Topic:
Country: Spain
Delegate Name: Mikey Beusse
Human Rights Council
Repatriation of Refugees
Spain
Mikey Beusse
The repatriation of refugees is the process of returning refugees to their home countries. The process of doing so is very complicated and has been discussed numerous times. In 1951, there was the Geneva Conference which provided the internationally recognized definition of a refugee. This conference also outlined what rights these refugees have and what protections and assistance they are entitled to. This Conference also set a principle for the criteria needed to be met for the refugee to be repatriated. They stated clearly that they would not be repatriated if returning to that country would face a threat against their life or their freedom as stated in Article 33, “If the life or freedom of the refugee is threatened in their country of origin, states that are signatories to the Convention are obligated to not return or expel such individuals.” Spain has been in support of these regulations and has been a signatory of the convention and its protocol since 1987.
As a delegate of Spain, we host refugees from many countries such as Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Honduras, and Coba. We host these refugees for a variety of reasons such as violence, war, and poverty. The amount of refugees we have taken in has increased by 159.31% from 2021 to 2022. We have recently worked with the United States to repatriate two women and 3 children from displaced persons camps in Northeast Syria. However, we have had controversies with Moroccans wishing to seek Asylum in Spain. Recently, we have repatriated 2,700 out of 6,000 individuals who swam their way from Morocco to Spain. This is due to certain controversies between our countries. This is also partially due to these Asylum applications having no immediate threat to their life or freedom.
Spain believes that the return of refugees is a very complicated issue. The main reason we take in refugees is that they are not safe in the country they came from, so such an act must be dealt with in the most careful manner. We believe that we must stay compliant with what was stated at the Geneva Conference as it laid out the basic principles for what should prevent repatriation. We give many of our Asylum Seekers the right to a normal life within our country, and we think that this should be something reflected in other countries that are able to accept refugees from countries where their “life or freedom… is threatened in their country of origin.”
