SPECPOL - World Model United Nations

Similarly, the ability of the United Nations to act
on behalf of these workers is sufficiently complicated
in its own right. The necessity of action on behalf
of marginalized inhabitants must be tempered with
respect for the sovereignty of a particular nation to
determine its own labor policy and consequently
to address potential weaknesses and oversights of
such a policy. Furthermore, the question of what
specifically constitutes mistreatment of laborers
remains unanswered and presents further difficulties
in instituting any intervention. Finally, while it is
imperative that these issues be addressed, they
must be resolved in such a way as to not discourage
further migration, which has been shown to be
mutually beneficial to both the home country and the
destination. 1
Dubai has, in recent years, been accused of
allowing mistreatment and exploitation of thousands
of workers across many industries. Hopefuls from
india, the Philippines, and Somalia are employed
in the public and private sectors, yet routinely have
had their pay docked or withheld and commonly
are misled about the opportunities that await them
in the city. This situation epitomizes the difficulties
in approaching the problem, for the workers have
often signed contracts, which might have led them
to forfeit many traditional labor rights. Ameliorating
the situation in Dubai requires a new framework
upon which the united Nations can construct an
international labor policy.
Complications thus arise from many different
factors. There is no protocol by which abuses might
be identified, and even current definitions fail to
be broad enough to be evenly applied across many
different industries and nations. A course of action for
addressing these problems once identified is similarly
lacking, both for existing situations of exploitation
as well as for stemming the flow of migrant workers
brought in to countries by various agencies. Until such
issues are addressed, migrant workers will continue
to work with fewer rights and decreased protections.
History of the Problem
Globalization and Foreign Labor
The rapid advance of technology following World
War ii spawned a new era of shared information.
This interchange of global ideas, hastened by the
fall of colonialism, rendered geographic distance
inconsequential for many laborers looking to explore
employm ent opportunities. The rise of working
wages and specialization in developed countries
created a demand for unskilled labor, fostered by
the reluctance of workers within those developed
countries to accept lower wage positions. 2 A
large market for unskilled labor was therefore
developing and, coupled with the increasing speed of
transportation, became a very real target for migrant
workers seeking better opportunities abroad.
the post-World War ii climate saw many
opportunities for migration. displaced peoples,
whose livelihoods were destroyed by the war, found
no more opportunities in their home countries and
instead looked abroad. The growing economies of
Western europe and Australia saw large demand for
unskilled laborers, which were easily filled by hordes
of eager immigrants. Across the world, immigrants
flocked to developed nations experiencing a postwar
economic boom, meshing formerly disparate
peoples and cultures. this immigration forged new
connections between countries, allowing new
partnerships and treaties to be signed under the
pretense of allowing speedier immigration. With large
Diasporas now present internationally, the global
exchange of information and traditions between
immigrant groups and natives of the countries in which
they resided expanded. Soon, a global network, built
on the back of technology and migration, connected
geographically distant economies in unprecedented
ways.
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