LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES
CHAIR: SERG KONDRATYUK
POLITICAL OFFICER: LUKAS AMBRAZIEJUS
VICE CHAIR: MICHAEL LOMBARDO
Table of Contents
1. Letter from Chair
2. Members in committee
3. History of Arab League
5. Topic 1: Refugees in the Middle East
13. Topic 2: Gaza Crisis
18. Bloc Positions
Letter from chair
Dear Delegates,
My name is Serg Kondratyuk and I will be your presiding chair for the Arab League
committee at SILTMUN III. I’m a junior here at LT and this is my third year participating in
Model UN, but my first time chairing. Over the years, I have attended many conferences, such as
Georgetown, CIMUN, and NUMUN, and have won numerous awards. I have always found The
Middle East and the Arab World an extremely interesting and exciting to research and discuss.
With that being said, I am very excited to have you join me in the most exciting committee at
SILTMUN this year.
Your Political Officer for SILTMUN III is Lukas Ambraziejus, a visitor here all the way
from the bountiful nation of Lithuania. Your Vice Chair, Michael Lombardo, on the other hand,
is a mysterious junior from the suburbs of Chicago and also a student at LT. Both are intelligent
and fun people who cannot wait to work with all of you this spring.
As a delegate, past and future, I always wanted to know what my chair looks for in a best
delegate. To save you the trouble, here is a list:
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Speaking skills
Cooperation
Position Paper (I will read all of them) (Feel free to spruce up your paper with
watermarks, or other official looking edits. It shows me you worked hard!)
Policy/Authenticity (Be “in character”! Bring a flag of your country or wear a pin for
bonus points)
Knowledge of topics
This is a very simple and almost universal list. If you have any questions about the
conference, this committee, or if you need me to take a look at your position paper or you
have trouble finding information, email me at [email protected]. I check my
email several times a day and will reply to you by the end of the day.
-Praise Allah, Serg Kondratyuk
Members in Committee
1. Algeria
2. Bahrain
3. Comoros
4. Djibouti
5. Egypt
6. Iraq
7. Jordan
8. Kuwait
9. Lebanon
10. Libya
11. Mauritania
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
Morocco
Oman
Palestine
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
Somalia
Sudan
Syria*
Tunisia
21. United Arab Emirates
22. Yemen
*Due to its suspension, the nation of Syria will have the status of an observer nation. Meaning, it can participate
in debate but cannot take part in non-procedural voting
History of the Arab League
The roots of Arabian unity lie in the early 20th century, where during World War I the British Empire
helped bring the Arab people together and helped them cooperate with each other, leading to their revolt against
the Turkish Ottoman Empire. During the Second World War, the British used the Arab world as an ally to fight
the Germans and the cooperation between Arab states was even more successful and led to another victory.
Impressed by the successful cooperation during both world wars, Arab diplomats noticed the potential for Arab
unity and eventually, in 1944, official representatives from Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, North Yemen, Saudi Arabia,
and Transjordan met in Alexandria, Egypt, and agreed to form the League of Arab States. Since then, Arab
Citizens began to perceive themselves as one group of people divided among a number of separate nations with
similar history, geography, language,
culture, and socio-economic interests,
which propelled them to forge a strong
Arab unity. Since then, it has grown to
an organization of twenty-two members.
Having existed for about 68 years, the
Arab League has grown to become the
most prominent regional body in the
Middle East. Given the importance of
the Middle East in the world today, the
importance of an effective Arab League
cannot be denied As outlined in the second
chapter of the “Charter of the Arab
League”, the overall goal of the Arab
League is “… Strengthening of the relations between the memberstates, the coordination of their policies in
order to achieve co-operation between them and to safeguard their independence and sovereignty; and a general
concern with the affairs and interests of the Arab countries.”
Historically, the Arab League has lived up to its expectation and has had a huge impact on the Arab
world. From the Arab-Israeli War in 1948 to the Arab Spring starting in 2010, the Arab League’s reaction to
these fast-unfolding events has had a large impact on their development and demise. Although we are sovereign
nations, today we must unite as one and deal with the issues the Arab world faces today. Whether the issue lies
in economics or security, we are all brothers, born from the same mother, the Middle East.
Topic I: Refugees in the Middle East
Synopsis:
A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or
violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political
opinion or membership in a particular social group. Most likely, they cannot return home or are afraid to do so.
War and ethnic, tribal and religious violence are leading causes of refugees fleeing their countries. Refugees are
innocent human beings forced to flee their homes and communities. Facing physical, mental, and emotional
trauma, refugees confront amazing obstacles during their escape from persecution and war.
