January 6, 2019, https://www.news24.com/citypress/news/assassinated-jimmy-mohlalas-widow-last-got-an-update-in-2014-20190105. 140 Hu, “China's Informant System Differs from Western Whistleblowers: Experts.” 141 “The UN Whistleblower Protection System Does Little to Protect Whistleblowers in Policy or Practice,” Whistleblowing International Network, May 23, 2020, https://whistleblowingnetwork.org/Our-Work/Spotlight/Stories/A-Gross-Institutional- Failure-The-UN-Whistleblower. 142 Ibid. 143 Katharina Kiener-Manu, “Anti-Corruption Module 6 Key Issues: Whistle-Blowing Systems and Protections,” n.d., https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/anti-corruption/module-6/key-issues/whistle-blowing-systems-and-protections.html.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 28 whistleblower and authorities, and have multiple reporting channels (such as internal reporting, external reporting to a regulator or authority, and external reporting to newspapers or social media).144 Overarchingly, effective protection safeguards the public interest and promotes a culture of accountability. Without protection, whistleblowers will not report wrongdoing because they fear dismissal, harassment, violence, or even death.

Past UN/International Involvement

Regional Conventions

Regional conventions worldwide began in the late 1990s to establish guidelines against corruption. In the Americas, 35 countries agreed to the Inter-American Convention against Corruption, which asks nations to “consider introducing or strengthening whistleblower protections.” 145 However, the word "consider" is not strong enough to enforce legislative change, and as a result, only Peru, Canada, and the United States have introduced comprehensive whistleblower protection laws.146 However, in 2019, the European Union also passed legislation—called the Whistleblower Protection Directive—which requires all EU nations to adopt comprehensive whistleblower legislation by 2021.

The African Union (AU) also addressed whistleblower protection in the Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption (2003), citing the importance of eliminating corruption to ensure the stability of African states. The provisions set out in the convention include legislative measures to protect informants but fall short of requiring legislation to ensure reporting citizens do not face reprisal. The convention also allows for legislation to punish those who make false accusations, which can deter potential whistleblowers who may not trust the process that determines the veracity of their claims. The African convention also does not require a reporting mechanism, relying solely on each state self-reporting; thus, there are no external validation processes to monitor abuse within the system.147

In Asia, the 2001 Anti-Corruption Action Plan for Asia and the Pacific was established jointly by the Asia Pacific Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), outlining recommendations for implementing anti-corruption guidelines. 148 One of these guidelines is to ensure the protection of whistleblowers—though there are no specific metrics on what constitutes "protection." The plan acknowledges, however, that each country can set their own priority reform areas. For instance, China has its own whistleblowing legislation that is quite distinct to its single-party authoritarian regime. These policies are primarily focused on the economic sphere, and do not extend to those who challenge the legitimacy or practices of the government.149 Thus, while China encourages the public to step forward and report crimes, the law will deal harshly with the individual if the whistleblower report is deemed to be subversive to the state. China also has specific reporting channels, such as public supervision channels and government reporting platforms; the

144 Ibid. 145 Ferguson, “Whistleblower Protection.” 146 Ibid. 147 Ibid. 148 Ibid. 149 “The State of Whistleblower and Journalist Protections Globally: A Customary Legal Analysis of Representatives Cases,” American University, May 2015, https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Opinion/Protection/AmericanUniversitySchool.pdf.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 29 current legislation does not offer protection if the information is disclosed through other means (such as social media or news outlets).150

UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime

The 2000 Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Resolution 55/25) is predicated on international cooperation and encourages people who have participated in organized criminal groups to supply useful information to authorities.151 Though this resolution protects some forms of whistleblowing, it is very limited in scope.

UN Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC)

In 2003, the United Nations released the Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), which entered into force in 2005 and has since been signed by 140 countries.152 Article 33 of the UNCAC specifically posits that “each State Party shall consider incorporating into its domestic legal system” protection for whistleblowers as long as the reports are done in “good faith and on reasonable grounds.”153 However, the Convention has been criticized for not being strong enough to enforce compliance. In addition, the wording of "good faith" and "reasonable grounds" also provides leeway for countries to decide whether or not a whistleblower’s report is legitimate.

