CONTENTS

Message from the Chairs 3 United Nations Human Rights Council 4 Topic A: Human rights violations in the use of new espionage technologies 7 Introduction 7 History 8 Legal Aspect of Espionage 10 Consequences and Effects 10 Current Situation 11 Points a Resolution Must Address 15 Conclusion 15 Suggestions for Further Research 16 Bibliography 18

Topic B: Assessing human rights violations in combating illegal immigration 20 Introduction 20 History 22 Legal Aspect 24 Consequences and Effects 24 Current Situation 25 Points a Resolution Must Address 28 Conclusion 29 Suggestions for Further Research 29 Bibliography 32

Conference information 33 Position papers 34 Contact details 35

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRS

Dear Delegates,

I warmly welcome you to the United Nations Human Rights Council of the 15th annual LIMUN conference. With one of the most interesting and happening agendas, I am really looking forward for this committee and your active participation in it. This document will just guide you as how to begin your research and collect information, however your actual preparation and final research prior to the conference should not be limited to this. It is expected that you will prepare thoroughly and contribute to a very productive debate in the committee with full knowledge about agenda, foreign policy, basic rules and procedures and parliamentary decorum.

Snehadeep Kayet, Director Email- [email protected]

Dear Delegates,

A very warm welcome to the committee of United Nations Human Rights and congratulations for being selected at LIMUN’14.

My name is John Farfal and I shall be the assistant director for this committee. This year UNHRC will discuss and debate over agendas of human rights violation for combating illegal immigration and espionage. With these two up-to-date and happening agendas, we expect you to research well and bring up all your knowledge, enthusiasm and MUNing skills.

You can revert back to us for any queries. Hoping to see you all soon,

John Farfal, Assistant Director Email- [email protected]

UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them. It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office in Geneva. The Council is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which are elected by the UN General Assembly. The Human Rights Council replaced the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

The Human Rights Council was created by the United Nations General Assembly on 15th March, 2006 by Resolution 60/251. Its first session took place from 19 to 30 June, 2006. The Council’s membership is based on equitable geographical distribution. Seats are distributed as follows:

1. African States: 13 seats 2. Asia-Pacific States: 13 seats 3. Latin American and Caribbean States: 8 seats 4. Western European and other States: 7 seats 5. Eastern European States: 6 seats.

Members of the Council serve for a period of three years and are not eligible for immediate re-election after serving two consecutive terms.

Mandates and Powers of the UNHRC

Following resolution 60/251 passed by the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council is responsible for promoting universal respect for protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. It has the power to address situations of violations as well as make recommendations to United Nations General Assembly for further development of international law in the field of human rights. The Human Rights Council took over the roles and responsibilities of the Commission of Human Rights relating to the work of Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as decided by the General Assembly in its resolution 48/141 of 20 December, 1993.

Human Rights Bodies

Following are the different human rights monitoring mechanism in the United Nations supported by Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR):

Charter Based Bodies

 Human Rights Council  Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council  Human Rights Council Complaint Procedure

Note: The Human Rights Council is a separate entity from OHCHR. This distinction originates from the separate mandates they were given by the General Assembly. Nevertheless, OHCHR provides substantive support for the meetings of the Human Rights Council, and follow-up to the Council's deliberations.

Treaty- based bodies

 Human Rights Committee (CCPR)  Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR)  Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)  Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)  Committee against Torture (CAT)  Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT)  Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC)  Committee on Migrant Workers (CMW)  Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)  Committee on Enforced Disappearances (CED)

Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, all UN Member States have ratified at least one core international human rights treaty, and 80 percent have ratified four or more. There are currently ten human rights treaty bodies, which are committees of independent experts. Nine of these treaty bodies monitor implementation of the core international human rights treaties while the tenth treaty body, the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture, established under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, monitors places of detention in States parties to the Optional Protocol.

For further information, follow the link below: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/Pages/HumanRightsBodies.aspx

TOPIC A: HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN THE USE OF NEW ESPIONAGE TECHNOLOGIES

Introduction

Espionage in very simple terms is the act of spying on the government or transferring state secrets on behalf of a foreign country. It basically implies to collection of military, political and industrial data of one nation for another’s benefit. Espionage can neatly be categorized into political and industrial/economic espionage. Both of them have been criminalized by domestic laws of many countries, yet industrial espionage serves as a ‘smart business strategy’ for many of them. While political espionage violates the ‘Right to Privacy’ of an individual/ state whereas industrial espionage violates property rights. In recent years, espionage activity has been greatly aided by technological advances, especially in the areas of radio signal interception and high-altitude photography. Often cyber espionage is the most suitable term used for it.

