Letter from the Executive Board

Honourable Delegates,
Greetings! We welcome you all to the simulation of the United Nations Security Council
meeting at Lady Shri Ram Model United Nations Conference 2016.
We request all participant delegates to keep a few pointers in mind before reading the
background guide. The background guide is divided into different sections.
The first section is about the UNSC and its function and powers. The functions and powers
of all councils and committees are outlined by their mandate, which also defines the scope
of debate in council. The mandate also defines what kind of actions can be taken by the
UNSC and how it is separate from the actions taken by other committees.
The second section clearly marks the sources that will be accepted as proof/evidence in the
committee. In situations where the Executive Board asks a delegate for proof/evidence to
back up their statements, any source might be brought up for debate if it has institutional
backing, and might even be accepted as the belief of the country. However please
remember that research can be done using any source as such. Even Wikipedia is a source
(yes!), but only to understand the overview of the theme and not to gather facts and
figures. Delegates are advised to cross-check statements and speeches with the mentioned
credible sources to be on a safe side. Many sections are followed by or include links which
will help in understanding the agenda better, attaining relevant documents and guide you
for further research on the issue. Delegates are requested to visit and explore these links
too.
In the third section we have a brief study of the given agenda. This is the part where you
start to understand the agenda and start researching on it. Do take note that we only intend
to guide you through this agenda, which simply means that we will try and introduce you
to various aspects and then let you further research them on your own. So we would
request all the delegates to put sincere efforts in preparation and research thoroughly.
Lastly, dont bother too much about the procedure of the Security Council. The Executive
board has that covered for you.
Feel free to contact us via email if you have any queries or doubts.
Regards,
Hisham Ahmed Rizvi | hisham.rzv@gmail.com
Shivish Soni | shivishsoni@gmail.com
Contents
Letter from the Executive Board ............................................................................................................................ 1
Contents ................................................................................................................................................................. 3
About UN Security Council @ LSR Model United Nations Conference 2015 ......................................................... 5
Proof/Evidence in Council ...................................................................................................................................... 6
How to research?.................................................................................................................................................... 9
Basic documents, treaties, conventions etc. ........................................................................................................ 10
UN Charter ........................................................................................................................... 10
Geneva Conventions ............................................................................................................ 10
Responsibility to Protect ...................................................................................................... 11
Customary International Law / Customary International Humanitarian Law ..................... 12
The concept of jus cogens or peremptory norms.............................................................. 12
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
Background ........................................................................................................................................................... 15
Schengen Area and Dublin Regulation ................................................................................ 15
Carrier's responsibility ......................................................................................................... 15
Global refugee crisis............................................................................................................. 16
Beginning of the crisis in Europe ......................................................................................... 16
Implications for the EU and the world .................................................................................................................. 18
Response of Europe and the world ...................................................................................................................... 19
Existing mechanisms for refugee situations ......................................................................................................... 20
Proposed Solutions by International Bodies and their implications ..................................................................... 22
Section I:
Understanding the Security Council
About UN Security Council @ LSR Model United Nations Conference 2015
Under the Charter of the United Nations, the Security Council has primary responsibility for
the maintenance of international peace and security. It has 15 Members, and each Member
has one vote. Under the Charter, all Member States are obligated to comply with Council
decisions. The Security Council takes the lead in determining the existence of a threat to the
peace or act of aggression. It calls upon the parties to a dispute to settle it by peaceful
means and recommends methods of adjustment or terms of settlement. In some cases, the
Security Council can resort to imposing sanctions or even authorize the use of force to
maintain or restore international peace and security.
The Security Council also recommends to the General Assembly the appointment of the
Secretary-General and the admission of new Members to the United Nations. And, together
with the General Assembly, it elects the judges of the International Court of Justice.
You are also advised to look into the practice of the UN Security Council and how the
Charter affects the same. This will be highly informative as to the inner workings of the SC
and hence, debate on it.
http://www.un.org/en/sc/repertoire/actions.shtml
http://www.un.org/en/sc/
The Charter of the United Nation

