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10th. e

dition

UNITED NATIONS HIGH

COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES

UNHCR

Handbook

ChairwomanBrenda Michelle Mejía Martínez

ModeratorCristina Fernández Salceda

Conference OfficersMelissa Vázquez Ruíz &

Ricardo Martínez Aguilar

2013TAEMUN

Escuela Tomás Alva Edison

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Dear Delegates:

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is truly grateful to all the delegations for participating in this tenth edition of TAEMUN. As your chair, we are here to help you for whatever you require. Also, we expect from you a great debate full of new proposals in order to achieve both TAEMUN’s goals and this committee’s. This agency’s activities include leading and coordinating international action to protect refugees and displaced people, helping to resolve their problems worldwide.

During these three days, the chair hopes that all the delegates have an excellent and gratifying development in this International Forum. The first topic in our agenda is: protection of human rights for young immigrants. It is imperative not to forget that according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, any person, despite his or her social status, has access to enjoy the whole articles of the mentioned document.

The second topic is: children refugees’ right to education. It is a fact that nowadays, half of the world’s refugees are children, and the most polemic situation is that the majority do not have access to education for the environment they have to live in while their status of refugee takes place. Therefore, we need to have a solution for this topic.

As the chair already said, welcome to TAEMUN 2013 and we hope to listen and have creative and efficient solutions for both of these topics. Looking forward to sharing unforgettable experiences with you,

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

TAEMUN 2013

United Nations High Commissioner for RefugeesTAEMUN 2013

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Topic A: Protection of human rights for young immigrants

Each country has their own history: some of them have had many internal conflicts, natural disasters, unemployment, hunger, epidemics, among others. However, thanks to the international support that the United Nations has provided to the population of these countries, they have been able to generate development towards the eradication of these issues. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has brought peace to the people that have had to encounter themselves with the consequences that the status of a refugee implies, providing them with protection, a new place to develop, legal assistance, basic needs and long term solutions, with the goal that refugees can continue with their lives peacefully.

This committee is helping over 34.4 million citizens in more than 110 countries, including refugees and immigrants, of which, almost half are children. With other organizations, both governmental and non-governmental, the UNHCR provides protection, food, water, shelter, health care and education. However, there are many reasons that provoke a person to move from his country to another. For example, a country may have internal or external conflicts that affect certain part of the population, or, on the other hand, the country may not be able to give them the opportunities they need to develop socially or economically, for which people flee towards better opportunities.

(http://www.acnur.org/t3/uploads/pics/asistencia_S.Plot)nikov.jpg

When immigrants arrive to a new country, they have to be constantly moving. But despite the legal and migrating status, they are still human beings. Children, therefore, also have rights no matter where and how the situation is, and this is the main point to take into account when talking about the solutions to take relating to this problem. According to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, the child has the right to education


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(principle 7), and enjoyment of social security (principle 4) (General Assembly, 1959). Then, the principles established in this Declaration are the ones to follow to generate a new frame of action that will provide any child, despite their condition, except for the one of refugee in this case, to enjoy the educational services that can be provided, considering the needs of the region of arrival.

(http://www.acnur.org/t3/uploads/pics/solicitantes-A.Webster.jpg)

Young immigrants suffer multiple disadvantages in comparison with the children that are native from the receptor country. They have many economic difficulties because the welfare of the young immigrants isn’t very stable in many areas like health, education and shelter. Sometimes they don’t even speak the same language so it is hard for them to communicate. The need to become internal displaced people makes it harder to get education. Then, the main limitations for a child refugee to get education can be summarized into the following variables:

Unsafe or worse conditions of the place of arrival

Arrival through unhealthy, dangerous means, making it difficult to canalize refugees through special agencies, such as UNHCR or others.

Lack of a legal frame within the country of arrival that hosts the possibilities to get education.

The United Nations (UN), through its Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), provides low-term education programs, especially in the region of Africa. Nevertheless, UNESCO encourages the national governments to create a legal system that covers this case-of-emergency situation. It is also important to take into account that refugees have several options for their future, including returning to their homeland, stay in the new country, or move to a third one, being this


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any of the ones that serve this purpose through an agreement with the UNHCR, or any country that has or not adopted the Convention related to the Status of Refugees (established by UNCHR in 1951), with its respective protocol of 1967.

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According to the Convention related to the Status of Refugees that was adopted by the United Nations on 28 July 1951 that stipulates in It is article seven that: “After a period of three years of residence, all refugees shall enjoy exemption, from legislative reciprocity in the territory of the Contracting States.” This means that the refugees that have lived for a period of three or more years have the same privileges, rights and obligations that the native citizens; also this article establishes that “Except where this convention contains more favorable provisions, a Contracting State shall accord to refugees the same treatment as is accorded aliens generally (…)” (UNHCR, 1951).

Africa

Due to the internal conflicts of the African countries, there are many people of interest for the UNHCR. That means about 6,3 million of internal displaced people (IDP), and about 100, 000 immigrants. Some of our organization’s main objectives are:

To guarantee a just, efficient and non-discriminatory treatment and to emit the correct documentation.

To create secure and protected environment for all the people of interest for the UNHCR.

To respond to basic necessities and offer essential services.

The above mentioned should be included when talking about refugees, too. In this year we have brought a new home to Somalis that have suffered a lot we are reinstall them to Kenya and Ethiopia. Also in the


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occidental part of Africa, we focus on integral strategies that includes local integration programs, resettlement. All these actions have helped to make a long term solution to this problem.

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America:

America is a continent that receives hundreds of refugees from all across the world. That is the main problem; sometimes some countries receive more immigrants than they can handle. As a result of this, there are economic problems because, though the infrastructure of the countries is good, it’s wasn’t designed for that amount of people. South American countries also have internal conflicts such as internal wars, insecurity, economic crisis or drug dealing. Colombia and Honduras are some of the countries with more internal conflicts that ask for help from Mexico, United States of America and Canada. Canada and the United States of America are the countries that receive more shelter requirements.

http://www.acnur.org/t3/uploads/pics/solucionesduraderas_640x249.jpg

The region situations above mentioned, refer to the regions that face several refugee issues due to the current situation. However, it is imperative to take into account the socio-economic and political context


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from each country and the region to reach a favorable resolution towards the empowerment of education. Most of all, it is important, regarding this committee, to look for solutions that even when they may apply to specific current situations, that can contribute to the whole globe and future incidences of lack of education in other regions. The task is to include national, regional and international organizations that can contribute to this task.

Questions Which are the human rights legal instruments that your delegation uses

in favor of refugees?

Which are the levels of immigration in your country?

Which are the main human rights that are not respected both nationally and regionally? (Taking your country as a reference)

What has your country done in order to prevent human rights violations to these groups?

Have Non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) had any participation in preventing issues that arise from human rights violations?

References United Nations (UN). (2012). Human rights. Recovered on November 5,

2012. From: http://www.un.org/en/rights/

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) (2012). Refugees. Recovered on November 5, 20112. From: http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c125.html

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2013) Asia and the pacific. Recovered on January 5, 2013. From: http://www.unhcr.org/pages/4a02d8ec6.html

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2009). La protección de los refugiados. Recovered on November 7, 2012. From: http://www.acnur.org/t3/fileadmin/scripts/doc.php?file=biblioteca/pdf/7029

Right to Education Project. (1994) International law on refugee children. Recovered on November 7, 2012. From: http://www.right-to-education.org/node/617


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International Detention Coalition. (2012). Global Campaign to End Immigration Detention of Children. Recovered on November 10, 2012. From: http://idcoalition.org/children/

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (1951). Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Recovered from: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/refugees.htm

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