MUNUSAL 2022
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
MUNUSAL 2022 will simulate the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Labour Organization on site and the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues online, all in English and the Organization of American States in Spanish. The press team, The Globe, will publish articles in both English and Spanish.
TOPICS
Rainbows among refugees
Members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer (LGBTIQ+) Community are one of the many vulnerable groups around the world. In many cases, these individuals have to flee from their homes seeking a better life where they are not prosecuted because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and/or sex characteristics. In cases where LGBTIQ+ individuals are exposed to imminent threat or persecution due to their identities and are leaving their country, they are considered refugees in accordance with the 1951 Refugee Convention. Reports highlight the punishments and violent treatment “rainbow” refugees face. Reasons for prosecution are often based on religious and cultural values.
The UNHCR is concerned that rainbow people often do not receive adequate protection as refugees, and not only that but the discrimination and violent treatment they face. That is why the UNHCR is working closely with the involved actors to ensure the resettlement of rainbow refugees at risk and to prevent the outburst of violent relations in refugee camps.
The unseen gender of the Rohingya people
The Rohingya people are an ethnic minority originally from Myanmar (formerly Burma), although they are not considered part of the domestic population and therefore do not have Myanmar citizenship. In other words, they are stateless with all the implications this has. The military troops of Myanmar have burnt the villages of the Rohingya, beheaded men, raped women and killed children, which is considered a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” by the United Nations. More than 700.000 Rohingya individuals are escaping from this genocidal violence since summer 2017. The conditions in Myanmar as well as in refugee camps have worsened immensely due to the Covid-19 pandemic and together with the raging fires of March 2021 and the monsoon flooding make the situation untenable.
Rohingya women and girls belong to the most vulnerable and unseen people in the world, as they face economic harms and risk of becoming victims of sex trafficking and rape, but these are just two facets among many others of violence that Rohingya women experience. The UNHCR is in charge of raising awareness on this, but it is mainly responsible to find short- and long-term solutions.
UNHCR
Matrix
Please note countries in bold are reserved for experienced delegates
Countries in red text are no longer available.
Keep in mind applications early on in a wave have a better chance of obtaining their first option
Afghanistan
Bangladesh
Belgium
Brazil
China
El Salvador
France
Germany
Great Britain
Hungary
India
Iraq
Japan
Kenya
Laos
Myanmar
New Zealand
Saudi Arabia
Sudan
Sweden
Syria
Thailand
Turkey
USA
Venezuela
