International Organization for Migration

International Organization for Migration 1ÍNDICE 3. Presentation letter 5.Introduction to the committee 7. Position Paper 7. Topic A: Climate Change Induced Migration 13. Topic B: Preventing human casualties in Europe and in war zones in Africa and Middle East 26. Bibliography 2Presentation Letter Welcome to the International Organization for Migration committee, which will explore two very important areas: climate change induced migration and preventing human casualties in Europe and in war zones in Africa and Middle East. We are very excited to work with you in this committee for MUNUR 16 and we hope it will be an enriching and unforgettable experience. We are Caroline Cubillos and Teresa Gomes; we will be your directors. By the other side we have a Moderator named Augusto Dannon Alva. All of us are extremely passionate about issues related to displacement, human rights, refugees and migration. Most importantly, we cannot wait to embark this great learning opportunity that MUNUR 16 is. I am Caroline Cubillos. I am a student at the Javeriana University and I am in eighth semester of International Relations. I am part of the Executive board of the student group UN Javeriana and also I am part of the Executive board of the Model United Nations at my university, PUJMUN 2016. Since school I have loved the MUNs. I think these are important learning spaces, where you know wonderful people. I am very excited to be part of MUNUR 16 directing the International Organization for Migration, because I have always been interested in migration issues, it is a topic that concerns me a lot and that and touches my heart . What I expect from MUNUR 16 is a lot of fun, but also strong academic demand, a model that will challenge delegates to go further in their research and develop their oral skills, negotiation, writing, among others. I hope and I am sure that this experience will be unforgettable, not just for me, but also for all the delegates. 33I amTeresa Auntora Gomes,I am a student at the University ofToronto,majoring in Public Policy and Critical International Development Studies. Currently, I am theco-founderofaneducationaldevelopment project calledEducation&Equity for Women in Nilphamari Bangladesh (EEWNB), and I am researching climate change induced migration. I hope that this particular committee will offer new insights and challenge you intellectually. My expectation is that everyone will utilize their critical thinking skills and develop new ideas that are outside of the box. Migration is a vital issue at the moment that deserves serious attention, this committee provides us the chance to contribute to ongoing solutions that can make a difference. I am Augusto Dannon Alva. I am currently on my fourth semester on the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) and I am really interested in philosophy, social studies, human rights, and contemporary issues. I am part of Peruvian Debate Society since 2015, but I started my MUN life in my last year of school. Due to globalization, migration has become one of the most relevant factor on social phenomena. Nevertheless, it remains as an overlooked topic in international politics in most of the countries. Personally, I think migration is one of the richest topics, because you can find many different aspects on the issue that requires various solutions. Therefore, I expect for you, delegates, to go further on your research and to try to give your analysis a broad view of the problem, so you can understand the problem, both, as a whole and into detail. I hope you have fun in MUNUR 2016 and learn a lot in the academic side and in skill wise. It is an honor for me to be part of this unforgettable experience and I hope to see the best of you on the committee. <a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected] </a><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected] </a><a href="mailto:[email protected]" target="_blank">[email protected] </a>44Introduction to the committee IOM The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is the principal intergovernmental organization about migration. This organization is the leader in migration issues. It works with all kinds of actors: Countries, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs (International Organization for Migration, 2015). Para MUNUR16 esperamos que el ejercicio de simulación de la Sexta ComisióndelaAsambleaGeneralseaunespaciodeconstruccióndeconocimiento jurídico, alrededor de temas que han sido seleccionados por su idoneidad para generar debate en esta área de las Relaciones Internacionales. Source: International Organization for migration. Governing bodies. Available in: https://governingbodies.iom.int/ It was founded in 1951 and currently counts with 162 member states, 9 states with observer status and some Non-governmental organizations. The IOM “is dedicated to promoting humane and orderly migration for the benefit of all” (International Organization for Migration, 2015). To accomplish this, the IOM gives services and advices to the countries and migrants. The IOM helps to manage and ensure and organized humane management o the migration, promoting international cooperation, assisting and looking for solutions to the 55migration problems. It supports all kind of migrants: economic migrants, refugees and displaced people This organization works focused on 4 aspects: · Migration and development · Facilitating migration · Regulating migration · Forced migration. The IOM works also in the promotion of: · International