Topic: Combating the Illicit Small Arms Trade
Country: Syria
Delegate Name: Madison Ford
School: Forest Hills Northern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Syria position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
The Syrian Arab Republic does not condone illicit small arms trade within our country, however Syria does not want any other countries to interact and try to assist us with the eradication of this problem. Gun violence has been the cause of millions of deaths around the world, and it is of our opinion that guns should only be sold to governments, and not to people. The source of our illicit small arms trade problem mostly comes from outside sources, which supply civilians with guns rather than supplying them to the government, where they are needed. Most of the small arms that are being funneled into Syria end up in the hands of hardline Islamic extremists, including some who are affiliated with Al-Qaeda. Most of the small arms that end up in Syria are made in Saudi-Arabia and Qatar, and are transferred here from Lebanon and Turkey.
Since gaining independence in the 1950’s the Syrian government has enacted several laws to control possession of, carrying, and trafficking of small arms. However, Syria (along with 23 other countries) abstained from the Arms Trade Treaty; which was a treaty that would have regulated international trade of conventional weapons. The treaty was discussed under the auspices of the United Nations at a global conference in July of 2012. The majority of the states that opposed this treaty did so because they had concerns about whether or not this would affect their national sovereignty, which is also the main reason that Syria abstained from the treaty. We are willing to regulate this problem within our own country, and of our own accord, but we will not take part in any treaties or resolutions that attempt to regulate it for us.
Syria is of the opinion that no treaties or resolutions should be made by the United Nations in order to prevent or regulate illicit small arms trade, otherwise it would be infringing on our national sovereignty. Syria believes we should address this problem on our own, without the assistance of the United Nations, or any other countries. In order to combat these problems, the Syrian government will continue to implement criminal charges upon anyone who is participating in the small arms trade, and we will attempt to stop Saudi-Arabia and Qatar from using Lebanon and Turkey as middlemen for supplying our country with said arms. We would recommend that the United Nations take no stance on this issue, and simply leave it to the country’s government to decide how to combat the problem, or whether or not it even needs to be addressed.