Also note, that this session of the UN Security Council will be a regular session. By a regular
session we simply mean two things:
1. We are simulating a meeting which has been called within the regular schedule of
Security Council to discuss a matter of utmost urgency and concerning international
peace and security. (Please refer to Rule 1-3 of the Provisional Rules of Procedure of
the Security Council)
2. Most Rules of Procedures (ROP) remain the same, however certain deviations in the
same may be notified by the President in order to ensure smooth functioning.
Delegates shall have the right to ask questions and seek clarifications on the ROP,
but will not be allowed to raise Points of Order on the same as these deviations, if
any, are done only to aid debate, and the President has the powers under the SC
Procedure Guidelines to do the same. (Please refer to Article 30 of the UN Charter)
Please remember that a regular session does not mean that the delegates will be given a
crisis situation eventually. The delegates are requested not to ask the Executive Board for
the same.
Also, we request delegates not to questions the validity of the meeting itself, as it is very
well valid under the UN Charter. We also request you not to utilize too much time discussing
the ROP in case you feel that it is not the ROP you know about! The Presidents decision on
all matters relating to the Rules of Procedure shall be final. Furthermore, the President
will, at the start of the meeting, convey to all delegates the relevant deviations in the ROP
that they must take note of for this meeting.
Proof/Evidence in Council
Evidence or proof is from the following sources will be accepted in the committee:
1. News Sources
a. UN News - http://www.un.org/news/ - Any article that has been published
directly by the UN or endorsed by the UN News website as being authentic
and accurate portrayal of facts shall be considered as credible proof in the
council.
b. REUTERS Any Reuters article which clearly makes mention of the fact
stated or is in contradiction of the fact being stated by another delegate in
council can be used to substantiate arguments in the committee. However,
Reuters is not an absolute source and can be challenged by other delegates.
(http://www.reuters.com/ )
c. State operated News Agencies These reports can be used in the support of
or against the State that owns the News Agency. These reports, if credible or
substantial enough, can be used in support of or against any country as such
but in that situation, they can be denied by any other country in the council.
Some examples are
i. RIA Novosti (Russia) http://en.rian.ru/
ii. IRNA (Iran) http://www.irna.ir/ENIndex.htm
iii. Xinhua News Agency and CCTV (P.R. China) http://cctvnews.cntv.cn/

2. Government Reports: These reports can be used in a similar way as the State
Operated News Agencies reports and can, in all circumstances, be denied by another
country. However, a nuance is that a report that is being denied by a certain country
can still be accepted by the Executive Board as credible information. Some examples
are,
a. Government Websites like the State Department of the United States of
America http://www.state.gov/index.htm or the Ministry of Defence of the
Russian Federation http://www.eng.mil.ru/en/index.htm
i. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of various nations like India
(http://www.mea.gov.in/) or Peoples Republic of China
(http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/).
ii. Permanent Representatives to the United Nations Reports
http://www.un.org/en/members/ (Click on any country to get the
website of the Office of its Permanent Representative.)
iii. Multilateral Organizations like the NATO
(http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/index.htm), ASEAN
(http://www.aseansec.org/ ), OPEC
(http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/ ), etc.
 3. UN Reports: All UN Reports are considered are credible sources of information
a. UN Bodies like the UNSC (http://www.un.org/Docs/sc/) or UNGA
(http://www.un.org/en/ga/).
b. UN Affiliated bodies like the International Atomic Energy Agency
(http://www.iaea.org/ ), World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org/ ),
International Monetary Fund (http://www.imf.org/external/index.htm ),
International Committee of the Red Cross (http://www.icrc.org/eng/index.jsp
), etc.
c. Treaty Based Bodies like the Antarctic Treaty System
(http://www.ats.aq/e/ats.htm ), the International Criminal Court
(http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC )

NOTE: Under no circumstances will sources like Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/ ),

