SPECPOL - World Model United Nations

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and political access. 17 European governments refused to acknowledge the permanence of the migrant community, continually relying on the false hope that once the workers’ permits expired, they would return back to their home nations. However, they found that the previously established migration patterns were extremely difficult to reverse and continued to struggle with the reality of a growing, discontented immigrant population. Workers, afraid to return home lest they be denied re-entry later, simply refused to leave. This, combined with the reunion of workers’ families, led to a stable and growing migrant community in many states that had only hoped for a temporary one. 18 The recession continued throughout the 1970s, facilitated by the 1979 Iranian Revolution and subsequent energy crisis. While these recessions took their toll on the developed nations of the world, they were simultaneously heralding a new period of economic growth in the developing world in the Middle east and in Asia. 19 The Middle East, benefiting from higher oil prices, began to rapidly expand its infrastructure, spending money on building cities, roads, and other public projects. The subsequent labor demand caused a wave of migration from other, less prosperous Middle eastern countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and even Sudan, sending many immigrants to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait looking for jobs. 20 The direct result of this sudden boom in immigration was the modification of the kafala system, a guestworker program set up in the Middle East in the 1950s, which began as a means of ensuring a stable migrant worker population. 21 The system was very similar to that of many guest workers in Europe, however there were several distinguishing features. In particular, for entry into a particular country, a migrant needed a kafeel, or a sponsor. This sponsor could be a citizen or a government agency and would sign a contract with the government ensuring that they were responsible for the incoming worker. 22 initially, the restrictions on the origins of the workers were relatively few, and Arab migrants were easily able to find jobs and citizenship in their host countries. However, the governments grew wary of discontent, fearing that these new Arabs would threaten their regimes. They accordingly modified the kafala system, making it much harder to gain citizenship and, in doing so, made labor abuses much more common. 23 The recession of the 1980s continued these labor trends the world over. The Middle East continued to be a destination for many economically disadvantaged peoples looking for employment. The origins of these migrant workers had accordingly shifted. Initially, a large number of the workers came from Arab nations without large oil reserves. 24 Gradually, however, those numbers began to shift. Falling oil prices worldwide curbed the recent prosperity, forcing the oil-producing countries to find ways to cut labor costs. The oil-producing countries gave preference to allowing the entry of migrants from Asian countries over those from other Arab nations. 25 the lessskilled Asian migrants were both cheaper and easier to manage, as they became subject to many “antiintegration” policies that deprived them of workers’ rights. Disenfranchised and denied citizenship, there was little the workers could do to influence the government. The majority of these workers came from Southeast Asia, which itself was undergoing a period of economic growth. In 1967, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and indonesia formed the Association of Southeast Asian <strong>Nations</strong> (ASeAN), which soon instituted the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services. This measure promoted the creation of network to allow temporary workers from each nation to seek jobs in the service and other industries across others members’ borders. As 12 Melbourne Host Directorate PTY LTD | Office of Media and Design
the region’s leaders in economic growth, Singapore, Malaysia, and thailand found thousands of migrants crossing their borders in an attempt to find new jobs, with a majority coming from Indonesia and the Philippines. 26 Nonetheless, migration in the region continued unabated, and Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan soon became the destination for large number of labor migrants, as they had demonstrated stable economic growth, an attractive quality for those seeking employment. 27 yet again, these migrants faced challenges securing rights and protections in their destination countries. in Singapore, for example, the thousands of unskilled and semi-skilled workers were not offered minimum wages, and, in many cases, wages varied based on the worker’s country of origin. 28 Nonetheless, migration continued unabated for the next decade. Historical Case Study: Turkish Immigrants in Germany The experience of Turkish immigrants to Germany is indicative of many different migrant groups during this era. Turks first began arriving in Germany in the 1960s and were among the last groups of immigrants to take advantage of the guest worker policy. Yet from the beginning, the German people and government remained wary of allowing too many workers to come, as they distrusted Turkey as being an Islamic state. This translated into a severe distrust of the Turkish people once they arrived. Immediate problems presented themselves in finding housing for the hordes of immigrants that arrived. The temporary housing erected for the workers was of subpar quality, far below the typical building codes that were required for housing German natives. 29 Problems with poor hygiene, lack of food suitable to the Muslim diet, and other issues of cultural insensitivity plagued the workers for many years. The work itself was equally difficult. The Turks worked for long hours in unsafe conditions, often separated from German workers physically and through no comprehension of the German language. Though they are not entirely free from discrimination, today Turks have become an integral part of German culture society. 13 Melbourne Host Directorate PTY LTD | Office of Media and Design
Page 1 and 2: Special Political and Decolonizatio
Page 3 and 4: Letters Melbourne Host Directorate
Page 5 and 6: Letter from the Under-Secretary-Gen
Page 7 and 8: Introduction SPeCPOL is one of the
Page 9 and 10: Similarly, the ability of the Unite
Page 11: The Bracero Program saw thousands o
Page 15 and 16: Despite the war, progress continued
Page 17 and 18: The Philippines Overseas Employment
Page 19 and 20: The GCC states have some of the hig
Page 21 and 22: With many job opportunities in cons
Page 23 and 24: in the Philippines and abroad that
Page 25 and 26: limited influence. They are restric
Page 27 and 28: country seeking to sell the mining
Page 29 and 30: Africa is one of the most resource-
Page 31 and 32: The Development of the Private Sect
Page 33 and 34: BHP Billiton is the world’s large
Page 35 and 36: Consolidated Ltd, a subsidiary of t
Page 37 and 38: egan mining coal in 1922 near the p
Page 39 and 40: to address how the united Nations m
Page 41 and 42: China has emerged as the world’s
Page 43 and 44: elations, and poverty reduction are
Page 45 and 46: Hansen, Randall. Migration to Europ
Page 47 and 48: indices/factSheet/G3.PDF in the Pit
Page 49 and 50: 42 issues, policies” Ibid. 43 “
Page 51: PARTNERS Supported by Australian Ai

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