Finally, in 2015, the Office of the Human Rights Commission released the Protection of Sources and Whistleblowers report as a part of the Annual Reports for the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, after consultation with many countries worldwide. 154 This report provided recommendations (such as the protection of sources of information, protection of whistleblowers, and guidelines for whistleblowing and national security) that have been instrumental in renewing worldwide interest in whistleblower legislation. In addition, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identified combating corruption as one its goals to be completed by 2030. 155 Moreover, SDG 16 on Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions “includes commitments to fight corruption, increase transparency, tackle illicit financial flows and improve access to information,” all of which point to better protection for whistleblowers.156

Current Situation

Though whistleblower protections vary from country to country, most countries do not have sufficient legislation for whistleblowers. Though some whistleblower laws provide avenues for reporting or disclosing information, they often fall short when it comes to the protection of the whistleblower themselves. Others offer limited protection to whistleblowers but do not offer any clear reporting avenues. Legislation also often lacks

150 Ibid. 151 Ferguson, “Whistleblower Protection.” 152 “United Nations Convention Against Corruption” UN General Assembly, A/58/422. October 31, 2003. https://www.refworld.org/docid/4374b9524.html. 153 Ibid. 154 United Nations General Assembly, “Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression.” 155 “No Sustainable Development without Tackling Corruption: the Importance of Tracking SDG 1 6 ,” Transparency.org, July 17, 2017, https://www.transparency.org/en/news/no-sustainable-development-without-tackling-corruption-sdg-16. 156 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 30 provisions to require that the disclosure is properly investigated, and that disciplinary action is taken as appropriate.157 These shortcomings are especially true in countries where corruption runs deep and there is substantial benefit to the parties involved in the corruption.158 Given different countries’ stances and approaches to transparency and democracy, it is also true that what works in one country may not work in another country. Thus, whistleblowing legislation, while needing to comply with international law, must also take into account the needs of individual countries.159

Generally, there are two main ways a whistleblower may choose to disclose information: they can work internally within accepted channels of their organization or government; or, they can report to an external source, such as the media, law enforcement, or some other external entity. If a whistleblower is offered a choice between reporting anonymously or confidentially, then there must be sufficient processes in place to assure that their identity is protected. Source protection has been a fundamental part of the journalistic process over the last fifty years in many countries, but this does not cover all cases of whistleblowers. More specifically, source protection falls into three categories: open reporting, where an individual does not require that their identity is kept secret; confidential reporting, where the name and identity of the whistleblower is known only by the recipient and will not be disclosed without the whistleblower’s consent; and anonymous reporting, where information is reported but no one knows the source. 160 With the variety of ways now that information can be disseminated, whistleblower protection goes far beyond just journalists—now including bloggers, authors, non-governmental organization (NGO) workers, government workers, and corporate employees. 161 In 2013, Transparency International, a global organization working to end the injustice of corruption, released best guidelines that advised countries how to establish legislation that provides employees and workers in the public and private sectors with “accessible and reliable channels to report wrongdoing; robust protection from all forms of retaliation; and mechanisms for disclosures that promote reforms that correct legislative, policy or procedural inadequacies, and prevent future wrongdoing.”162

It can be difficult to enact policy and law for whistleblowers in countries that benefit from large-scale corruption schemes. The perpetrators of corrupt activities may be the same people who are the country's policymakers; this conflict of interest often results in weak or no change in legislation. Moreover, corrupt individuals can also be high-ranking government officials, as countries want control over their own national security and thus, do not always support a whistleblower’s right to share information under all circumstances.