Amnesty International (http://www.amnesty.org/ ), Human Rights Watch
(http://www.hrw.org/ ) or newspapers like the Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/),
Times of India (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ ), etc. be accepted as PROOF/EVIDENCE.
But they can be used for better understanding of any issue or even be brought up in debate
if the information given in such sources is in line with the beliefs of a Government.
 Section-II
Basic things to know
How to research?
Following is a suggested pattern for researching (if required). The delegates however should
feel absolutely free to devise their own pattern which suits them most.
Read the background guide thoroughly.
Research and understand the United Nations and the Committee/Council being
simulated its Mandate, powers and functions etc.
Research the agenda on your own accord by using the internet, books etc.
Research on the allotted country. Understanding its polity, economy, culture, and
history etc. especially those relevant to the agenda at hand.
Understand the foreign policy of the allotted country. It includes understanding the
ideology and principles adopted by the country on the agenda. It further includes
studying past actions taken by the country on the agenda and other related issues
specifically analysing their causes and consequences.
Research further upon the agenda using the footnotes and links given in the guide
and from other sources such as academic papers, institutional reports, national
reports, news articles, blogs etc.
Understand the policies adopted by different blocs of countries (example: NATO, EU
etc.) and major countries involved in the agenda - including their position, ideology
and past actions.
Take a blank A4 sheet and using flow charts start characterizing the agenda into sub-
topics and preparing speeches and statements on them. (This way you also have a
ready list of Moderated Caucus topics you can raise in the committee!)
Prepare a list of possible solutions and actions the UNSC can adopt on the issue as
per your countrys policies.
Assemble proof/evidence for any important piece of information/allegation you are
going to use in committee
Keeping your research updated using various news sources, especially news websites
given in the proof/evidence section.
Again, please note, that this is not by any means an exhaustive list. It is only indicative of
what all can be done by delegates to refine their research. Feel free to explore!
Basic documents, treaties, conventions etc.
Following is the list of documents that need to be perused by all delegates before they come
to the council. Please understand that you need to know the following aspects regarding
each of the mentioned documents:
The reason why this document exists (for e.g. the Geneva Conventions were enacted
to lay down the rules of war and for the treatment of all parties concerned in the
wars.)
The nature of the document and the force it carries, i.e. whether it is a treaty, a
convention, a doctrine, or a universally accepted custom or norm.
The areas where the document can be applied or has jurisdiction on (for e.g.
international humanitarian law applies only to situations of armed conflict, whereas
the human rights laws applies at all times of war and peace alike.)
The contents of the document at hand. You need not memorize any articles or rules
of any convention or treaty, but should know what the document has to say in
various situations that may arise in the council.
The delegates must have the understanding of the following:

UN Charter
The Charter of the United Nations was signed on 26 June 1945 at San Francisco by the
nations represented at the United Nations Conference on International Organization, most
of them earlier allies in the Second World War. The allies began being referred to as the
'United Nations' towards the end of that war. The Charter came into force on October 24
1945. Since that time all members joining have had to declare themselves bound by both
documents - though practice has demonstrated on too many occasions that that declaration
has not been taken too seriously. Once again, a written constitution is one thing, actual
behaviour is another.
http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/
http://research.un.org/en/docs/charter

Geneva Conventions
The Geneva Conventions comprise four treaties, and three additional protocols, that
establish the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of war. The
singular term Geneva Convention usually denotes the agreements of 1949, negotiated in
the aftermath of the Second World War (193945), which updated the terms of the first
three treaties (1864, 1906, 1929), and added a fourth treaty. The Geneva Conventions
extensively defined the basic, wartime rights of prisoners (civil and military); established
protections for the wounded; and established protections for the civilians in and around a
war-zone. Moreover, the Geneva Convention also defines the rights and protections
afforded to non-combatants, yet, because the Geneva Conventions are about people in war,
the articles do not address warfare proper the use of weapons of war which is the
subject of the Hague Conventions (First Hague Conference, 1899; Second Hague Conference
1907), and the biochemical warfare Geneva Protocol (Protocol for the Prohibition of the
Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of
Warfare, 1925).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions
https://www.icrc.org/en/war-and-law/treaties-customary-law/geneva-conventions

Responsibility to Protect
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P or RtoP) is an emerging norm that sovereignty is not a
right, but that states must protect their populations from mass atrocity crimes
namely genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and ethnic cleansing. The R2P has
three foundation "pillars":
1. A state has a responsibility to protect its population from genocide, war crimes,
crimes against humanity, and ethnic cleansing.
2. The international community has a responsibility to assist the state to fulfil its
primary responsibility.
3. If the state manifestly fails to protect its citizens from the four above mass atrocities
and peaceful measures have failed, the international community has the
responsibility to intervene through coercive measures such as economic sanctions.
Military intervention is considered the last resort.

