Elimination of inequality between host

countries concerning refugees.

Topic: Elimination of inequality between host countries concerning refugees.
Committee: SOCIAL, CULTURAL AND HUMANITARIAN COMMITTEE
SOCHUM GA:3
Chair: Hadil Al-Raeeini
Chair: Hana Llapashtica
Letter from Deputy-Chair:

Highly distinguished Participants,

It is my utmost pleasure to welcome you all to this annual session of Medipol Model United
Nations 2022.
My name is Hana Llapashtica, and I am currently enrolled as an undergraduate student in
Marmara University, majoring in Political Sciences. I’ve been participating in Model United
Nations conferences at various positions since 2016. It is my honor to serve you as your
committee director responsible for Social, Cultural and Humanitarian Committee.

This year, we will be focusing on agenda items which are carrying tremendous importance in
the means of democratic values and the future of journalism overall. This most crucial
problematics being, the question of independent media and ensuring freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech is more than amendments in the constitutions or daily political discourses;
it is a key value that instantly reflects the cohesive relationship between a state and democracy
as a whole. As one of the key values of liberalism and democracy. Liberalism, deriving from
the name ‘’liber’’ (freeman) then to ‘’liberalis’’ signifies the concept of freedom which lays
the ground for democracy where every opinion is unique and should be represented.
Furthermore, element of free media is an indicator of an array of thing varying from legal
system to governmental interference. Therefore, it should be examined with utmost
importance.

MEDİPOLMUN’22 will be a rewarding experience for all participants to broaden their

horizons, creating alternative futures and possibilities for today’s world and will find new and
intriguing solutions to many crucial world problems. We wholeheartedly hope that every
single participant will enrich their experiences in this conference which will last 4 days in
numbers but eternal in terms of value and memories.

May the everlasting spirit and inspiration be with you!

Warm Regards,
Hana Llapashtica
Welcome letter
Dear distinguished delegates,

Welcome to Medipolmun 2022. It is an honor for me to be chairing you all at Sochum along
with my Deputy Chair Hana Llapashtica.

As your chairs we will be working with the staff at MedipolMun to ensure that this
conference will be a memorable one for you all. We will do our best to help you all before
and during the conference. Don’t hesitate to ask us any questions we would be more than
happy to answer each and every question :)

As delegates we are expecting you all to come to the conference to research well about your
countries’ positions and what they’re willing to do regarding the issues.

Looking forward to meeting you all soon <3

Hadil Al-Raeeini

Introduction to SOCHUM
The third committee of the United Nations General Assembly, otherwise known
as the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural committee. It was established after the
development of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

This body tasks itself with managing country-specific and worldwide

humanitarian affairs and social issues including, but not limited to, the
advancement of women, the protection of children, the treatment of refugees, the
rights of indigenous peoples and other minorities etc.

The Committee also addresses important social development questions such as

issues related to
youth, ageing, disabled persons, family, crime prevention, criminal justice, and
drug control.

Some examples of the articles in the Human Rights Declaration are:

Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this
Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,
language,religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property,
birth or other status.

Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent

national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the
constitution orby law.

Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this
right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive
and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.

Article 26 (1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at
least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be
compulsory.Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948.

The aim of the committee would be to allow all nations to come to a consensus
which match up
with human rights and satisfy most foreign policies.

Table of contents
Introduction: pg 6-7
Overview: pg 8
Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue: pg9
Possible solutions: pg 9-10

Introduction
Fear is the most powerful motivator for refugees to escape their
homes of all the causes. It could be a dread of being physically
attacked, or of being involved in a fight when torture and ethnic
cleansing are part of the plan. Refugees may avoid detection in
their attempts to flee.
When refugees arrive in a host country in search of fresh
opportunities, better and safer environments they are confronted
with completely new challenges in finding work and adjusting to a
new culture.
For example in Australia accessing employment and business
opportunities for those refugees over 45 years of age is
a serious challenge they have to deal with. Also, they are the
most disadvantaged, because they have to start to learn English
and new trade skills to have access in the labour market and
upgrade their general working skills. While learning how to find a
job, time flies and they are in their 50s, making it even more
difficult to find a job and live a stable life.
Major top host countries
Overview
These journeys, which all start with the hope for a better future, can also
be full of danger and fear.
Some people risk falling prey to human trafficking and other forms of
exploitation. Some are detained by the authorities as soon as they arrive in a
new country. Once they’re settling in and start building a new life, many face
daily racism, xenophobia and discrimination. These are only some of the
issues or dangers that they are facing.

Local language - This is a major problem with significant implications for

refugees' written and oral
communication, particularly when they come from countries whose native
language shares nothing in common with the local language such as Asian,
African or Eastern European languages.

Cultural Barriers - Being a mature age migrant or refugee, cultural barriers

pose a very serious threat to the possibility of finding work. Different
religious beliefs, different ways of thinking and behaving and having
different attitudes make their lives, at times, very traumatic.

