Special Political Committee
Libyan Crisis
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar
Jesse Yang
Forest Hills Eastern
The asassination of Muammar Gaddafi has plunged Libya into a state of disaster, with civil war and bursts of growth in between. This conflict has led to thousands of Libyans left to be internally displaced, without access to basic services such as electricity, healthcare, and water. Although the United Nations has tried to find an agreement to these conflicts, a stable solution has not been achieved. The Government of National Accord (GNA) is internationally recognized as Libya’s legitimate government; however, as of September 19, the GNA has been struggling to be recognized by Libya, with only tenuous control over the capital city, Tripoli. The opposing Libyan National Army (LNA) and House of Representatives (HoR), led by General Khalifa Haftar has been laying siege to the capital since April. These dire circumstances require immediate action from the United Nations.
As a similarly sized third world country, The Republic of the Union of Myanmar relates to Libya on its struggle with internal conflict. Myanmar is in a similar position, with Bangladeshi terrorists hurting the country. Due to these circumstances, as well as the geographical and social divide between the countries, Myanmar is a poor candidate for Libyan refugees to relocate to. Myanmar is located in Southeast Asia, which would be a drastic change of culture, religion, and language for the vast majority of Libyans, who are Islamic. Myanmar also believes that it will not be able to send Libya much in the form of financial aid, due to Myanmar’s economy being very undeveloped. However, many non-governmental organizations (NGO) could help Libya, such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC), an international organization that provides healthcare and protection to displaced and vulnerable Libyans, and is one of the few that support people inside Libya. This humanitarian relief provided to people inside the country can serve as a base for refugees until they are able to emigrate safely to another country or until the conflict can be resolved.
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar believes that solving the Libyan crisis must involve multiple different answers. For short term relief, Libya and the United Nations can work together with NGOs such as the IRC to support internally displaced Libyans with their basic needs such as water, electricity and healthcare. The United Nations and Libya can build off of their temporary solution to the displaced persons by finding suitable countries for the vast number of refugees, most of which are Islamic in religion. This country should have open refugee policies, be geographically close to Libya, be stable and peaceful, accept muslims and the islamic religion into their society, and have enough open land for refugee camps. One potential candidate could be Algeria, which borders the western front of Libya, is an islamic country, is quite large, and has no major internal conflicts. However, Algeria has set a precedent of inhumanely treating and turning away sub-Saharan migrant refugees, so Libya and the United Nations should proceed with caution. Finally, the United Nations and warring factions of Libya must come to a peace agreement that leaves both parties contented, assuring the world that a repeat of the past will not happen.
- Jesse Yang