While R2P is a norm and not a law, it is firmly grounded in international law, especially the
laws relating to sovereignty, peace and security, human rights and armed conflict. R2P
provides a framework for using tools that already exist, i.e. mediation, early warning
mechanisms, economic sanctioning, and chapter VII powers, to prevent mass atrocities. Civil
society organizations, states, regional organizations, and international institutions all have a
role to play in the R2P process. The authority to employ the last resort and intervene
militarily rests solely with United Nations Security Council.
Criticisms of the R2P include a "moral outrage and hysteria [that] often serve as a pretext
for interventions by the civilised world or 'the international community' and for
humanitarian interventions, which often conceal the true strategic motives, and it thus
becomes another name for proxy wars."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_to_protect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Commission_on_Intervention_an
d_State_Sovereignty
http://responsibilitytoprotect.org/ICISS%20Report.pdf
http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/2010_a64864.pdf
http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/2011_a65877.pdf
http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/unsg-report_timely-and-decisive-
response.pdf
http://www.globalr2p.org/media/files/n1338693.pdf

Any other treaty or convention or custom that has relevance to the theme of armed conflict,
terrorism and/or external aggression must also be perused by the delegates in the same
manner as described above. One relevant examples could be:
Customary International Law / Customary International Humanitarian Law
Customary international law consists of rules that come from "a general practice accepted
as law" and exist independent of treaty law. Customary IHL is of crucial importance in
todays armed conflicts because it fills gaps left by treaty law and so strengthens the
protection offered to victims.
https://www.icrc.org/en/war-and-law/treaties-customary-law/customary-
law
https://www.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/Home
http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/customary_international_law

The concept of jus cogens or peremptory norms

And so on..

Please note: This is not an exhaustive list! There are many more sources that you may find
very useful as a delegate within committee proceedings. Feel free to research on them
and use them as part of your arguments in the committee.
Section-III:
The Agenda
Introduction
The European migrant crisis or European refugee crisis or the Mediterranean Refugee
Crisis began in 2015, when a rising number of refugees and migrants began to make the
journey to the European Union to seek asylum, travelling across the Mediterranean Sea, or
through Southeast Europe. They come from areas such as the Middle East (Syria, Iraq),
Africa (Eritrea, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, the Gambia), South Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Bangladesh), and the Western Balkans (Serbia, Kosovo, Albania). According to the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as of December 2015, the top three nationalities
of the almost one million Mediterranean Sea arrivals since the beginning of the year are
Syrian (50%), Afghan (20%) and Iraqi (7%). Most of the refugees and migrants are adult men
(60%).[14] The phrases "European migrant crisis" and "European refugee crisis" became
widely used in April 2015, when five boats carrying almost 2,000 migrants to Europe sank in
the Mediterranean Sea, with a combined death toll estimated at more than 1,200 people.
The shipwrecks took place in a context of ongoing conflicts and refugee crises in several
Middle Eastern and African countries, which brought the total number of forcibly displaced
people worldwide at the end of 2014 to almost 60 million, the highest level since World War
II. Amid an upsurge in the number of sea arrivals in Italy from Libya in 2014, several
European Union governments refused to fund the Italian-run rescue option Operation Mare
Nostrum, which was replaced by Frontex's Operation Triton in November 2014.
In the first six months of 2015, Greece overtook Italy as the first EU country of arrival,
becoming, in the summer 2015, the starting point of a flow of refugees and migrants moving
through Balkan countries to northern European countries, mainly Germany.
Since April 2015, the European Union has struggled to cope with the crisis, increasing
funding for border patrol operations in the Mediterranean, devising plans to fight migrant,
launching Operation Sophia and proposing a new quota system to relocate and resettle
asylum seekers among EU states and alleviate the burden on countries on the external
borders of the Union. Individual countries have at times reintroduced border controls within
the Schengen Area, and rifts have emerged between countries willing to accept asylum
seekers and others trying to discourage their arrival.
According to Eurostat, EU member states received 626,000 asylum applications in 2014, the
highest number since the 672,000 applications received in 1992, and granted protection
status to more than 185,000 asylum seekers. Four states Germany, Sweden, Italy, and
France received around two-thirds of the EU's asylum applications and granted almost
two-thirds of protection status in 2014; while Sweden, Hungary, and Austria were among
the top recipients of EU asylum applications per capita. In the first nine months of 2015, EU
member states received 812,705 new asylum applications.
By all estimates the Mediterranean Crisis has attained colossal proportions and threatens to
raise a number of unprecedented issues that were hitherto unknown to the European
Union.
Background