Technology and Social Media

The rise of technology and social media has complicated the landscape of whistleblowing, challenging accepted practices in reporting channels, source identity protection, and national security. Social media platforms provide a forum for the disclosure of information that is often not a nation’s agreed-upon whistleblowing channel,

157 Open Society Foundations, “Why Whistleblowers Matter." 158 Kiener-Manu, “Anti-Corruption Module 6 Key Issues: Whistle-Blowing Systems and Protections.” 159 Ferguson, “Whistleblower Protection.” 160 Kiener-Manu, “Anti-Corruption Module 6 Key Issues: Whistle-Blowing Systems and Protections.” 161 OHCHR, “‘Silence Is Too Often the Only Safe Option Left’ – New UN Report on Sources and Whistleblowers.” 162 “International Principles for Whistleblower Legislation,” Transparency International, 2013, https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/2013_WhistleblowerPrinciples_EN.pdf.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 31 meaning that many countries do not protect whistleblowers if they report using these channels. However, many whistleblowers nonetheless choose to use social media, as they do not trust the official processes to investigate and act upon the disclosure in a fair and just manner. Advances in technology complicate the environment of source protection, as encrypted messages or other means of communication can still be intercepted. Thus, the ubiquitous nature of social media makes reporting information outside of one’s country easier, but it often places the whistleblower (and the platform) at odds with national security in the process.

The recent #MeToo movement has leveraged social media platforms to expose the egregious actions of sexually abusive but powerful men; traditional reporting paths were not enough to expose existing, widespread corruption. However, as social media platforms are not agreed-upon whistleblowing channels, the protection of the informants cannot be guaranteed in the same way it can be in more controlled settings.163 The #MeToo movement has therefore indicated that traditional paths for reporting corruption and abuse are not always effective options. The popular site WikiLeaks is another way for information to be transferred to the public. WikiLeaks posts thousands of classified documents publicly, many of these documents from governments outside of the United States. Since its inception, WikiLeaks has been instrumental in exposing critical information—such as dubious practices during the Iraq War and favouritism in the Democratic Party national campaign. The American Trump administration described the website and its founder Julian Assange as a “non- state hostile intelligence service.” 164 Other organizations in the United States, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, say WikiLeaks is key to freedom of the press and exposing information that the public has a right to know.165 However, informants still do not enjoy whistleblower protections because WikiLeaks is an Internet and news site.

Case Study: Transnational Scandals

Increasingly, whistleblowing is happening beyond the boundaries of an individual country. Recently, a number of high-profile cases have arisen that have highlighted abuses in corporations internationally and have transcended individual countries and laws. Two such examples are the Panama Papers and the Cambridge Analytica scandal.166 The Panama Papers were disclosed in 2016 by an anonymous whistleblower and entailed the release of 11.5 million documents from the offshore Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca. The documents exposed corruption and abuse by the global elite in offshore banking. The Cambridge Analytica scandal occurred in 2018, when Canadian data scientist Christopher Wylie reported that millions of Facebook users’ personal data was being illegally harvested to build psychological profiles for the Trump campaign in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. 167 The international scope of both of these cases points to the current climate of whistleblowing

163 Matthews, “The Complex World of Whistleblowers in Tech.” 164 James Bovard, “Julian Assange Deserves a Medal of Freedom, Not a Secret Indictment,” USA Today, November 21, 2018, https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2018/11/20/julian-assange-indictments-whistleblowers-medal-freedom-wikileaks- manning-trump-column/2055900002/. 165 Ibid. 166 Nick Martindale, “Responding to the EU Whistleblowing Directive: Six Key Actions You Need to Take Now,” Raconteur, August 13, 2020, https://www.raconteur.net/technology/responding-to-the-eu-whistleblowing-directive. 167 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 32 legislation, where countries must work together to ensure information about transnational scandals in corporations are properly revealed to the public.

Case Study: Anonymous Trump-Ukraine Whistleblower

Even in countries with strong whistleblowing legislation, such as the United States, laws can be insufficient to fully protect whistleblowers.168 In August 2019, an anonymous whistleblower reported on President Donald Trump’s conversations with the President of Ukraine, allegedly to boost Trump’s chance of re-election in the 2020 presidential election. As this was deemed a matter of national security, the whistleblower went through the appropriate channels—but even though his report was deemed credible, the issue was withheld from Congress. In fact, Trump and his family threatened to expose the identity of the whistleblower, which caused the whistleblower to fear for his safety. The case was eventually exposed by the Washington Post, which led to the impeachment charges by the United States House of Representatives that were cleared in February 2019 by the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate. Thus, even in countries with strong whistleblower legislation, the reporting process can be hijacked by political interests and whistleblowers can be denied proper protection.169