migration law · Protection of migrants’ rights · Migration health · Women and migration. Governing bodies The IOM is structured in different bodies that constitute the whole organization: The council, where each member state has its representative and has one vote. The Standing Committee on programmes and finance (SCPF): this subcommittee of the Council is in charge of the review of policies, programmes and activities. Also, discusses the financial and budgetary issues. The administration: it is composed by a General Director and Deputy Director General. This committee administers and manages the Organization “in accordance with the Constitution […] the policies and decisions of the Council and the Standing Committee on Programmes and Finance” (International Organization for Migration, 2015). In this case we are going to simulate inside the IOM the Council. 66Position Paper We believe that less is more. That’s why, as a table we seek a very concrete position paper that has the main ideas about the position of their respective countries. For this position paper we consider the text should have tow essential things: The first thing: there should be a clear and concrete position of his country about the issues that are being addressed. With this, both the board as the other delegates will have clear what is your position of the issues and briefly explain the reasons why. Second, there must be some ideas or proposals that seek to solve the problem. We do not want to put all their solutions and explain that as a whole, but specifically understand which solutions you have, so in the course of the debate can deepen in these. 3. Development Topics Topic A: Climate Change Induced Migration •Context As sea levels continue to drastically rise as a product of global warming, numerous low-lying regions and countries in the Global South are threatened with environmental disasters. Climate disasters not only take the lives of millions of people, but also displace people from their homes, forcing them to migrate and in many cases, become climate refugees, in which an average of 26.4 million people per year have been displaced according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (Walia, Telesur, 2015). 7Furthermore,itwasestimatedthatby2050,theremaybe200millionclimate refugees (Barnes, BBC, 2013). But where will these migrants and refugees go? Are there legal and international systems to support the next wave of migration? Currently there is no legal protection for climate refugees. With no legal basis to be granted refugee status and to seek petitions for residency, countries like Australia and New Zealand which obtain the most petitions because of their location in the Pacific, have the authority to reject petitions (Walia, Telesur, 2015). Moreover, there is no international agreement or protection framework to address migration due to climate change (Nishimura, 2015). •Climate Change At the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions and other human induced activities,theearthwillbecomewarmerandclimatechangewillleadtoanincrease of environmental disasters such as floods, droughts, desertification, hurricanes, the destruction of natural resources, etc. In addition to catastrophes, rising temperatures are drastically altering environmental landscapes. Specifically, “sea levels are presently rising by approximately three millimeters per year as a result of anthropogenic climate change, with the thermal expansion of ocean water and melting of Greenland and Antarctic ice being key contributors” (McLeman, 2014, p. 180). Global economic inequality has led to developing nations of the Global South to depend on non-renewable fossil fuels like coal and oil for growth (Mahapatra, 2015). Moreover, developing nations are burdened with the brunt of environmental destruction because most have low-lying geographical landscapes and cannot afford climate mitigation and adaption technology (Mahapatra, 2015). Thus, it is difficult for developing nations to dramatically shift their economic growth pattern, which contributes to climate change. In addition, historically, the influence of developing nations in global climate governance have been eroded, in which “the poorest countries are not invited, and have no institutionalized way of feeding their perspectives into decisions that will have profound effects on their future opportunities” (UNDP, 2010, p. 5). Atthe 2015 United Nations Paris Climate Change Conference, the 196 Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted the Paris agreement with no objection (The BRICS Post, 2015). China and India’s leaders 8took the opportunity to strongly emphasize the challenges of developing nations, in which it was felt that the Global North was shifting their responsibilities regarding climate change on the Global South. India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi contended that India and other developing nations should not be forced to follow guidelines on climate change that are set by developed countries, in which climate change should be approached with cooperation, rather than coercion (Mahapatra, 2015). China’s Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua said that “although the agreement is not perfect, it does not stop us from moving a historicalstepforward,”callingondevelopedcountriestofulfilltheircommitments to provide finance, technology development and transfer, and capacity building to developing countries. (The BRICS Post, 2015). Specifically, the commitment outlined that $100 billion would be provided to developing countries by 2020 in order to give up fossil fuels and recover from heat waves, food scarcity, and storm damage. (The BRICS Post, 2015). Undoubtedly, developed nations have a large responsibility towards climate change because they have the largest global footprint. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was signed and became effective in 2005 with the target of reducing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere (Vucheva, 2008). The protocol was ratified by 175 countries, of which only 36 developed nations made a commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions (Vucheva, 2008). However, the United States, the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide did not ratify the Kyoto protocol (Vucheva, 2008). While the United States terriblyfailed to meet targets, European countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom committed to investing in renewable energy (Vucheva, 2008). According to Naser (2013), “to date, the only achievement in this regard is an inclusion in paragraph 4(f) in the Cancun Agreement, which calls for international cooperation for the protection of ‘environmental refugees’” (p. 489). • Climate Migration Climate change causes rising sea levels that result in shoreline erosion, coastal flooding, agricultural disruption and the complete takeover of productive land, especially islands. In the worst case, many geographical locations do not exist anymore. These are geographical locations that communities depend on as a source of survival, when such 9locations do not exist, it takes awaythe right to exist formanylives. Moreover, these environmental conditions produce economic vulnerabilities, leading to severe poverty. Consequently, internal and cross-bordermigration occurs byforce or voluntarily (Nishimura, 2015, p. 113). Also in some cases, many people do not have the capacity to migrate. Moreover,climate migration is uneven across the world. While the Global North produces the bulk of carbon emissions, large-scale migration will happen in the Global South because developing nations rely on livelihoods tied to agriculture and climate change adaptation efforts are hindered by poverty and lack of resources (Nishimura, 2015, p. 111). As communities in the Global South are already marginalized from various influences locally and globally; lack of state protection and heightened political and social tensions worsen climate migration plights, further inducing displacement. •Why are climate refugees not protected? Firstly, there are no international agreements to address climate changeincluded migration, no characterization or legal distinction for climate migrants and climate refugees, and no initiative to extend climate migration into international refugee, human rights or environmental law (Nishimura, 2015, p. 108). According to Nishimura, climate change migrants typically do not suffer the type of persecution necessary to qualify as a refugee because refugee statuses are defined as “a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion” (Nishimura, 2015, p. 108). Thus, if an individual are unable to demonstrate persecution, they are not provided the protections outlined in the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) (Nishimura, 2015, p. 114). Furthermore, climate refugees are not protected because of “institutional capacity issues, the difficulty of linking climate change directly to migration, the causal complexity of climate change, and the limitations of civil society in its climate advocacy” (Nishimura, 2015, p. 107). •Effects of climate changing that force people to migrate There are many consequences of climate changing that force people to migrate. In those cases, climate changing act as a indirect cause. Nevertheless, it is very important to 10 consider them and to analyze what measures can be taken to combat these situations. Here are two examples. Droughts As has happened in many countries in Africa, droughts force populations to move periodically to get access to sources of water. This migration is particular due to the constant movement of the people. Also, this do not imply the change of the place of residence of those people; nevertheless, it does require a constant movement that can affect in a certain way the people involved and the populations around them. In a long term, this can force groups to move their living place due to the lack of access to water for long periods. Shortage Very similar to the situation with droughts, shortage makes the life in a particular place harder, which forces the population in it to seek in the arounds a solution for their needs. This makes them migrate in very poor health conditions, due to the lack of a proper alimentation and the absence of access to the necessarynutrientsto livethroughthetrip.This migration usuallycreates constant movement but tend to get to move large groups of people permanently. In the 90s, many of this waves of migration took place in Africa. Cold waves In different zones of Asia and South America, long cold waves in unprepared places affect the living of the people there. This affects their economic, labor, educational and health development, which endorses them, when the possibility exists, to leave this place to another which has less harmful climate situations. •Economic effects of climate changing In the current world, economy is one of the main causes of migration. This kind of migration is not protected and, usually, high grossing countries try to avoid it. But, when looking closer to the issue, there are some cases in which climate change is the cause of an economic collapse in a particular area. This puts that population in a big disadvantage and encourages to seek a better future in other place. 