Committee:​ Organization of the American States (OAS)
Topic A:​ Reducing the negative political, economic, and social effects of migration in
America
Director:​ Emilio Hinojosa
Moderator:​ Ángela Chávez
l. Committee Background
The organization of the American States is an international organization that
was made on April 30, 1948. OAS was established in order to achieve and order
peace and justice, to promote the solidarity, to strengthen the collaboration, to
defend the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the independence of its member
states. It is the oldest regional organization, and it all began when the First
International Conference of the American States was held in Washington, D.C, in
1889. It only began an organization known as the International Union of American
states, but this paved the way for the OAS to be formed.
ll. Introduction and Description
From a humanitarian point of view, one of the biggest disadvantages of
migration is the discrimination against ethnic groups and minorities which can lead to
extremism due to the “biased” treatment given to immigrants. This means that while
in some places they get free housing, and in others a 2:1 advantage of getting hired 1
the people who are born there have less advantages, which can lead to hate. In
economical and social standpoints, migration is a problem due to cheap labor
explosion, brain drain, criminal elements, racism exploits, tension between the local
poor and the immigrants, overpopulation, and scarce resources. The term “brain
1
"Affirmative action - Immigration to the United States."
http://immigrationtounitedstates.org/325-affirmative-action.html​. found in 19 January 2017.
drain” refers to poor countries using their limited resources to get children in that
country good education, but when the children finish school, the usually migrate to
richer countries for better education, thus leaving the country poorer without any
interest2 .
III. History of Topic
Immigration has always been a part of our history. once discovered, America
quickly became one of the richest(in raw materials) continents in the world, and
many people from around the world started migrating to it. There was a huge
migrating spike in the 1990’s, as the immigrant rate skyrocketed from 600,000 to a
humongous 1,810,000 immigrants in the span of a few years (MPI, “US immigration
Trends”, 2014).
People migrate for multiple purposes, but most of the time it has to do with either
a political, economical, or social reason. There are upsides and downsides to these
reasons. The main goal of the committee is to reduce the negative effects of these
movements in America. For example, having biased minorities in the countries may
lead to unfair and “rigged” elections, or conflict with natives and the immigrants and
stereotyping of race and color. This may lead to armed conflict between ethnic
groups. Some powerful people might be secretly racist, and treat them horribly,
remove land from them, tax them higher than is should be, or any other thing within
their power that might be abused in a wrong way.
Governments must also exert themselves further. Immigrants put a big weight
on population rates, employment rates, and monetary division between people. That
means that with more people, more money required to make it above the poverty
line. Population rates affect not only the “receiving” country, but also the “sender”
country. Countries in Central America are now getting very low population rates, and
education is rising, but the economy isn’t. This is mainly due to people leaving their
own countries to pursue more ambitious goals in richer countries.
Economic downsides are more apparent than political downsides. Immigration
doesn’t only affect the country that is receiving them, but the one that has people
leaving as well. One of the major effects is brain drain, as governments in developing
countries spend a lot of resources on good education on their children, but when the
children grow, they migrate to other countries. The country is left in shambles as it
tries to better the economy while their most talented are leaving the country to get
better opportunities. Middle Eastern countries get affected the most by this.
2
"Brain Drain | Definition of Brain Drain by Merriam-Webster."
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/brain%20drain​. Se..e consultó el 19 en 2017.
Socially, This may affect in the way of people who are secretly, or not so
secretly racist will go “witch hunting” for these immigrants, as they think they are
inferior, and that the only reason they are there is because the government has “pity”
on them. It also affects in the way that people don’t have that much culture
difference, as the people who go to the U.S, or any other country, leave a lot of their
heritage behind, and by the time that they have children, the children won’t even
know their own heritage. If they migrate for a small while, when they do go back to
their country, they will spread a very globalized culture, which eventually becomes
the country’s culture. The fluency of their language also affects, as that means that
when they arrive to the country, they can barely speak the language.
IV. Study Cases
USA​: Migration affects a lot in this country in the way that too many people
immigrate to this country. According to Homeland Security in the U.S, around 1
million people immigrated to the U.S in 2014. Almost half of them were from Mexico,
and many of them are in the middle-low class in economic status. This is due to
cheap labor, as many immigrants take jobs for less than they should get paid, for
example, a job that pays around 10 dollars an hour will probably get payed around 4
dollars an hour.
Mexico:​ Not a lot of people come into Mexico “permanently”, only around 20,000 get
a “permanent” residence, and an average of 89% of emigrants that leave mexico go
to united states. This means that there is a lack of workforce, causing many places
to go bankrupt, and the population between 30-45 is decreasing. The economy takes
a big hit from this, as the people who go with all of their family elsewhere don’t send
money back, and there is a great loss in income. Brain drain also happens in the
lower areas of mexico.
Canada:​ Canada’s unique economy attracted many immigrants since 1924, and one
of the factors is that canada has a high amount of natural resources such as oil,
metal, and lumber. It also has a lot of landscape, as the population is spread far. So,
the country has experienced many labor shortages throughout history, so they tend
to constantly look for immigrants. Canada has a very low birth rate, so they have
“under population”, so they constantly look for immigrants as a source of population.