Racism - This is another major barrier faced by migrants in finding a job or

starting a new business. In many
cases racism deprives migrants of training and education opportunities.
Discrimination in accessing employment certainly exists on the basis of
ethnicity, cultural customs.

It doesn't end there, either.

They even experience difficulties in having access to adequate housing, the
right to work, the right to education, the right to health care services and the
right to social security.

Previous Attempts to Resolve the Issue:

The 1951 Refugee Convention:

Most countries have either signed the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967
Protocol. These ensure basic rights and protections for refugees, in addition to other
human rights conventions. (149 State parties to either or both, they define the term
‘refugee’ and outlines the rights of refugees, as well as the legal obligations of
States to protect them.)
Possible solutions:
 Work together;
It’s essential that wealthy countries work together to share the responsibility for
protecting refugees.

Currently, a small number of countries take responsibility for most of the world’s
refugees. Most countries – including some of the world’s largest economies –
scarcely take in any refugees at all. Japan, for example, has received just 1,394
refugees in the last ten years.

As outlined in the preamble of the Refugee Convention, all countries should share
responsibility. This includes European nations and other middle to high-income
countries which must take their share and increase the number of refugees that are
granted protection. The race to the bottom has to end.

 Increase support
Wealthy nations must also increase the support and funding they provide to
people in conflict-stricken countries.

Covid-19 has dealt a blow to humanitarian funding, with many countries

unwilling to increase aid. Indeed, some governments such as the United
Kingdom are looking to cut their humanitarian aid budgets in an attempt to
save money. Meanwhile, humanitarian appeals around the world are severely
underfunded and the gap between funds and needs is growing.

But the pandemic has shown that wealthy countries can find huge amounts
of money to support their own economies when they need to. For just a tiny
fraction of this amount, these countries could provide lifesaving
humanitarian assistance and protection to millions of people living in
conflict zones.

The question of independent media and ensuring freedom of speech

Introduction to the topic:

As it stands, it would be rather futile to view both components of this topic (being
independent media and freedom of speech) as ‘’two separates’’ since they are very much in a
reciprocal relationship with one another. The notion of ‘’independent’’ which is used for
qualifying the media in this context, consists of elements such as free-speech, declaration of
opinions, neutrality, objectivity, etc. without the anxiety of being censured. However, these
elements can often provoke the spread of falsified/fabricated news; in contrast, the control
mechanisms that are implemented in order to take precautions against the falsified news
contradicts the very nature of independent media since it is subjected to a supervision. This
situation sequels in a paradox which jeopardizes status of the ‘’independent media’’ and
makes it a question. Therefore, the nature of this topic call for a conceptualization of
independent media while insuring the freedom of speech.

Media: The Definition & Brief History

Media, as is, signifies the main means of mass communication such as broadcasting,
publishing, and the internet regarded collectively. It exercises functions such as informing,
raising awareness, education, socialization, entertainment and agenda setting.

The modern use of the term ‘’media’’ made it into the lexicon in the 1920’s; however, the
means of mass communications well existed before (approximately in the 15 century, in the
th

forms of scriptures, hand-press, oral traditions and wall paintings of the medieval times). With
the first newspapers, printed in Strasbourg around 1605, provided word-for-word
transcriptions of newsletter material. Subsequently by 1650, there was already a daily
newspaper in Leipzig, and by 1702, in London too (The Daily Courant). Over the course of
the seventeenth century, in many places’ newspapers became increasingly differentiated from
newsletters in the amount of critical comment they published. Later on, important cultural
movements thrived on a wider distribution of the products of the press while the printing
industry profited in turn. In this light, the European Enlightenment could in some sense be
said to be a media phenomenon. Consequently, the functions of the media exceeded from
informing the mass to propagating thoughts, opinions, and occasionally mobilizing masses,
which allowed this new platform to be easily be politicized. That is to say, the media -which
emerged from the human need to be aware of the ongoing situation and getting prepared in
the face of it- transitioned into a median to spread ideas and manipulate an audience; the
media evolved, so did its functions.

The Concerning Aspects of the Media:

This title can be dissected in the basis of ‘’manipulation’’ as every sort of information that is
being disclosed by the mass media can potentially be covertly subjective. That is to say, the
circulating information or just the declaration of thoughts can promote (or further,
‘’propagate’’) a certain point of view or ideologies. In the case of contemporary news, this
can be done by spreading misinformation (aka. false news), fabricating information to better
suit the ideology and withholding actual facts, etc; whereas in the case of literary publications
(such as corner posts, blogs, televised speeches, tweets etc) -which are subjective and has no
intention of disclosing an actual/objective information, but rather stating an opinion- is done
by propaganda or direct degrading/glorifying speech. Both cases are equally alarming since
they can be based on so-called-truths and statistics (see also: pseudo-science) and can be
further fabricated to manipulate the masses while sounding legitimate.
Censorship & Governmental Interference on Media:

In the distress of these concerning aspects, many mechanisms such as media

inspection/supervision centers (namely, Federal Communications Center, FCC or Radyo
Televizyon Üst Kurulu, RTÜK) were established. Their main objectives were to prevent the
spread of falsified/fabricated news, preserve societal values (ex. taking down hate speeches)
and regulate the flow of information. However, paradoxically, these centers often become an
extension of the very misinformation that they were trying to eliminate.