Schengen Area and Dublin Regulation

In the Schengen Agreement, 26 European countries
(22 of the 28 European Union member states, plus
four EFTA states) joined together to form an area,
where border checks on internal Schengen borders
(i.e. between member states) are abolished, and
instead checks are restricted to the external
Schengen borders and countries with external
borders are obligated to enforce border control
regulations. Countries may reinstate internal border
controls for a maximum of two months for public
policy or national security reasons.
The Dublin regulation determines the EU member
state responsible to examine an asylum application
to prevent asylum applicants in the EU from asylum shopping, where applicants send
applications for asylum to numerous EU member states, or asylum orbiting, where no
member state takes responsibility for an asylum seeker.
By default (when no family reasons or humanitarian grounds are present), the first member
state that an asylum seeker entered and in which they have been fingerprinted is
responsible. If the asylum seeker then moves to another member state, they can be
transferred back to the member state they first entered. This has led many to criticise the
Dublin rules for placing too much responsibility for asylum seekers on member states on the
EUs external borders (like Italy, Greece and Hungary), instead of devising a burden-sharing
system among EU states.

Carrier's responsibility
Article 26 of the Schengen Convention says that carriers which transport people into the
Schengen area shall, if they transport people who are refused entry into the Schengen Area,
pay for the return of the refused people, and pay penalties. Further clauses on this topic are
found in EU directive 2001/51/EC.
This has had the effect that migrants without a visa are not allowed on aircraft, boats or
trains going into the Schengen Area, so migrants without a visa have resorted to migrant
smugglers.
The laws on migrant smuggling ban helping migrants to pass any national border if the
migrants are without a visa or other permission to enter. This has caused many airlines to
check for visas and refuse passage to migrants without visas, including international flights
inside the Schengen Area. This has forced migrants to travel overland to their destination
country.
Global refugee crisis
According to the UNHCR, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide reached 59.5
million at the end of 2014, the highest level since World War II, with a 40% increase taking
place since 2011. Of these 59.5 million, 19.5 million were refugees (14.4 million under
UNHCR's mandate, plus 5.1 million Palestinian refugees under UNRWA's mandate), and
1.8 million were asylum-seekers. The rest were persons displaced within their own countries
(internally displaced persons). The 14.4 million refugees under UNHCR's mandate were
around 2.7 million more than at the end of 2013 (+23%), the highest level since 1995.
Among them, Syrian refugees became the largest refugee group in 2014 (3.9 million,
1.55 million more than the previous year), overtaking Afghan refugees (2.6 million), who
had been the largest refugee group for three decades. Six of the ten largest countries of
origin of refugees were African: Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of
Congo, the Central African Republic and Eritrea.
Developing countries hosted the largest share of refugees (86% by the end of 2014, the
highest figure in more than two decades); the least developed countriesalone provided
asylum to 25% of refugees worldwide. Even though most Syrian refugees were hosted by
neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Lebanon andJordan, the number of Syrian refugees
applying for asylum in Europe steadily increased between 2011 and 2015, totalling 428,735
in 37 European countries (including both EU members and non-members) as of the end of
August 2015; 43% of them applied for asylum in Germany or Serbia. The largest single
recipient of new asylum seekers worldwide in 2014 was the Russian Federation, with
274,700 asylum requests, 99% of them lodged by Ukrainians fleeing from thewar in
Donbass; Russia was followed by Germany, the top recipient of asylum applications within
the European Union, with 202,645 asylum requests, 20% of them from Syria.