Cyber espionage is probably the most modified form of espionage and also among the biggest challenges which today the globe is facing with respect to international peace, nuclear security and even economic prosperity. There have been many recent events where news and intelligence agencies around the globe have reported suspicious cyber activities of certain governments with a probable motive of extracting highly specific information from the target countries. Cyber espionage and its increasing activities have been directly connected with agencies like MISS (Ministry of State Security) of China, NSA (National Security Agency) of the United States of America, GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) of United Kingdom to the ISI (Inter State Intelligence) of Pakistan. There have been many notable incidents and reports published by international news agencies which have openly quoted USA and other western countries committing extra territorial surveillance in the United Nations during the post Iraq War in 2003 including intercepting communications

between UN diplomats and former UN Secretary General Mr. Kofi Annan. Countries like Cyprus have been blamed to illegally extract more than sixty five thousand UN documents containing vital information about the Turkey Cyprus dispute issue.

In one of the most recent United Nations General Assembly Plenary Sessions, many diplomats have commented on espionage as “a rampant violation of sovereignty and interference into internal matters as insulting and unbearable”. A report from the news agency of Thompson Reuters dated 27th November, 2013 states the recent measures which the United Nations General Assembly’s third committee dealing with human rights has adopted to end excessive electronic surveillance and spying in the foreign states. It is assumed that the draft resolution put to vote in this committee is the first of its kind in the framework of the United Nations which will protect the rights of people offline as well as online. Many independent media sources believe that former NSA agent Edward Snowden’s leaked information about the global spying program of the NSA and also information shared with the website of Wikileaks is one of the firm reasons which have not only sparked international outrage but have also questioned the legitimacy of the NSA and its purpose for such acts of extra territorial surveillance.

History

Espionage and its origins date back to the American civil war when Thomas Knowlton was the first known American spy. From that period to the present age of technology, espionage has come a long way with many reformations and more advancement. As being mentioned earlier, cyber espionage is one of them. One of the most earliest and notorious cases of cyber espionage was discovered in 2010 where a computer virus named Stuxnet was used to attack a nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, Iran. This computer virus was widely believed to be developed by the United States of America and Israel. Industrial espionage is one of the considered forms of espionage where instead of national security, intellectual property is targeted. The

most ancient case of industrial espionage was reported in 1712 where the work of father Francois Xavier d'Entrecolles revealed the secrets of Chinese porcelain in Europe.

Both domestic and international law prohibit espionage and all its possible forms (including cyber/industrial espionage). It is argued that espionage/ intervention in the internal affairs of a state is a direct violation of Article 2 and Article 4 of the charter of the United Nations. Extra territorial Surveillance programs like PRISM conducted by state agencies like NSA (National Security Agency of USA) have been vehemently questioned for the violation of the fundamental human right of Right to Privacy of the Declaration of Human Rights.

Note: Delegates are requested to study the detailed cases of the above-mentioned statements.

Spying on the United Nations

As being mentioned earlier, many countries have spied and intercepted crucial information even from the United Nations. NSA (National Security Agency) of the United States of America has been repeatedly blamed for intercepting communication and spying on IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), EU (European Union), UN video conferencing systems.

“The most notorious evidence of NSA’s spying came from the recent Brazilian President’s address in the General Assembly in Sept, 2013 where she accused the US agency NSA for spying even on her e-mail.”

Apart from USA, People’s Republic of China is one such country which is widely accused for cyber and industrial espionage. The United States has repeatedly accused Chinese government for implementing cyber warfare and cyber espionage against American companies including military, commercial research and industrial organizations. China has also been accused for continuous attempts of interception

into the important software files from the Indian National Security Council and Australian Security Intelligence Organization.

Legal Aspect of Espionage

Espionage is a crime under the legal code of many nations. As being already mentioned earlier, it is widely believed by international law experts that spying in the internal matters of a state is a direct violation of article 2, article 4 of the United Nations Charter. The Espionage Act of 1917 is one such famous United States federal law which was passed against espionage. It is now the amended 18 USC chapter 37. Similarly the Official Secrets Act of 1923 is the anti espionage law of India. The United Nations claims that any act of espionage/spying on it is illegal under a number of international treaties like Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

For further reference delegates may refer to the 1947 Agreement between United States and United Nations.