11 Climatic changes such a heat waves, for example, affect the whole way in which the clothing industry works. Many small manufacturers of clothing finds themselves out of the market and broke due to those changes. Agriculture and animal husbandry in small industries or organic industries faces also a big complication. This reflects in the market, which puts transnational enterprises in a favorable position and creates a complicated environment to those business. Therefore, climate changing can be a complication for a particular place in which the economy cannot develop properly due to the climate conditions, and a risk to an industry for the high cost and bumps to deal with when climate conditions radicalize. QARMAS 1. Should climate migrants be protected by a special legal status? What status should they have? 2. How can the international community fight against the consequences of climate change and its effects on migration? 3. What humanitarian actions can the member states of the IOM take to ensure that climate migrants and refugees are protected? 4. Should the IOM establish a humanitarian presence by supporting migrants with climate change adaption and mitigation strategies? 5. Should states modifytheir existing refugee laws to accommodate climate migrants and refugees? If so, what kinds of laws should they make? 12 Topic B: Preventing human casualties in Europe and in war zones in Africa and Middle East Currently Europe is in crisis, and borders are becoming increasingly difficult to exercise due to the presence of thousands of migrants arriving by boat or even on foot, facilitated by human traffickers. According to the United Nations, this massive mobilization of migrants is considered the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Europe has reached more than 120,000 migrants. More than 5 million people have fled away from the Middle East in the last five years, since the Arab Spring started. This massive migration have collapsed the precedent measures on organizing migratory movement and making it secure, which has led to many different consequences: radical policies on closer countries, mafia of migration, many deaths, disorganization of the societies and breaking of families, as some examples. In Africa, the differences in political regime and race based cultural background make migration particularly complicated. The geographical situation, principally due to the Sahara make large migrations more dangerous. Also, the shortage and droughts mixed with the poor health conditions in that continent make casualties more probable. The duty here is to find a way to avoid casualties in migration, but to also find measures that can ensure the respect of human rights in migrations at origin states, transit states and destination states. •Migrants vs. Refugees: When discussing refugees today, it is crucial to understand the difference between migrants and refugees. A migrant is a person that moves from one country to another for a certain period of time. Migrants who are in a search of better opportunities are known as economic migrants. On the other hand, refugees are defined in the 1951 Convention Relating the Status of Refugees as “A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being 13 persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.” (UN, 1951). This definition has many different critics and, with the creation of more specific definitions of types of refugees, has been softly changed. Anyway, it remains a complication on international law. Even though the definitions show clear distinctions between the two, it is difficult to distinguish them due to the existence of mixed migration. Migrants and refugees frequently use the same routes, and if they are unable to enter the country through legal means, they often pay smugglers to take them. However, while refugees are entitled to “international protection,” migrants are not. Once they have been identified as migrants, they are allowed to be sent back to their country of origin. However, it is very difficult for countries to determine whether a person is a refugee or a migrant. Because of this, countries make these decisions based on things like whether the individual’s country produces many economic migrants and few refugees, and vice versa. Due to the ongoing refugees crisis are strengthening their laws on receiving economic migrants. •Legal Background: When talking about migration there are many international documents that shape the legal background. Some of them are binding and some others not. Anyway, as the form of hard law, most of this are obeyed by many countries. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) One of the most important article that regards migration is the 13: “(1) Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. (2) Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country” 14 Thisarticlegiveseachpersontherightofmovementwithoutbiggerrestriction than national borders, which avoids the existence of ghettos or checkpoints which limit the movement inside the country. Furthermore, it also gives everyone the right to leave countries when the wish and to return to them. On the current situation, the second one is being more violated, due to the closure of borders and the strong migration policies in countries such as Cuba. Another really important article is the 14:

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