Beginning of the crisis in Europe

Between 2007 and 2011, large numbers of undocumented migrants from the Middle East
and Africa crossed between Turkey and Greece, leading Greece and the European Border
Protection agency Frontex to upgrade border controls. In 2012, immigrant influx into Greece
by land decreased by 95% after the construction of a fence on that part of the Greek
Turkish frontier which does not follow the course of the Maritsa River. In 2015, Bulgaria
followed by upgrading a border fence to prevent migrant flows through Turkey.
Instability and the second civil war in Libya have made departures easier from the north-
African country, with no central authority controlling Libyas ports and dealing with
European countries, and migrant smuggling networks flourishing. The war could also have
forced to leave many African immigrants residing in Libya, which used to be itself a
destination country for migrants looking for better jobs.
The 2013 Lampedusa migrant shipwreck involved "more than 360" deaths, leading the
Italian government to establish Operation Mare Nostrum, a large-scale naval operation that
involved search and rescue, with some migrants brought aboard a naval amphibious assault
ship. In 2014, the Italian government ended the operation, calling the costs too large for one
EU state alone to manage; Frontex assumed the main responsibility for search and rescue
operations. The Frontex operation is called Operation Triton. The Italian government had
requested additional funds from the EU to continue the operation but member states did
not offer the requested support. The UK government cited fears that the operation was
acting as "an unintended 'pull factor', encouraging more migrants to attempt the dangerous
sea crossing and thereby leading to more tragic and unnecessary deaths". The operation
consists of two surveillance aircraft and three ships, with seven teams of staff who gather
intelligence and conduct screening/identification processing. Its monthly budget is
estimated at 2.9 million.
Implications for the EU and the world
Response of Europe and the world
The Migrant crisis in the Mediterranean has direct and far reaching implications as a whole
for its neighboring countries. The crisis in West Asia is currently affecting the European
Union and its members states .There is an ongoing rhetoric within the European Union
about the approach of handling the high influx of immigrants over the past few years. The
present political climate has led to muzzled responses on the part of different member
nations.
The fundamental values of the union stated as access comunautaire in theory and specific
legal and moral obligations in practice are being subject to new interpretations as a result of
the crisis.
The European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker has proposed national quotas for
reallocation of an additional 1,20,000 asylum seekers across Europe. European Council
President Donald Tusk has proposed building of asylum centers. In the wake of the crisis,
most generous asylum policies have been unveiled by Germany and Sweden. Berlin has
pledged 6.6 billion Euros for the resettlement of 800,000 migrants.
Operation Triton in the mediterranean and Operation Poseidon in the Aegean Sea (between
Greece and Turkey) have received budget hikes but yet remain small in scope and scale.
May 2015 saw a positive response to an EU-wide resettlement program to help 20,000
recognized refugees to find new homes in Europe over the next two years. Countries
like Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland have become involved in UNHCR
coordinated programs for rehabilitation of refugees. Pledges by United Kingdom
and Germany are also of considerable significance.
The Dublin Regulation places primary responsibility for asylum applications on the first EU
country of entry has become another subject of debate. Many leaders have called for a
withdrawal of the Schengen Agreement which makes mobility within Europe fairly easy
increasing the security threats, as claimed.
Countries like France and Denmark have cited security concerns as justifications to their
reluctance in accepting migrants from the Middle East and North Africa. Recent attacks in
Paris and Copenhagen have evoked similar reactions from Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and
The Czech Republic. Poland and Romania are opposing ideas of accepting more refugees.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has expressed his stance using highly contentious
terminologies on the issue.
Illegal Smuggling and Trafficking are issues that come with the crisis at hand. Operation
Sophia (EUNAVFOR MED) and other operations conducted by EU vessels also see
considerable urgency. All are subject to the jurisdiction of European Convention on Human
Rights.
Discourse over acceptance of migrants and refugees as a mutually beneficial decision is also
taking place. Germany and Swedens open immigration policies being advantageous given
Europes demographic trajectory and economic situation are possibilities to be explored by
states individually and EU as a whole.
Existing mechanisms for refugee situations
Specific treaties and agreements of extreme importance to the topic include The 1951
Refugee Convention part of the Universal declaration of Human rights, The Dublin
Regulation, The Schengen Agreement et al. They bring under their ambit the definition of
the term refugee, various asylum regulations, Laws coming under the European commission
all which have become the center of discourse in wake of the current crisis.
Some United Nations Treaties and agreements relating to the issue are listed below:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) (article 14)

The first international document that recognizes the right to seek and enjoy asylum from
persecution.

Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (1949)
(article 44, 70)

This treaty protects refugees during war. Refugees cannot be treated as enemy aliens.
Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the

Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1) (1977) (article 73)

"Persons who, before the beginning of hostilities, were considered as stateless persons or
refugees ... shall be protected persons..., in all circumstances and without any adverse
distinction."