Possible Solutions and Controversies

International Protection and Reporting Mechanisms

In countries that do not comply with international standards—or have not implemented—whistleblower protection legislation, the value of whistleblowers is arguably the most important, as corruption and human rights abuses may often be rampant within the existing governments in power.170 Whistleblowers need a safe process to report outside of the framework that may be present in their own countries. The international community could itself offer an independent whistleblowing system, separate from national structures, that includes protections from retaliation—such as guarantee of source protection, financial compensation, or even offering asylum for whistleblowers no longer welcome in their own countries. The committee may consider the guidelines of employing such a system on an international scale, in addition to outlining which bodies and nations would be hypothetically responsible for funding compensation or offering asylum—all while balancing individual nations' commitment to national security and sovereignty.

More radical approaches would be to embrace the power of the internet and social media and deploy large scale reporting sites for specific issues on misconduct or abuse. Some argue that such using online resources would be the best way to ensure whistleblowers are able to allow their information to reach the public.171 Some examples of these are the online portal, Vault—used for reporting sexual misconduct in the United Kingdom—and the site Callisto—used for reporting sexual assault in the United States.172 Creating a UN or civil society-administered platform for whistleblower reporting may allow potential whistleblowers to circumvent complex or substandard

168 Naylor, “'Whistleblowing Is Really In Our DNA': A History Of Reporting Wrongdoing.” 169 Ibid. 170 Kiener-Manu, “Anti-Corruption Module 6 Key Issues: Whistle-Blowing Systems and Protections.” 171 Martindale, “Responding to the EU Whistleblowing Directive: Six Key Actions You Need to Take Now." 172 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 33 national systems, as well as offer certain UN- or civil society-based protections for whistleblowers as discussed earlier. Delegates may also want to consider establishing international hotlines through which whistleblowers could report information.

Controversially, implementing whistleblower reporting and protection mechanisms administered by international organizations may be deeply unpopular among national governments. Governments with national security concerns may be hesitant to cooperate in allowing its citizens to interact with international whistleblower reporting systems. Dependent on the circumstances, whistleblowers who seek protection under a potential international protection structure may also be viewed in their home nations as criminals and forced into exile—possibly creating a situation similar to Edward Snowden; the American NSA whistleblower has been in exile in Russia since 2013, after his American passport was revoked and criminal charges were laid against him.173

Protection from Discrimination and Criminal Prosecution

Though many countries have whistleblower legislation to a degree, current laws often lack protections for the discrimination and punishment which whistleblowers routinely face after exposing acts of wrongdoing.

Discrimination and retribution towards whistleblowers generally take place within the individual's place of work. Whistleblowers may be demoted, face harassment from coworkers and superiors, or be outright terminated. Creating an internationally supported guideline to guarantee a whistleblower's protection in the workplace may be beneficial for nations seeking to integrate these protections into national legislation. An example of a guideline lies in Section VI of South Africa's South Africa Protected Disclosures Act of 2000—one of the most comprehensive lists of actions which whistleblowers are to be protected from in the workplace.174 In the section, a whistleblower employee is protected by law from a variety of actions, including: "being subjected to any disciplinary action; being dismissed, suspended, demoted, harassed or intimidated; being refused transfer or promotion; [or] being subjected to a term or condition of employment or retirement which is altered or kept altered to his or her disadvantage."175 The committee may wish to adopt a similar guideline which national governments are encouraged to implement into legislation, or tie such a guideline into potential new internationally-administered whistleblower protection and reporting networks.