Consequences and Effects

Economic espionage is most prevalent in economically competitive countries. Thus it is generally advanced Western states that bear the burden of economic espionage. The most recent ASIS survey indicates that the top three countries seeking to access US information in 2005 were Russia, China and India. The effects of economic espionage are felt globally, but it mostly acutely impacts US business as they have the distinction of being more targeted than any other nation. The fact that the United States spend more money on research and development targets for states seeking low cost economical upgrades. An ASIS survey released recently estimated the cost of US business effected due to economic espionage is as high as 250 million $

per year. The effects of economic espionage are almost wholly negative. It erodes the value of target state’s assets. It may disrupt trade between target states and potential buyers. The biggest drawback of economic espionage is that it destroys hard earned competitive advantage of the target countries’ business and stifles economic momentum: “Very often economic espionage has been compared to warfare since both challenge the security and stability of the sovereign nations.” Economic espionage is perceived by offending states lesser offense than political espionage. Many states consider this practice vital for their economic stability and success.

Existing legislation and agreements targeting economic espionage:

 The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (USA)  Paris Convention for Protection of Industrial Property  Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights  UNGA Resolutions 1236 and 2131

Political espionage does no bigger harm than straining existing political ties between countries. The disclosure of NSA’s worldwide secret surveillance program by former agent Edward Snowden has resulted in protests and criticism from European countries like Germany, European Union, France including Brazil.

Current Situation

The former NSA agent Edward Snowden’s disclosures about the secret global surveillance program in 2013 brought down the Five Eyes Surveillance Alliance to question. Five Eyes Surveillance Alliance comprises of USA, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. The leaked NSA files reported over a million documents which had recorded conversations from citizens of as many as 35 countries and diplomats, the most remarkable being the phone tapping incident of German Chancellor Angela Markel. The biggest argument which Human Rights watch ,Amnesty International and other human rights related independent agencies have put forward is that

surveillance programs like PRISM, Tempora are a clear violation of fundamental human rights i.e Right to Privacy of an individual or a state. However NSA officials have defended their surveillance programs by stating all allegations of spying on citizens, country officials as absurd and also have commented on the necessity of surveillance for fighting terrorism since September 11, 2001 attacks. Current issue of espionage/cyber warfare is not only limited to US or western countries but is vigorously spreading in the Asian continent.

A recent article published by top Indian media agency reported a minimum of 78 Indian government websites including 16035 incidents related to spam, malware infection and system break ins by the mid of July 2013 with eavesdropping most of the Chinese based hackers. Another report published in the website of Thompson Reuters has stated Taiwan ‘as a testing ground for Chinese hackers’ which is facing a huge cyber threat from China. The recent Korean crisis also gave a huge rise to amount of espionage activities by North Korea against its fellow Korean Rival. South Korea has directly pointed to North Korean based hackers who attempted to gatecrash and steal highly classified intelligence on defense and security.

In order to put a halt on espionage activities due to technological development (cyber espionage), the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday 18th December,2013 unanimously adopted an anti spying resolution aimed at protection of Right to Privacy of internet users. The resolution was drafted by Germany and Brazil whose top officials (Chancellor and President respectively) were themselves the victims of espionage activities of the NSA.

International Framework

Privacy is unequivocally recognized as a fundamental human right both at international and regional level. It is enshrined in:

 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 12)  The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (article 17)

 The Convention on Rights of the Child (article 16)  The European Convention on Human Rights (article 8)  The American Convention on Human Rights (article 11)

Due to the fact that usually sensitive intelligence and vital communication is stored with foreign third party service providers many states have adopted laws which authorize them to survey/ intercept communications in foreign jurisdiction. For example- American Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendment Act of 2008 authorized the state for foreign surveillance. Similar is South Africa’s General Intelligence Law Amendment Bill and Pakistan’s Fair Trial Act of 2012.

Countries Involved

 People’s Republic of China

China has a long activity list of industrial as well as political espionage in United States, European Union, India, Taiwan, Canada, Australia and many other western countries. According to a recent report published by a top computer security firm, Chinese hackers recently eavesdropped on the computers of five big European foreign ministers before last September’s G20 summit.