Mass media is regulated mostly through ‘’censorship’’ which signifies the suppression of the
flow of information, speech and public communication. This can take place in the basis that
such material can be perceived as harmful, sensitive, threatening, etc. Censorship, in general,
can be imposed by governments, private institutions or individuals and cover numerous media
types for a variety of reasons such as national security, controlling obscenity, removing child
pornography, and hate speech, protecting children or other vulnerable groups, promoting or
restricting political or religious views, and preventing slander and libel. The means of
censorship can be delimited according to laws and constitution; however, the clauses
concerning censorship are often vaguely structured or not specified in order to take advantage
of the unclarity and ultimately impose censors.

The censorship can be examined under different types such as:

Moral Censorship, which signifies removing explicit contents such as many forms of
pornography (especially child pornography).
Military Censorship, which signifies concealing military information and intelligence in order
to thwart spying.
Religious Censorship, which signifies the limitations implemented on less-relevant religions
by the prevalent religion.
Corporate Censorship, which signifies gatekeeping information about a business that is
considered confidential. (ex. The scripts of an unscreened cinema movie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKFy_pyK7E8 )
Political Censorship, which signifies the governmental urge to hold back information from the
citizens in order to control the general public or prevent public mobilization against the
government. Additionally, it can put it place in order to protect the state secrets. This can also
be done in order to protect the PR reputation of the government, its ruling party, and its
members.

Freedom of Speech:

As a principle derived from democratic and liberal values, freedom of speech (see also:
freedom of expression, free-speech, freedom of speech) signifies ones right to express one’s
opinions, thoughts or ideologies without the fear of censorship, reprisal or being subjected to
legal sanctions. Moreover, the right of Freedom of Speech has been recognized by the UN in
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and International Human Rights Law in
December 10 , 1948.
th

Its main objectives are to promote seeking, receiving, and imparting information or ideas,
regardless of the medium used. However, that is not to say that the libel, slander, obscenity,
pornography, sedition, incitement, hate speech, revelation of non-disclosure info are tolerated.
Whereas the right of privacy, the right to be forgotten, dignity and public security are
protected. In a nutshell, the ethics of freedom of speech calls for a mechanism which allows
free expression devoid of censor and sanctions as long as it is not harmful to others.
Resultingly, the mechanisms mentioned above, (FCC, RTÜK, etc..) are responsible for
ensuring the freedom of speech while setting limitations in order to protect the public’s
common good.

The Dilemma:

As observed, the notion of ‘’freedom of speech’’ is protected constitutionally by many

countries. However, when the 2021 World Press Freedom Index is examined, it can be said
that many
‘’democratic’’ countries are positioned well below the list. The primary reasons for this
situation are the ‘’political censorship’’ and the fact that the governmental mechanisms which
are implemented in order to ensure the clockwork of media are betraying their own ethos.

These mechanisms are corrupting the institution that is ‘’free media’’ by, withholding
information and data, imposing censorships on dissident institutions/journalists, showing bias
to the adherent/partisan institutions/journalists; therefore, eradicating the ‘’independent
media’’(it should also be noted that ‘’independent media’’ in this context, correlates to
‘’independent press’’).

A great way to observe the concrete effects of this situation is to study The World Press
Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders which takes an array of parameters
such as freedom available to journalists; the media freedom situation based on an evaluation
of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of
journalists in each country and region.
 White (score 0-15) relates to a Good Situation.
Yellow (score 15-25) reflects a Satisfactory Situation.
Orange (score 25-35) represents a Problematic Situation.
Red (score 35-55) represents a Difficult Situation
Black (score 55-100) represents a Very Serious Situation

Questions to be answered:
 What can be done in order to get rid of the media dilemma?
 Are the mentioned mechanisms really necessary?
 How the ‘’media’’ can be rendered as ‘’independent’’?
 What does it really mean to have independent media sources?
 What is the importance of independent media?
 What are the parameters and means of independent media?
 Where the line should be drawn when setting limitations for censorship?
 ‘’Freedom of speech’’, how can it be ensured?
 What contradicts the freedom of speech, what is the limit?
 Would the involvement of UN in this situation be enough?
 How the ‘’journalism’’ can be protected?
 What can be done in order to ameliorate journalism, worldwide?

Main Concepts & Further Research:

Main concepts:
  Mass Media (mainly broadcast, social and published media)
 Press
 Freedom of speech
 Censorship
 Journalism
 Propaganda
 Falsified news

Further Research:

 Journalism in your country

 Your country’s position in The Freedom of the Press Index
 The meaning of ‘’freedom of speech’’ in your country, what does it signify to your
country?
 Your country’s constitutional/legal regulations on freedom of speech

Please feel free to contact me at hanallapashtica@marun.edu.tr if you have any questions about the topic, stay healthy!