The criminal prosecution of whistleblowers poses an additional challenge in protecting whistleblowers. For countries that have weak whistleblower legislation or loopholes, if the vetting party determines that the information revealed is false, then the whistleblower can be prosecuted as a criminal. These charges seriously impede truthful whistleblowers from reporting, as the veracity of their information is not always certain, and whistleblowers are not willing to risk the possibility of incarceration—even if their claim is true. It is imperative that criminal prosecution is not the preferred path to deal with whistleblowers. In addition, even in countries with strong whistleblowing policies, vengeful managers and superiors commonly refer whistleblowers for

173 Mary Ilyushina, "Edward Snowden requests a three-year extension of Russian residency," CNN, April 16, 2020, https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/16/europe/edward-snowden-russian-residency-intl/index.html. 174 "Study on Whistleblower Protection Frameworks, Compendium of Best Practices and Guiding Principles for Legislation," Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, May 13, 2012, https://www.oecd.org/corruption/48972967.pdf. 175 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 34 criminal investigations by government agencies, instead of utilizing common workplace tactics—such as demotion or termination. Recommendations for protecting whistleblowers against retaliatory criminal investigations should be integrated into any comprehensive resolution.176

Performance Reviews

Conducting performance reviews for whistleblower reporting and protection systems in individual nations may allow for greater public awareness of shortcomings in whistleblower legislation and offer guidance for countries to strengthen their legislation. A UN office, civil society, or other entity can conduct annual reviews of existing whistleblower legislation and report issues with laws to the public, the media, and the UN. The committee may wish to set a guideline for how whistleblower legislation is to be assessed, including determining expectations of laws regarding protection from reprisal, judicial independence, confidentiality, and application in both the public and private sectors.177 These guidelines would also assess the practical results of whistleblower legislation, for example, reviewing the number of reports filed, the number of legitimate instances of corruption or wrongdoing uncovered, research into the efficacy of legislation, and the opinions of civil society on legislation.178

Once a performance review is conducted, technical guidance and recommendations can be provided to countries on what to implement in future legislation, as well as publishing full reports to the public.179 Performance reviews serve both as an assessment of the status of rule of law in the country and as opportunity for constructive suggestions. The nation in question is thus subjected to the scrutiny of both the public and the international community. However, performance reviews may be limited in effectiveness if countries do not wish to implement changes or limit neutral bodies from probing national agencies and structures. Each country has distinct beliefs towards the role of protecting national security and sovereignty when processing whistleblowers—a trait which must be taken into account when imposing such a solution on different governments.

Bloc Positions

Asia-Pacific

In the Asia-Pacific region, many countries lack specific laws that protect whistleblowers, such as Thailand and Indonesia.180 Conversely, Malaysia and Singapore have both passed whistleblower legislation, with Singapore’s law offering the region’s strongest protections for whistleblowers. India also passed a Whistleblower Protection Act in 2014; however, India’s weak federal government can make it difficult to enforce federal legislation.181 In

176 “Ban the Criminalization of Whistleblowers!,” Government Accountability Project, January 9, 2019, https://whistleblower.org/truthjailing/. 177 "Whistleblower Protection and the UN Convention against Corruption," UNCAC Coalition, n.d., https://uncaccoalition.org/resources/whistleblower-protection/whistleblower-protection-executive-summary-english.pdf. 178 Ibid. 179 Ibid. 180 American University, “The State of Whistleblower and Journalist Protections Globally: A Customary Legal Analysis of Representatives Cases.” 181 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 35 China, the government encourages citizens to report misconduct of government officials and corporate figureheads, implementing a series of whistleblower protections since 2008. 182 However, China is generally reluctant to hear any dissent within its public bodies.

United States

The United States has a long history of whistleblower legislation, as well as a history of providing financial reward for information. In 1989, the United States passed the National Whistleblower Protection Act, which put into law the protection of federal whistleblowers who work for the government and report abuse, mismanagement, or a threat to public health or safety.183 Since 2010, all companies listed on the United States Stock Exchange have also had to comply with whistleblower protection as defined in the Dodd-Frank Act.184 Moreover, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) offers international rewards for information regarding corruption and fraud within their listed companies. In addition, many state governments have also introduced their own state legislation to protect whistleblowers. The American government is growing increasingly wary of federal whistleblowers, especially because they are viewed as a threat to national security—much like Edward Snowden.185

Latin America and the Caribbean

In general, whistleblowing protection legislation in Latin America has been slow-moving. Recently, both Mexico and Argentina have passed whistleblowing legislation which begins to add protection to whistleblowers, such as reducing the length of prison sentences or offering leniency in punishment. In general, the laws are meant to combat corruption and encourage whistleblowing from those who are already implicated in crimes.186 Countries such as Colombia have made a commitment to passing a bill on whistleblower protection but generally, whistleblowing is not viewed as a tool to combat corruption and further action is necessary.

