Written by Ayasha Medina of Inkling for UWCSEA MUN.
War zone safety is still one of the most pressing issues in the world, especially in places where there i’s less accountability and the people who have power can do whatever they like. Today, 30 Human Rights Council delegates gathered to discuss one of the biggest issues relating to warzones: arbitrary detentions. The room fell into a dilemma of whether to go through with the concept that violates the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights or to put the safety of their nation first. In South Sudan, The National Security Service arrested six individuals unlawfully without authorization by any judicial authority. In Egypt, human rights defender Ibrahim Ezz El Din was arrested by the Egyptian security forces and taken to an unknown location. In Israel, human rights defender Hafez Omar was detained without any charges being pressed against him, and is still under detention now without any access to his lawyer. A resolution was written to tackle this issue, led by Bangladesh as the main submitter, together with India, Israel, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan as the co-submitter. The delegate of Bangladesh started their speech with a statement that arbitrary detention has stopped at least one terrorist attack this year only, saving a great number of lives, and urges all nations to vote for the resolution to sustain human rights.
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60,000-100,000 children in the Philippines are believed to be a part of a children prostitution ring. Over 1,200 people were involved in a human trafficking case in Indonesia after being trafficked as far as Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
A concerning number for such an inhumane act. Human trafficking is one of the most concerning issues in South East Asia. Being a continent where a majority of the population are in poverty, it makes it an easy target for human traffickers. Affecting all men, women, and children alike, human trafficking victims often end up in sexual exploitation or forced labor. This happens everyday to thousands of people, making it a never-ending cycle. This issue was brought up on the second day of the MUN conference at UWCSEA in the UN Special Conference Committee, with Indonesia submitting a very well-thought resolution on how to fix human trafficking in South East Asia together with Brunei, Japan, Cambodia, Republic of Korea, Thailand, and Laos as co-submitters. Having UN’s Human Rights Council as a big part of it, they encouraged the nations to tackle the issue directly, offering 9 big solutions to the committee. Written by Ayasha Medina of Inkling for UWCSEA MUN.
It’s a sunny Friday, October 11th 2019, and over 420 delegates from 13 schools are gathered in the plaza of UWCSEA East Campus for the MUN conference that will be held for 3 days until October 13th. Being a fairly prestigious school organization, MUN, or Model United Nations, it is a very big deal to everyone participating. In the next three days, the students will be simulating the United Nations, talking about various real-life issues that are happening all around the world. The Opening Ceremony was held in the Auditorium, started with videos of UWC alumni talking about their experiences with MUN. It was followed by MUN director, Mrs. Judith Blake, giving her welcoming speech, acknowledging Mulberry School from London and UWC Thailand on their first trip to UWCSEA’s MUN conference. Aayesha Fazal, a UWCSEA alum, is the keynote speaker for the afternoon. Currently in her second year of working with refugees in Malaysia, she shared her opinion on injustice going on in the world and her reactions to it. Growing up as a Muslim in a secondary international school, she described her diverse experiences with the Myanmar refugees up until today. “As delegates, you all have priorities and interests that you need to represent. The question is how do you speak for others, how do you speak for the stories of the people you’ve never known, of what is true, what is important to you, and what you believe is important to them.” Written by Menglin Zhao of Inkling, for UWCSEA MUN.
Today, students from almost all the regions of the world came together to participate in MUN at UWCSEA East. There were full of excitement, nervousness, and enthusiasm at the plaza while young delegates were gathering together to share their interest and concern in politics and global issues. During the next three-day conference, those young minds with different country standpoint are going to discuss about their resolution to current real-world issues as well as reaching an acceptable consensus on global issues. It is also an opportunity for the participants to meet new people from different backgrounds of countries, cultures, and religions by taking part in highly engaging discussions. The first day of the MUN conference included a UN General Assembly resolution submitted by the US. The 3-hour assembly consisted of debates and discussions with several countries and organizations set out to approve their amendments to the resolution.
The resolution has 8 clauses that cover topics such as discrimination, nuclear conflict, over-reliance on the US, globalization, and many more to support global peace and shape a better future for everyone. There were numerous rich debates and conversations during the assembly. Such as the delegates of Myanmar proposing to modify clause 4 which puts forward the removal of discrimination against every person no matter their gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc. The delegates argued that it will help build a national identity. Delegates of Malaysia was in “full support of Myanmar”, but many other countries said otherwise. For instance, Palestine argued that regardless of race and ethnicity, everyone is equal and that Myanmar must treat “the people of Palestine as human beings”. Other discussions involved proposing to modify clause 8, where Delegates of ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah resolution “Demands that the USA open its barriers to all groups and states as well as political parties in order for them to access the same rights as US citizens”. They insisted on the right to leave and enter the country without moderation, recognizing and supporting NGOs such as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and Hezbollah, and discarding nuclear weapons that go against the United Nations principles. In the end, the majority voted for the amendment to pass. The resolution ended with many amendments passed! A great start to the 2019 MUN UWCSEA East Conference. |
InklingInkling is UWCSEA East's Literary Magazine. It is a student-led publication that aims to showcase the diversity and creativity of our school through its output. Press CorpsUse this section to catch up on all the exciting resolutions that were debated at UWCMUN 2021 ArchivesCategories |