At the start of the 20th Century the nature of war had changed, with the collapse of old Empires and the
rise of the nation state. The first international coordination on refugee affairs was by the League of Nations’
High Commission for Refugees in 1920. Organization sought to assist over a million individuals fleeing the
Russian Revolution and the subsequent Civil Wars. During World War II, the scale of the refugee crisis increased to extraordinary numbers, displacing
some 55 million people. In 1943, the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) was
created to provide aid to countries liberated from
axis powers. In 1949, the UNRRA was dissolved
and its tasks were bestowed upon the International
Refugee Organization (IRO), which was founded in
1945.
On December 14th, 1950 the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was
adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.
Its mandate seeks to ‘protect and support refugees at
the request of a government or the UN itself and
assists in their voluntary repatriation, local
integration or resettlement to a third country’.
On the basis of Resolution 2198 by the United Nations General Assembly, UNHCR Convention and
Protocol was created as a main document defining who a refugee is and the kind of legal protection, other
assistance and social rights he or she should receive from the countries who have signed the document. The
Convention also defines a refugee’s obligations to host governments and certain categories or people, such as
war criminals, who do not qualify for refugee status.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) provides protection, shelter, emergency food, water, medical care
and other life-saving assistance to 34.5 million people worldwide, who have been forced to flee their homes due
to war and persecution. When possible, UNHCR helps refugees and other displaced people return to their
homes voluntarily, safely, and with dignity. When return is not possible, the agency assists with local
integration, or resettlement to a third country. Further violence around the world could create waves of refugees, which may destabilize neighboring
countries. The increasing cost of housing, a general lack of safety and hygiene in some refuges, and the
possibility of using prefabricated housing as temporary shelter. The need for psychiatric care for women,
children, the injured and recently disabled; the unique situation of Palestinian refugees from Syria that is: some
refugees are being denied entries to hospitals without upfront
payment etc. are the burning issues that must be solved as soon as
possible.
Palestine:
Due to the repressions against Jewish community during
World War II, United Nations General Assembly in 1948 established
independent Jewish state, named Israel, located in the territory along
the eastern shore of Mediterranean Sea. This region was used to be
ruled by Egypt, Jordan and Syria and was settled with the Palestinian
nation. Palestinians were unwilling to give up their land and this
inspired conflict between Israel and Palestine. In two first decades of
the conflict about 720000 Palestinian people became refugees.
The majority of Arab countries supported Palestine and the friction eventually caused the Six Day War between
Israel and Egypt with Syria and Jordan. This war is also known as the Israel-Arab war. Israeli forces had taken
control over the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan
and Golan Heights from Syria. This war struck heavily on Palestinian people and additional 300000 Palestinians
were adopted a refugee status.
On the basis of the United Nations Security Council resolution 242, implemented in 1964, Palestine
Liberation Organization and Palestine National Council in 1988 established the State of Palestine under the
Palestinian Declaration of Independence.
Palestinian territories include The West Bank, Golan Heights and The Gaza Strip. These are the territories,
which used to be governed by Israel. United Nations now formally recognize the independence of the State of
Palestine; however independence is not recognized in Israel and in many Western countries, such as the United
States.
Since the beginning of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, which still remains hot, approximately
half of the Palestinian population was displaced and about 82% of their land was taken away.
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNWRA) registered
5.1 million Palestine Refugees in 2012. 40% of them reside in Jordan, 24% in Gaza Strip, 17% in the West
Bank, 10% in Syria and 19% in Lebanon. 35% of Palestinians in refugee camps live below the poverty line and
they are low educated. In 2012 the average family size was 6 persons. According to the UNWRA research,
unemployment rate for Palestinian refugees is 27.4% and the average nominal wage is $545.4 U.S. dollars.
Moreover, since 2011 these numbers even got lower.
What makes matters worse; Israel still holds full
economic and military control over the Palestinian
territories. Community buildings and basic Palestinian
infrastructure are regularly demolished under the order of
Israel government.
As a result, since the beginning of 2011, more than
1500 Palestinians lost their homes due to the demolitions
and exactions initiated by Israel.
Sudan:
The roots of dispute between southern and
northern parts of Sudan lie in 1946 when Egypt and
Britain merged separate regions of south Sudan and
north Sudan to a one administrative unit causing
south Sudan's concern of being overwhelmed by the
bigger north Sudan. United Sudan won an
independence from Britain and Egypt in 1953 and
soon after the election to the first parliament,
disagreement between two parts of the country
reached the military realm.
