Metropolitan Model United Nations Conference XLII United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Addressing Biases Toward Refugees in Their Nations Of Sanctuary

The UNHCR has a mission to protect and assist refugees throughout the world. Refugees, as outsiders, ha e alwa!s "een targets of discrimination in the nations in which the! ta#e as!lum. $iscrimination often occurs on the "asis of race, religion, and gender. %ince refugees are not citi&ens of their host nation, the! are often iewed as lac#ing lo!alt! and o"ligation to the nations the! li e in. This issue ta#es place worldwide affecting de eloped and de eloping nations ali#e. Not all nations wish to accept refugees into their "orders, as refugees ma! ta' the econom! and "urden the go ernment of nations the! ta#e sanctuar! in. Refugees are often escaping persecution in their home nations. Howe er, it is often the case that the nation the! flee to will not protect them from persecution, as go ernments generall! gi e their own citi&ens priorit!, o erloo#ing the needs of refugees. Nations housing refugees are e'pected to pro ide refugees with "asic needs and protections. (dditionall!, refugees rarel! ha e the means to tra el to places where the discrimination the! face does not e'ist. )or e'ample, man! (fghan refugees ha e fled to *a#istan see#ing religious freedom and gender e+ualit!. Howe er, Muslim e'tremists and the Tali"an are still present among the ci ilian population of *a#istan. ,hile the go ernment itself will not target these refugees, other parties ma! pose threats to their safet!. Refugees are ulnera"le as the protection the! recei e is usuall! minimal. This is heightened when those see#ing refuge are clearl! recogni&a"le "! religious practices,

racial distinctions, gender roles, or other noticea"le characteristics differing from a societal standard. In some situations, go ernments simpl! o erloo# this pre-udice, rationali&ing that these are not their citi&ens and therefore not worth confronting. .urmese refugees in .angladesh, for e'ample, spea# a minorit! language, Urdu, and of the more than /00,000 refugees in .angladesh, onl! /1,000 are protected "! the go ernment of .angladesh. In situations where it is unli#el! that refugees will "e a"le to return to their nati e countries, and are unsafe in the countr! the! currentl! inha"it, resettlement is an option. Resettlement occurs when refugees are admitted to li e in a countr! ta#ing part in the UNHCR2s resettlement program. In these programs, a de eloped nation allows refugees to permanentl! settle in their nation, with a similar status to its own citi&ens. This is a ma-or societal change for refugees and man! are unwilling to gi e up hope of returning to the nations the! were forced to lea e. Though refugees in these nations are safe and ha e the right to wor#, man! still face discrimination in their dail! li es. Man! resettled refugees are unemplo!ed or wor# in positions the! are o er+ualified for, due to widespread "ias in the host nation. (dditionall!, "ecause relocated refugees are unfamiliar with societal standards of these nations, citi&ens of the nation ma! not wish to associate with refugees, and ma! threaten them with hostilit!. Man! refugees are unaware of their rights and protections or do not #now how to communicate their distress to authorities. ,hen addressing this issue, it is important to consider the first and foremost priorit! of protecting refugees. National so ereignt! is important to ta#e into account as well, as the UNHCR cannot re+uire a nation to ta#e action itself, "ut is a"le to monitor a situation and assist nations in protecting their refugee populations. $elegates must create a resolution to aid persecuted refugees and displaced persons. Questions to Consider: How is !our nation in ol ed in the UNHCR2s resettlement program3 ,hat are !our countr!2s policies regarding refugees3

 ,hat rights do refugees inside !our countr! currentl! ha e3 In what wa!s would !our countr! "e willing to increase the protection of refugees3 Helpful Links: http455www.unhcr.org56078691d7.html http455www.unhcr.org5pages58a:7":797.html