Chinese hackers have been directly accused for targeted attacks on corporate infrastructure by universal search engine ‘Google’. Operation ‘Aurora’ which still remains one of the biggest cyber espionage attacks against US companies was believed to be conducted by Chinese based hackers with direct ties to People’s Liberation Army. In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military," the report from the US Department of Defense said.

 Israel

Israel is believed to be one of the creators of the famous computer worm ‘Stuxnext’ along with the United States that was meant to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Stuxnet in 2010 wrought havoc on equipment at Iran’s Natanz nuclear plant and complicated the manufacture of highly enriched uranium, which the west suspects is intended for making atomic bombs. As suggested by media reports Israel’s indulgement with NSA has also been confirmed by the former NSA agent Edward Snowden.

 Islamic Republic of Iran

Iran has been several times accused by the US for cyber espionage. According to reports from several US official agencies Iranian- backed infiltration and surveillance efforts have targeted US banks, computer network running energy companies. The most recent incident was in 2013 when Iranian hackers tried to intercept information from US Navy computers.

PRISM

PRISM is a clandestine mass surveillance data mining program known to be conducted by the National Security Agency of the USA. It was first brought out in public by former NSA agent Edward Snowden. Via PRISM, NSA had intercepted documents and private files from countries like Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and most of the European countries including American citizens residing in and outside US without any prior information. PRISM was reported to receive support from companies like Microsoft (2007), Google (2009), Facebook (2009), Apple (2012) etc. It is alleged that many countries (eg. United Kingdom, Israel, New Zealand) had access to PRISM program via multiple means.

As stated by the US whistleblower, NSA had performed most of the hacking operations in mainland China and Hong Kong China including Chinese Universities and business sectors.

Points a Resolution Must Address

Delegates must bear in mind that the purpose is not to challenge the legitimacy of national security and intelligence gathering, but to reaffirm that all security activities of any nature should be done within the boundaries of a legal framework which respects the basic fundamentals of human rights. A successful resolution must answer the following questions

 What are the concerns of each state? National Security, public order, combating organized crime etc.  How much information should a government have access to of another fellow government without any breach to its sovereignty?  How can governments ensure that the intelligence gathered by surveillance will not fall into the hands of non state actors or ones using it for a malicious purpose?  What would be the “suspected security issues” which motivate a government to gather intelligence against others without their prior knowledge?  What national and international provisions, regulations and laws should be enacted both nationally and internationally to combat espionage and all its forms with absolutely no breach of fundamental human rights?

Conclusion

Article 24 and 29 of Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague Convention IV) legalize spying/any forms of espionage between countries if and only if the countries are in a state of armed conflict. But in present world the scenario is completely opposite.

From the above information mentioned in this document we have seen today espionage/spying takes place among countries for more of their own industrial and political benefits. Now most of the countries defend their surveillance programs

under the cover of national security and intelligence gathering. PRISM has always been defended as a terrorist surveillance program. But the question as what suspected security issues compel a state to spy against the other with full violation of international law remains unanswered. Spying on citizens unless a specific reason is the biggest breach of their fundamental human right which is what every democratic government assures. Espionage indeed needs an international concern and a protocol for implementation which could terminate it.

Suggestions for Further Research

For research on espionage: http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1176&context=a uilr

NSA and eavesdropping on United Nations: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/29/us-usa-security-un- idUSBRE99S14E20131029

Espionage and recent measures by the United Nations: http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/11/26/usa-surveillance-un- idINDEE9AP0B620131126 http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/07/us-usa-surveillance-un- idUSBRE9A61C620131107

History of espionage: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/26/us-cyberwar-stuxnet- idUSBRE91P0PP20130226 http://www.spymuseum.org/files/spy_history_edguide.pdf

Reaction of countries towards NSA’s secret surveillance: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/29/us-usa-security-nsa- idUSBRE99S03N20131029

Countries Involved: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/25/us-usa-security-nsa-un- idUSBRE97O0DD20130825 http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/24/us-un-assembly-brazil- idUSBRE98N0OJ20130924 http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/09/us-china-hacking-g- idUSBRE9B817C20131209 http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/07/18/taiwan-cyber-idINDEE96H0KX20130718 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-22430224 http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/17/us-cyberattacks-china- idUSBRE98G0M720130917

