Committee: Social Cultural and Humanitarian
Topic: Combating Racism and Xenophobia
Country: Ukraine
Delegate: Cooper Hoeksema, Forest Hills Northern High School
Combating Racism and Xenophobia in Ukraine
Xenophobia is defined as prejudice towards immigrants from another country and racism is defined as prejudice or hatred towards someone based on race. Racism and xenophobia were a minor problem in Ukraine for the majority of its history. Since an attack on an immigrant from Rwanda left the immigrant beaten to death near his home, these issues have become more pressing. According to Human Rights First, “Leading nongovernmental monitors documented 86 bias-motivated attacks on persons in 2007, including 5 murders, as compared with 14 attacks, including 2 murders in 2006.” The rise of xenophobia and racism can be credited to the publication of media with xenophobic and racist overtones that became popular. ( The statistics above proved that the rise of hate crimes directed towards immigrants and people of other races have risen.
Ukraine’s population is 77% native Ukrainian. The overall population is 44 Million people. This creates a large majority of people originating from Ukraine. Whenever there is a majority, there is bound to be an oppressed minority. Ukraine gained independence from the Soviet Union following the end of the Cold War. Since Ukraine gained independence, there has been a constant battle to combat racism and xenophobia in society. Despite the progress that Ukraine has made as a developing country, racism and xenophobia is still very prevalent. Ukraine is currently combating these issues.
According to Ukraine’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Nations, Ukraine is proposing The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in order to combat the issues of racism and xenophobia. In 2018, there were 65 reported cases of hate crimes in Ukraine. This had risen from previous years such as 2014 when roughly 30 hate crimes were reported. The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination will combat this issue head on.
Ukraine believes that racism and xenophobia can be diminished through the act stated above and laws that influence tolerance. Ukraine also believes that the influence of mass media and news stories will fulfill the goals stated above. With these methods of combating racism and xenophobia, Ukraine claims that racism and xenophobia can be decreased in the country.
Works Cited
“A Brief Introduction to the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KhPG).” Human Rights in Ukraine, khpg.org/en/index.php?r=2.1.1.
“Racism and Xenophobia in Ukraine: New Challenges in Human Rights Protection.” Human Rights in Ukraine, khpg.org/en/index.php?id=1212543971.
“Sustainable Development Goals and the OSCE.” OSCE, www.osce.org/.
“Ukraine.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/WCAR/statements/ukraineE.htm.
“Ukraine.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Nov. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine.
- Cooper Hoeksema