For the next 17 years, the southern region experienced civil strife, and various southern leaders agitated for
regional autonomy or outright secession. Peace agreement was achieved in 1972; however it failed to
completely dispel the tensions that had originally caused it, leading to a reigniting of the north-south conflict
from 1983 up until 2005. These two conflict periods are often referred to as a bloody half-century war that,
according to Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) research, caused deaths
of more than two million people and approximately 5.5 million people were adopted a status of refugee. 4.600.000 Sudanese refugees now reside in Sudan and around 4000 find shelter in Egypt. These people
were unable to grow food or earn money to feed themselves, and malnutrition and starvation became
widespread. Refugees in refugee camps still live in conditions that can barely be called livable. International
community generously devoted food, humanitarian supplies and other goods to refugee camps but there has
been reports of wide spread corruption among Sudanese officials causing leaks of international donations. This
gave rise to the international condemn and resulted in decrease of contributions worsening already miserable
refugee's condition.
Arab League has been an active player
throughout the conflict helping two parties to find an
agreement and establish permanent ceasefire. The
refugee situation does not seem to be improving until
scant economic development coupled with
desertification due to climate change remains in its
current state. Some of the important measures linking to
the progress, such as South Sudan's succession last year,
has already been made. However, Sudanese
government's ethnical cleansing policies in Darfur
region destabilizes already fragile refugee situation
causing more and more people to flee their homes. Moreover, when UNAMID, the international peacekeeping
force was created in order to bring the end for those numerous human right violations, Sudanese security forces
protested against international invasion, preventing UNAMID from investigating such attacks. Following an
international outcry, the Sadiq al Mahdi government in March 1989 agreed with the UN and donor nations on a
plan called Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS), under which some 100,000 tons of food was moved into both
government and SPLA-held areas in southern Sudan, and widespread starvation was averted. Israel still holds on its policies towards Sudan worsening existing plight among Sudanese refugees. This
year the Arab League met for its annual ministerial summit and issued a condemnation of Israel for bombing a
weapons factory in Sudan. Israel has not admitted destroying the Yarmouk facility on 23 October, because it
never confirms or denies such military operations.
However, it is accepted by the international community that Israel is the perpetrator. It is also widely believed
both inside Sudan and beyond that Yarmouk was making weapons both for and on behalf of Iran, and
smuggling them to Hamas in Gaza.
Moreover, now independent and hostile towards the Arab World, South Sudan also has great fertile
lands, usually referred to as the food basket of the Arab World.
Kurdistan:
Kurdistan is a roughly defined geo-cultural region wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority
population, and Kurdish culture, language, and national identity have historically been based.
Kurdistan encompasses parts of the countries of Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria, as well as provinces of the former
Soviet Union. About half the Kurds live in Turkey, accounting for an estimated 20 percent of the total
population there. There are believed to be approximately 5.7 million Kurds in Iran and about 1.5 million in
Syria. Their struggle for independence has waged for
centuries, but political and ethnic divisions within the
populations have prevented them from achieving
unity.
The Kurdish revolt against Turkey in 1922 was
the first time the international media mentioned the
problem of Kurdish refugees. More recently,
thousands of Kurds sought asylum in Iran after the
collapse of General Mullah Mustafa's independence
movement in 1975. Kurds also fled to Iran and Turkey
after the Iraqi Kurdish resistance in the aftermath of
the Iran - Iraq War (1988). These were small flights compared to the huge refugee crisis caused in April 1991
by Saddam Hussein's attacks toward the end of the Gulf War (January - April 1991). Fearing for their safety
after the failure of their uprising in March 1991, about 2 million Iraqi Kurds fled toward the Turkish and Iranian
borders. The arrival of such a huge number of refugees, thousands of whom died of hunger and cold,
internationalized the Kurdish problem and forced unwilling Western governments to extend their protection to
the Kurds. While those who went to the Turkish border came back to Iraq after the creation of a safe haven,
dozens of thousands of Kurdish refugees stayed for years in Iran, living in the cities or in camps. Most of them
came back in the late 1990s after the stabilization of the Kurdish region. A small number of Kurdish refugees
from Iran and Turkey live in camps in Iraq. After the defeat of Iraqi forces in the Iran-Iraq War of 1988, Kurds
in northern Iraq were particularly scapegoated for annihilation, and biological and chemical weapons ostensibly
maintained for use against the Iranians were turned against them. A systematic plan, the Anfal, to destroy
villages controlled by Kurdish resistors, known as peshmerga,
was launched by Saddam Hussein in 1988. The worst of these attacks came on the Kurdish settlement of
Halabja, resulting in thousands of casualties and forcing 60,000 refugees to flee to the Turkish border. Poorly
provided with basic humanitarian aid and household items, refugee camps in Iraq and Turkey create great health
risks and dangers. Those include Thalassemia, Schistosomiasis, Parasites (hookworm, amoebae, and
echinococcosis), Leprosy, Tuberculosis and PTSD.