Attack on Universal Search Engine Google by Chinese Hackers: http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/01/20/us-google-china-hackers- idUSTRE60J20820100120

Stuxnet Virus Attack: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/17/us-iran-nuclear-stuxnet- idUSTRE73G0NB20110417 http://www.timesofisrael.com/leaker-snowden-says-israel-us-created-stuxnet-virus/

Iran’s attack over US Navy Computers: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230452620457910160235675 1772

Human Rights Watch and Edward Snowden: http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/07/12/russia-others-should-treat-snowden-s-asylum- claim-fairly

Hacking in Asia: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-23123964

US Court claiming the NSA surveillance programs to be lawful: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/27/us-usa-security-aclu- idUSBRE9BQ0DA20131227

Bibliography

Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations http://digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1176&context=a uilr

Right to privacy http://www.unesco.org/webworld/infoethics_2/eng/papers/paper_10.htm

Right to privacy in the European Convention on Human Rights https://www.privacyinternational.org/reports/data-retention-violates-human-rights- convention/the-right-of-privacy-in-the-european

United Nations Declaration of Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/

Regulations Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land http://www.opbw.org/int_inst/sec_docs/1899HC-TEXT.pdf

18 USC Chapter 37 : Espionage and Censorship http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/part-I/chapter-37

Convention on Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations http://www.un.org/en/ethics/pdf/convention.pdf

UNGA resolution 2131 http://legal.un.org/avl/pdf/ha/ga_2131-xx/ga_2131-xx_e.pdf

TOPIC B: ASSESSING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN COMBATING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Introduction

“While the whole world celebrated the Christmas of 2013 with joy, singing carols, special presents and cakes, the one million Syrian refugees in Turkey and Lebanon suffered from cold, hunger, diseases and abuse”

Illegal immigration is probably today among the biggest global issues and challenges which countries are facing. The UN Refugee Agency today reports more than 45 million refugees and internally displaced people in different parts of the globe. Many of them are subjected to sexual assaults, arbitrary detention, child labor, trafficking rings, forced slavery and other forms of physical abuses. In simple words illegal immigration is the migration of people across national borders in a manner inconsistent with the migration laws of the destined country.

The most prominent cause for people migrating illegally into the borders of some other country is political conflict, civil wars or to seek asylum for various reasons. Such immigrants have been described by the word ‘refugee’.

In customary international law, ‘refugee’ has been defined under article 1 of the Convention Relating to Status of Refugees (as amended by the 1967 protocol). This article clearly differentiates between the universally accepted definition of refugee and the different cases which do not fall under this definition neither get the legal stature as ‘refugees’.

(Note: Delegates may refer to clause A,B,C of article 1 of the Convention)

Grounded in article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which recognizes the right of persons to seek asylum from prosecution in other countries, the United Nations Convention relating to status of Refugees was adopted in 1951

and today acts as the centrepiece of international refugee protection. The Convention is both a status and right based instrument and is under pinned by a number of fundamental principles, most notably non discrimination, non- penalization and non-refoulment. It also lays down basic minimum standards for the treatment of refugees without prejudice to states granting them more favourable treatment including access to courts, primary work, education including a travel refugee document.

(Note: Delegates should refer to Chapter II,III,IV of the Convention for full details)

The biggest irony lays in the fact that in spite of having so many legal instruments both at regional and international level, today refugees all across the globe are massively exploited and devoid of their fundamental human rights. A recent news article published by Reuters stated the deteriorating conditions of Myanmar refugees who are dumped into trafficking rings by Thailand. There are countless examples of such inhuman activities where either they are killed, abused or forced to work for no wages. In this entire section, we shall try to visualize the role of states which are already a successful party to the convention yet have been found to violate basic duties towards refugees and their protection inside their borders as the Refugee Convention clearly demands. The issue of human rights violation of refugees clearly needs more attention and strict measures which should be universally implemented.

History

The world wars created the ever greatest refugee problem in human history. The problem began before the actual war started. By the end of the war millions were dead and the survivors were trying to regain home in all over Europe with most of them in various refugee camps.