European Union and the United Kingdom

The U.K. has had whistleblower protection legislation in place since 1998.187 The EU has also recently passed ground-breaking regional whistleblower legislation, with the most recent Whistleblower Protection Directive requiring all EU countries to have whistleblower legislation in place by 2021. 188 Nonetheless, the current European political climate—a climate which prioritizes national security—may put into jeopardy some of the rights associated with whistleblower legislation. In the U.K., a recent report on the rights of journalists elaborated on some concerns about recent trends in British law and practices that may detract from the rights of

182 “Growing Popularity of Whistleblowing in China,” NOLASIA, March 3, 2016, https://nolasia.net/growing-popularity-of- whistleblowing-in-china/. 183 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, "Whistleblower Protection Act Information." 184 Open Society Foundations, “Why Whistleblowers Matter.” 185 Hu, “China's Informant System Differs from Western Whistleblowers: Experts.” 186 “Are Latin America's New Whistleblower Laws Working?,” The Dialogue, May 19, 2017, https://www.thedialogue.org/analysis/are-latin-americas-new-whistleblower-laws-working/. 187 Ferguson, “Whistleblower Protection.” 188 Martindale, “Responding to the EU Whistleblowing Directive: Six Key Actions You Need to Take Now.”

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 36 whistleblowers. 189 These included changes to the Investigatory Powers Act and the Digital Economy Bill, significantly weakening protections for informants, especially in regards to national security.190 The changes in laws clearly indicate a preference for protecting the secrecy of classified information over the potential disclosure of wrongdoing or corruption.

Africa

The African Union signed a convention on the rights of whistleblowers in 2003 and all countries in the AU have recognized the need to protect whistleblowers.191 However, in practice, the convention does not require much independent action from each nation; thus, many nations have yet to enact whistleblower legislation. Additionally, many African countries do not currently have open and transparent governments and legal processes, resulting in a lack of climate of trust for whistleblowers. Many whistleblowers do not believe that their disclosures would be treated in a fair and just manner and believe that there is a high risk of retaliation against them. In fact, in 2017, only a few of the 55 countries in the African Union had whistleblower protection law— many of them containing loopholes or insufficient protections. These countries included Benin, Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Zambia, and South Africa.192 Additionally, other African nations—such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Côte d'Ivoire—have signed the UNCAC, but have yet to develop whistleblower legislation.193 Overall, the implementation of whistleblower legislation in Africa is, at best, limited.

Discussion Questions

1. Does your country have or want to have a legal framework to protect whistleblowers? Is it sufficiently robust?

2. To what extent should governments be allowed to keep information classified and hide it from the press and their citizens?

3. To what extent do social media and websites make whistleblower protection more difficult?

4. What should be the international response to a country that grants asylum or protects a whistleblower from their home nation?

5. If a country is exposed for illegal or unethical conduct, how should the international community act?

6. Under what circumstances should whistleblowers be able to release confidential information?

7. Should there be more stringent requirements for the protection of informants? Why?

8. Would your country support an international reporting body for whistleblowers?

189 Judith Townend and Richard Danbury, “Protecting Sources and Whistleblowers in a Digital Age”, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, February 22, 2017, https://infolawcentre.blogs.sas.ac.uk/files/2017/02/Sources-Report_webversion_22_2_17.pdf. 190 Ibid. 191 “Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa,” PPLAAF, n.d., https://www.pplaaf.org/. 192 Ibid. 193 Ibid.

Vancouver Model United Nations 2021 37 Additional Resources

Whistleblower Protections (Global Corruption: Law, Theory, and Practice, Gerry Ferguson): https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/bitstream/handle/1828/9253/Ch.%2012_April2018_web.pdf?sequence=13&isAllow ed=y.

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