Topic: Syria
Country: India
Delegate Name: Issac Ross
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All India position papers GLIMUN 2011 committees
The problem in Syria between its president, Bashar al-Assad, his government, and the people of Syria has escalated to an uncontrollable point of destruction with roughly 3,500 reported deaths in total. The people of Syria are unhappy with its government and their president, asking him to step down. The people also want the ruling Baath Party to allow other political parties to run, equal rights for Kurds, and broad political freedom and have been protesting and rallying for over 7 months. Rallies have been happening in the major cities of Damascus, Homs, Hama, and many others. During these rallies the Syrian army was reported attacking, killing, and imprisoning civilians throughout the entire country with nearly 12,000 prisoners. Syria has expressed its objection of Western influenced or controlled intervention in the region, India also agrees that a Western led initiative should not take place but rather countries in the region should help.
India, because of its new placement of presidency in the United Nations Security Council, has been called upon by Syria and its government to place pressure on the Arab League for a fair and just way of solving the conflict in Syria. Syria hopes India will create a productive environment in the UNSC which will lead to an active Indian role in producing active negotiations to achieve comprehensive peace in the region. India has expressed the importance of restraining the violence and limiting or eliminating the government’s abuse of its people. India has recently abstained its vote, alongside Brazil and South Africa, on the recent UN draft resolution although many major Western countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and France all pressured India into voting for the passing of the resolution. India has expressed the sheer importance of negotiating peace in the region with the countries involved in the region. Syria has decided to accept the terms of the Arab League’s new proposal of withdrawing Syrian troops from towns and cities as well as agreeing to cease the violence towards its civilians. Since the agreement, Syria has continued to attack protesters and other cities within the country.
Many of the countries within the Middle East region would agree to the terms of the Arab League’s proposal and would also agree to peaceful negotiations between countries in the region while leaving out involvement from the West. Many Middle Eastern and Asian countries do not like the idea of Western nations being involved in Middle Eastern problems. They often believe that Western countries are trying to gain control of the region and seek solutions to end conflict without their involvement.
Western countries on the other hand would oppose peace discussions at the cost that the Western countries are left out and are denied involvement in the region and its problems. Many Western countries, such as The United States, see a strong importance in being involved in the region either to maintain peaceful relations between the countries, or to gain or maintain power control.