The worst form of physical abuse followed by genocide was witnessed during those times in the refugee camps. Even the post world war era rendered millions of Jew and Polish refugees homeless, who were again dumped into forced slavery and human trafficking circles. The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (1943) was one of the earliest programs funded and established by the United States which aimed at providing sustainable facilities to post war refugees and repatriating them in their own countries.

After the catastrophe of the world wars in Europe, political conflicts in the middle east and Asia gave birth to many unsettled refugee populations like- the Palestinian refugees after the Arab Israel War, the Rohingya refugees, Afghan refugees residing in Iran and Pakistan and many more. These refugee groups over time and again have been denied all those basic amenities and rights by states which the Refugee Convention demands. Some states have also openly declared their opposition towards these refugees and organizations supporting them. A very recent move by the government of Bangladesh where it appealed international charity organizations to cut their aid for the Rohingya refugees (residing in Bangladesh) very well advocates this fact. Also countries like Lebanon have openly denied asylum to the Syrian refugees hence violating international protocols

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN MAIN COUNTRY OF ASYLUM REFUGEES

Afghanistan Iran / Pakistan 3,809,600 Burundi Tanzania 530,100 Iraq Iran 554,000 Uganda / Ethiopia / D.R. Sudan Congo / Kenya / Central 489,500 African Rep. Zambia / D.R. Congo / Angola 470,600 Namibia Kenya / Yemen / Ethiopia / Somalia 439,900 USA / United Kingdom Yugoslavia / Croatia / Bosnia-Herzegovina Slovenia Tanzania / Congo 426,000 / Zambia / Rwanda / Democratic Rep. Congo Burundi 392,100 Viet Nam China / USA 353,200 Eritrea Sudan 333,100

12 million refugee groups in 2001, Source:UNHCR

Legal aspect

Apart from the universal definition of ‘refugees’ established by the United Nations Convention on Status of Refugees, many states have their own domestic laws which have defined ‘aliens’ or ‘refugees’ as well. Section 101 (a) (42) of the Immigration And Nationality Act (IMA) passed by the US Congress; Section 13,14 (Part-2) of the 1958 Australian Migration Act; Section 2 of the 1951 Pakistani Citizenship Act etc are the examples of such laws. However, there are many newly formed states today which lack a basic legal mechanism for establishing nationality, citizenship status and even refugee protection issues. Sudan and South Sudan are such examples, where due to political conflict more than two million refugees have been displaced, vehemently abused and yet their citizenship being undetermined.

Note: Delegates may research on their respective country’s immigration policies/citizenship acts

Consequences and effects

As already stated, illegal immigration is one of the most concerning issues which is related to the lives of millions of refugees. The major sites of illegal immigration are often located on the borders or proximal geographical distance between developing and developed countries. The effects of illegal immigration, apart from becoming the growing burden for the host countries are the human tragedies with refugees facing violence, trafficking and poverty. More than four million people are smuggled and around 80,000 are victims of human trafficking.

Illegal immigration enhances the vicious circle of poverty. It results in increased crime incidents and sexual harassments. With unsettled regional regulations effectively tackling the problem of refugees it gives a vent for the ultra right parties embracing xenophobia, showing no tolerance for the foreigners to reach better conditions in their countries. With more than 5 .9 million people forced to flee their

homes in the first six months of 2013, the illegal burden of illegal immigration will increase in the following years and pose ever greater challenges.

Current Situation

In spite of having numerous conventions and laws both at domestic and international level, the present situation of refugees today is no better than the past. Recently in October 2013, around 363 people were pronounced to be dead after a boat collapsed which was carrying illegal migrants from coast of Lampedusa to Europe. According to the 2013 report of UNHCR, today there are around 1.3 million refugees living in Council of Europe’s 47 member countries who face harassment, exploitation and sexual abuse because of government’s failure of their recognition to Right to Work.

On 8th October, various European interior ministers met in Luxembourg to discuss the freedom of movement and illegal immigration issue in the Mediterranean Sea. In a very recent move made by Turkey, it recently signed immigration agreement with the European Union which allowed EU governments to send back illegal immigrants crossing into Europe from Turkey.

