Topic: UN's Role of Addressing Sectarian and Ethnic Conflict within a Nation
Country: Greece
Delegate Name: Mike Weykamp
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Greece position papers GLIMUN 2008 committees
Conflicts between ethnic groups date back before the era of recorded history began. They typically stem from disagreements over: power, resources, and political views. The quandary that the United Nations faces now and has faced since its conception is what role does the United Nations play in addressing these conflicts? This has been a difficult question to address because the UN is an international organization that arguably has no business interfering in the internal affairs of a country. However, the UN also states in its charter that “We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind.” The UN has been involved in a number of countries that have been ravaged by ethnic and sectarian violence such as: Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq, Haiti, Somalia, Sierra Leone, and several other countries. They have also been absent in other countries that face sectarian and ethnic violence such as Sudan. The United Nations have had, and will continue to have other roles in sectarian conflicts other than having a military presence in the form of peace keepers. They have organized refugees and found them safe places to stay (Often the refugees stay in member countries), getting aid to the people of a country that are experiencing ethnic conflicts.
Greece, which is in the Balkans, is surrounded by ethnic and sectarian conflicts, for example the Bosnia & Herzegovina conflict in which the United Nations had peacekeepers involved. Greece is also involved in accepting refugees from countries that are experiencing ethnic conflict, there are over 20,000 refugees in Greece most of which are Catholic and are relatively well tolerated in Greece because of 98% of Greeks are Catholic.
The current United Nations criteria for addressing sectarian/ethnic violence is that in order for a UN peacekeeping force to be deployed to the region they must be invited by both parties. This is highly unusual especially when one side of the conflict holds a significant advantage militarily or in a genocide or ethnic cleansing situations. The UN does however have many organizations that deal with helping refugees from these war torn countries and getting aid to those in the countries that are ruined by ethnic fighting. These organizations include: The International Refugee Organization (IRO), The United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNICEF, and many more. The UN peacekeepers and organizations are active all over the world and will continue to work for the good of those who need it in countries that are being divided by sectarian conflicts.
The United Nations needs to draft and employ a specific set of rules that state when the UN can intervene in the domestic conflicts of a country and when it cannot. This will take any variables of specific situations that would persuade or dissuade the UN from intervening. Also the United Nations needs to improve its coordination of refugees to avoid their mistreatment in their respective countries of refuge, for example send Christians to predominantly Christian countries and Muslims to predominantly Muslim countries.