Syria:
More than 40,000 people have been killed across Syria since the uprising against President Bashar alAssad's regime began in March 2011, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The UN
estimates that around 2.5 million Syrians are in need of emergency aid inside the war torn country.
According to the Regional Response Plan for Syrian Refugees report released by UNHCR, there are
presently 562,950 Syrian refugees residing in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Greece. This figure does not include
the hundreds of thousands more Syrians who did not come forward for registration. In addition, the number of
Syrian refugees increases by two to three thousand refugees every day. Exhausted from traveling with what
little they own and devastated by the many losses they have incurred along the way – their home, their country,
every shred of security they ever knew
and a shocking number of family
members – they pour into bordering
countries. Children make up roughly
half of the refugees crowded into
camps and host communities across
five countries, and their numbers rise
inexorably. The ruinous state of the
Syrian economy after 18 months of
civil war has left few options for
young men trying to support their
families without taking up arms. Many
see escaping to Turkey to find illegal
work as their only choice. Turkey
hosts more than 144,000 Syrians in 14
refugee camps along its southern
border. Through the Turkish Red Crescent and the Prime Ministry’s Disaster and Emergency Management
Directorate (AFAD),
Turkey provides them with food, shelter, education and basic medical services in conditions widely
deemed to be above average compared to other refugee camps. In Turkey, many Turkish employers see them as
easy targets for exploitation. They give Syrians half of the amount they give Turks. In some cases, after
working for a month, Syrians may receive refuse from their bosses to pay them at all.
Refugees in Lebanon and Jordan are occupying all possible shelters including buildings that are under
construction. Moreover, Lebanon, where currently more than 170,000 Syrian refugees find shelter, may not be
able to handle the additional refugees who could flee to the country if the conflict escalates, especially in
Damascus. However if you have 1 million people leaving Damascus in a panic, they can go to only two places –
Lebanon and Jordan. However, many of those fleeing Syria choose to live outside the camps - local NGOs say
the number could be as high as 100,000.
The UN is appealing for more than $1.5 billion (£920 million) to fund aid efforts for those affected by
the conflict in Syria for the next six months, as the situation "dramatically deteriorates". The UN wants to raise
$519.6 million to help 4 million people within Syria and a further $1 billion to meet the needs of up to 1 million
Syrian refugees in five other countries until July 2013
Questions to Consider:
 In the face of increasing concern over refugees requiring so many resources for hosting countries to keep
them fed and under-sheltered, how can your country help secure Arab League's resources while
Maintaining international and humanitarian responsibilities?
 What can your delegation do to ensure that international donations for refugees were not to become the
means for the leaders to abuse their power in order to benefit from it?
 What must be done to prevent illnesses and diseases in refugee camps?
 How can Arab League help on the works of resettlement with thousands of returnees coming back to
their motherland?
 What is Israel's role in the issue of refugees in the Middle East?
 What issues of international relations become wide-spread when thousands of refugees leaving the war
zone settle in the foreign territory?
Additional Reading:
 http://www.un.org/ha/general.htm
 http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home
 http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/06/23/the_arab_spring_s_looming_refugee_crisis
 http://www.usip.org/files/GrantsFellows/GrantsDownloadsNotApps/More%20than%20a%20line,%20S
udan's%20N-S%20border,%20092010.pdf
 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/4/syrian-kurds-find-refuge-in-iraqs-kurdishregion/?page=all#pagebreak
 http://www.un.org/en/events/refugeeday/background.shtml
Bloc Positions:
Although we are all Arab brothers and have many of the same goals, there are times when an
issue will create division amongst us. Recently, this issue is Syria and the Civil War within. Some
countries, notably Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are the biggest opposition to the Assad regime. While
countries like Jordan oppose all sanctions on Syria because more than 60 percent of its imports from
Europe arrive via Syria. When deciding where you stand on when it comes to Palestine and Israel or
refugees and how to deal with them, it’s important to keep in mind economic, political, social, and
military consequences of your future actions.