Political conflicts have today raised a huge question over the existence and rights of the thousands of people who fled their lands. Today the conditions of Sudanese and Syrian refugees living in various parts of middle eastern countries are worse than any other. With more than 800,000 Syrian refugees fleeing to Lebanon and 500000 to Jordan, the United Nations’ Refugee Agency under Antonia Guterres (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) drew upto a strategic plan for 2014 aiming to accommodate most of the Syrian refugees in campus with basic amenities and infrastructure which requires approximately US $ 4.2 billion. However, presently the human rights violation issues of refugees are not limited to the above mentioned regions, but can be traced throughout the globe. The unresolved problem of Mexican

immigration into United States, Chinese treatment of North Korean refugees and South Sudan crisis proves the necessity of a new resolution which could target all the present issues and work on the proper implementation of already existing conventions.

International Framework

Major existing legislation and agreements concerning illegal immigration (including trafficking, sexual assaults and other human rights violations ) are

 1951 Convention relating to Status of Refugees  Text of 1967 protocol relating to Status of Refugees  Resolution 2198 (XXII) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly

Although several international documents regarding illegal immigration have been adopted the treatment of refugees and the process of tackling illegal immigration to a large extent regional issue. Some of the countries tackle illegal immigration by recognizing part of refugees as people violating their national laws. For example United States’ Title 8 Section 1325 of the US code specifies that illegal immigration is a breach of law that provides for a fine or imprisonment. The national law of Israel adopted in 2012 allowed a three detention for illegal immigrants.

Countries Involved

 United States of America

United States of America implemented Refugee Act in 1980 that allows 50 000 refugees per year and is coordinated by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. However Title 8, Section 1325 of the U.S. Code is against the freedom of movement, which might result in fine or imprisonment. The research by Department of Homeland Security indicated that the southern border of United States is a site of violent crimes conducted by organized syndicates that traffic people, drugs and weapons. Moreover, the tightening security of US-Mexico border was a source of

controversy throughout last 12 years, with more than 4,000 Mexicans dead trying to cross the “wall” which clearly violates the human rights. The U.S. the steady increase of security agents of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) created after 11th September 2001, which nowadays employs more than 21000 agents securing southern border significantly increases the chances of migrants being shot or injured.

 Thailand

Thailand has not adopted the 1951 Refugee Convention and does not possess any law regarding the refugee status. The human rights watch world report for 2013 states that refugees, asylum seekers and illegal migrants face detention lasting many years, till they are accepted as citizens or repatriated to their countries of origin. The recent article published by Reuters on the Thailand’s treatment of Rohingya migrants being imprisoned in labour camps enhances the view of Thailand violating human rights.

 Lebanon

Lebanon is still struggling with its large population of Palestinian refugees. With more than 300 000, human rights watch notes, that they live in appalling socio economic conditions. The further problems of Lebanon with regard to migration are focused around influx of Syrian refugees. Lebanon government doesn’t recognize Syrian migrants escaping civil war as refugees, thus facing the risk of detention and repatriation to the hostile environment that is a clear violation of human rights.

 Iran

Iran has one of the greatest refugee population in the world. With more than 840,000 Afghans and 42,000 Iraqis having access to the Iranian medical services, education for students, literacy classes for out-of-school children and the labour market. However another 1.2 million of Afghans live unregistered in Iran, facing detention and abuses from the government, which reveals a breach in a human rights practice.

 Pakistan

Pakistan is the home of more than one million Afghan refugees who have been living since the Soviet Era. The non recognized border between Afghanistan and Pakistan ‘Durand Line’ is one of the top factors responsible for a high illegal immigration rate. According to a recent report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, hundreds of registered Afghan refugees have been illegally swept up and briefly held by Pakistani authorities during security operations. U.N. representative Neill Wright said most of the arrests came during operations in Pakistan's restive southwestern province of Baluchistan and the southern city of Karachi, mainly because of institutional delays in updating refugee status cards. Refugees have also been exploited and used as ‘shields’, ‘suicide bombers’ by terrorist organizations in Pakistan.

Points a Resolution Must Address

Delegates must bear in mind the following questions while making a draft resolution concerning the agenda-

 Should only the host countries of refugees be directly addressed in the process of tackling illegal immigration?  To what extent can resolution maintain its universal character in order not to violate countries sovereignty?  How would be the economic burden of refugees’ upkeep be handled?  Would only the host countries be responsible for securing the refugees or some collective body should participate in it ?  How can human trafficking be effectively tackled?  What about international waters? How can the refugees’ routes on international waters be better monitored?