The problem is that the governments pay for a part of the expenses of the
immigrants they invite, so this strains the country’s economy.
Argentina:​ In the past, Argentina was considered a country purely based on
immigration. This has changed in recent years, as the changes in political, economic,
and social stability have all greatly impacted the country into immigration, emigration,
and transit. Due to Argentina’s economic collapse in 2001-2002, the emigration rates
in argentina skyrocketed from 82% of migration per capita to -350.85% migration per
capita.
Brazil:​ being the fifth biggest country in the world in terms of area and population,
brazil is known as a famous attractive holiday destination. Around the second world
war, more than 4 million people migrated to brazil, but recently, the situation
reversed. Since the 1980’s, and estimate of 3 million brazilians have left their
country. The reason being that a lot of well educated young brazilians see no future
in their country, and look for more profitable opportunities in countries such as U.S.A
and Japan.
V. Actions Taken
The United Nations Member States for the first time agreed on a declaration
to call for the respect of human rights of migrants. They also called for respect of
international labour standards, and they strongly condemned racism during a two
day dialogue on international migration and development. Because women make up
nearly 50% of all international migrants( which is around 232 million people), it was
emphasized that they need more protection than men, especially those who work in
domestic jobs.
VI. Key Questions
1. What could be done to reduce negative political effects?
2. What could be done to reduce racial tension in countries with high immigration
rates?
3. Would your delegation’s solutions apply to any gender, and if so, explain how
there would be no discrimination against anyone.
4. If a developing country receives a sudden influx of immigrants, what could be
done to help the government stay financially stable?
5. What could be done about “brain drain”? If your delegation can’t force them to
stay in their own country, what could be done?
6. What could be done to preserve cultures when the world is getting more and
more globalized?
7. For countries who have a high emigration rate, what could be done about the
lack of workforce?
8. For countries with low birthrate and an immigration rate not high enough to
replace it, what could be done give them the necessary population rates?
9. What could be done to give developing countries more opportunities to have
talented people in the country?
VII. Note from the Chair
Delegates, remember that the purpose of this event is not to win, it is to come up
with a solution for the current global problems that the UN is facing. We encourage
you to participate at your fullest. We hope you take this opportunity to practice your
negotiating skills and have fun. As the debate goes on, the chair will grade not only
with the grading rubric, we will be grading from a moral standpoint, so as to not have
any mistakes on who wins due to sheer points. Good luck delegates, and try your
best every single day.
VIII. Sources
1. “U, G. A., N. (n.d.). 68th session GA. Retrieved from
http://www.un.org/en/ga/68/resolutions.shtml​”
2. “A, A. K. (n.d.). Argentina net migration rate. Retrieved from
https://knoema.com/atlas/Argentina/topics/Demographics/Population/Net-migr
ation-rate​”
3. “P, N. A. (n.d.). The social, economic, and demographic effects of
immigration. Retrieved from ​https://www.nap.edu/read/5779/chapter/10​”
4. “OAS, O. O. (n.d.). OAS: Who we are.” Retrieved
from:​http://www.oas.org/en/about/who_we_are.asp
5. S, H. L. (n.d.). Homeland security immigration statistics. Retrieved from
https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics
6. O, S. G., B. (n.d.). Foreigners brought and returned in 2016(mexico).
Retrieved from
http://www.politicamigratoria.gob.mx/es_mx/SEGOB/Extranjeros_presentados
_y_devueltos
7. http://www.politicamigratoria.gob.mx/es_mx/SEGOB/Menores_migrantes
8. “07,, S. C., 16. (n.d.). The effect of migration and social cohesion in canada.”
Received from:​http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11f0019m/2008319/s13-eng.htm
9. “D. K. (n.d.). Political effects of international migration. Retrieved
from”​http://www.annualreviews.org/eprint/XCZFBdF3KAADcccRZsYD/full/10.
1146/annurev-polisci-043010-095807
10. I, M. P. (n.d.). Migration policy institute: Argentina. Retrieved from
http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/argentina-new-era-migration-and-migrati
on-policy
11. A, C. H. (n.d.). Argentina’s embedded immigrants. Retrieved from
http://www.coha.org/argentina’s-embedded-migrants/
12. N, W. E. (n.d.). Argentina migration encyclopedia. Retrieved from
http://www.encyclopedia.com/places/latin-america-and-caribbean/south-ameri
can-political-geography/argentina#MIGRATION
13. Machado, A. P. (n.d.). The effect of immigration on Brazil’s economy.
Retrieved from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/arthurmachado/2014/12/02/welcome-to-brazil-the
-effect-of-immigration-on-the-countrys-economy/#2fae65bc5427
14. D. V. "Focus: Migration Country: Brazil."
http://focus-migration.hwwi.de/Brazil.5879.0.html?&L=1.
15. O, G. B. (n.d.). Cultural effects of migration. Retrieved from
http://www.globalization101.org/cultural-effects-of-migration/