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951)

This was the first international agreement covering the most fundamental aspects of a
refugees life. It spelled out a set of human rights that should be at least equivalent to
freedoms enjoyed by foreign nationals living legally in a given country and in many cases
those of citizens of that state. It recognized the international scope of refugee crises and
necessity of international cooperation -- including burden-sharing among states -- in
tackling the problem. As of 1 October 2002, 141 countries had ratified the Refugee
Convention.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966) (article 2, 12, 13)

The main international treaty on civil and political rights stipulates that states should
ensure the civil and political rights of all individuals within its territory and subject to its
jurisdiction (article 2). The Covenant also guarantees freedom of movement and prohibits
forced expulsion.

Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (1967)

Removes the geographical and time limitations written into the original Refugee
 Convention under which mainly Europeans involved in events occurring before 1 January
1951 could apply for refugee status.

Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or

Punishment (1984) (article 3)

Article 3 (2) states that a consistent pattern of gross and massive violations of human
rights are circumstances which a state should take into account when deciding on
expulsion. The monitoring body of this convention, the Committee Against Torture, has
established some fundamental principles relating to the expulsion of refused asylum
seekers. It offers important protection to refugees and their right not to be returned to a
place where they fear persecution.

Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (article 22)

Article 22 of this convention stipulates that States Parties shall take appropriate
measures to ensure that a child who is seeking refugee status or who is considered a
refugee ... shall ... receive appropriate protection and humanitarian assistance in the
enjoyment of ... rights.... States Parties shall provide ... cooperation in ... efforts ... to
protect and assist such a child and to trace the parents or other members of the family of
any refugee child ... for reunification with his or her family. In cases where no parents or
other members of the family can be found, the child shall be accorded the same
protection as any other child ... deprived of his or her family environment....

Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1994)

Recognizes the particular vulnerability of refugee women.

Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951
Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of refugees

This handbook is widely accepted by practitioners and most governments as an

authoritative interpretation of the Refugee Convention.

Guiding principles on Internal Displacement

A set of 30 recommendations for the protection of internally displaced persons. The

Guiding Principles define who the internally displaced are, reiterates the large body of
international law already in existence protecting a persons basic rights and outlines the
responsibilities of states. It is made clear that internally displaced persons have the right
to leave their country, seek asylum and be protected against forcible return to their
homeland.
Proposed Solutions by International Bodies and their implications
As more and more people are entering the territorial expanse of a nation, there is an
obvious increase in population. This would mean an increase in demand of housing facilities,
food, healthcare, education and employment in their new surroundings. The provision of
these facilities becomes the responsibility of the state. This results in an increase in
demands of public services, which may not be matched by an increase in incomes, therefore
adding a strain on the administrating authorities.
The challenge to Integrate more people in the society, economy and polity. Migration
involves the movement of people across international borders. In this way it poses a
challenge for the states that accept people from other states to ensure that they are
functioning comfortably with the rest of the society.
When focusing on the integration of the migrant population into the economy, we have to
look into the kind of workforce that finds asylum or refuge in a state. For example, if there
are more unskilled workers in the population, then this will fuel an increase in labor in those
sectors of the economy, which require such forms of labor. Migration also results in a rise in
the competition for jobs, and therefore even play a role in expanding the economies by
increasing the market for goods and services. However, given the huge increase in the
number of migrants, and the roles played by states in accepting them, the effect on the
economies are at times more speculative. The major concern in the international sphere is
the kind of competition that it would create between those who have recently been granted
citizenship and the subsequent rights in the country; and those who are already
unemployed.
Given the huge numbers of migrant population and the different cultures and languages
that they come from with respect to the states to where they apply for citizenship, there is a
possibility of increasing hostility between the two parties. Examples are reactions from right
wing organizations in European countries to the influx of refugees and migrants. The large-
scale movement of people has also made the European Union debate, deliberate and
attempt to redefine its policies on internal borders (Schengen agreement), external border
security (Frontex) and its policies on the acceptance of migrants. Other debated regulations
relating to migrant movement include the Dublin Regulations.
With a deficiency of safe routes to reach other states, people who have to leave their home-
states turn to other unsafe and often-illegal means to reach new borders. In 2015, there has
been an exponential increase in-migrant smuggling. There are reports of smugglers taking a
lot of money from vulnerable families, by giving them an assurance of a safe journey, but
not adopting safeguards in practice. Human and drug trafficking are emerging as serious
issues that are connected to large scale migration and require the attention of the world
community.
Some states have policies that keep the populations applying for asylum or refugee status
outside the perimeters of the country while their applications are processed. This not only
increases strains on the area where the people are made to stay but can also create general
feelings of isolation.