Conclusion

Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right of persons to seek asylum from persecution in other countries. With more than 45 million refugees around the globe the illegal migration poses new challenges. Illegal immigrants seeking asylum face violence, discrimination and trafficking that needs to come to an end. The United Nations Convention relating to Status of refugees cannot address all of the nowadays demands that haven’t been foreseen 60 years ago. With the projected increase in number of refugees , human rights concerning illegal migration needs an international attention and an updated protocol for implementation, which could secure these rights and overcome regional interests.

Suggestions for Further Research

History of Palestinian refugees http://www.unrwa.org/userfiles/201006109359.pd

History of Rohingya refugees http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e4877d6.html

Situation of immigrants in the US Mexico border http://www.amnestyusa.org/sites/default/files/ai_inhostileterrain_final031412.pdf

For more research on human rights and refugees http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet20en.pdf

For more research on refugee rights in Iran http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/iran1113_forUpload.pdf

Bhutanese refugees in Nepal http://in.reuters.com/article/2007/05/27/idINIndia-30019820070527

Refugees in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/pakistan/pakistan0202.pdf

Thailand’s treatment of refugees http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/thailand0912.pdf http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/04/thailand-rohingya- idUSL4N0JH0GX20131204

Situation of refugees in Canada http://ccrweb.ca/documents/state-of-refugees.pdf

Human Rights of Refugees in Western Sahara http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/wsahara1208web.pdf

For more information about refugees http://unhcr.org/globaltrendsjune2013/UNHCR%20GLOBAL%20TRENDS%202012_V0 5.pdf

Lebanon denies entry to Syrian and Palestinian refugees http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/08/07/lebanon-palestinians-fleeing-syria-denied- entry

Bangladesh asked organizations not to aid Rohingya refugees http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19092131

Women refugees from Syria harassed

http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/11/26/lebanon-women-refugees-syria-harassed- exploited

US definition of refugee http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1101 http://www.uscis.gov/humanitarian/refugees-asylum/refugees

Situation in South Sudan http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4e43cb466.html

Turkey European Union Agreement over Refugees http://www.aljazeera.com/news/europe/2013/12/turkey-eu-sign-immigration- agreement-20131216141923651609.html

Mexico border human rights violation crossing violations : http://www.refworld.org/pdfid/47e0ea16d.pdf

Human Rights Violations on the United States-Mexico Border http://www.aclu.org/files/assets/121024_aclu_written_statement_ochcr_side_event_ 10_25_12_final_0.pdf

The human rights watch world report for 2013 : Thailand http://www.hrw.org/world-report/2013/country-chapters/thailand?page=3

Bibliography

Convention Relating to Status of Refugees http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/StatusOfRefugees.aspx

1951 Convention Related to the Status of Refugees http://www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.html

US Immigration Policy on Assylum Seekers http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL32621.pdf

UNHCR Report of forcibly displaced this year http://www.unhcr.org/52b310a06.html

The Role of International Law in addressing immigration http://www.law.yale.edu/documents/pdf/Faculty/wexler_YJIL1.pdf

CONFERENCE INFORMATION

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Agenda & Rules of Procedure

The agenda for the 2014 conference is available online at www.limun.org.uk/agenda

Since its 14th session last year, LIMUN has introduced changes to its Rules of Procedure. The revised Rules can be accessed here: http://limun.org.uk/rules

POSITION PAPERS

What is a position paper? A position paper is a statement of policy, which is intended to communicate an overall position of a country on a particular topic debated in the committee. Position papers should be brief and outline the general policies rather than specific measures.

Each delegate should submit one position paper per topic to be debated by the committee (note: most of the committees have two proposed topics). Each paper should be approximately one page per topic.

LIMUN offers a short guide on how to write a position paper. It is available on our website: http://limun.org.uk/FCKfiles/File/Position_Paper_Guide.pdf

Deadlines There are two deadlines for submission of delegates’ position papers:

February 11th (Tuesday) – position papers submitted before this deadline will be reviewed by the Directors and the delegates will receive feedback and will be given a chance to submit a corrected version of their policy papers (if necessary).

February 14th (Friday) – position papers submitted before this deadline will still receive feedback from the Directors, but their re-submission will not be permitted.

Submitted position papers will be circulated by the Directors among the committee members. Please note: LIMUN 2014 Awards Policy revision has introduced a Best Position Paper award.

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