Topic: Rights of Immigrants
Country: Czech Republic
Delegate Name: Natalie Shabahang
School: Forest Hills Eastern High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Czech Republic position papers GLIMUN 2012 committees
In the rapidly globalizing world of today, migration is becoming a fundamentally important aspect of a nation’s policies. Among the issues to agree upon are the rights of people to migrate in an out of a nation at their own will, the distinction between citizens and noncitizens, and whether or not there should be a distinction between immigrants based on circumstance. The critical questions remain of paramount importance due to their scope, depth, and their relevance to the global economy. In the past, the Czech Republic has maintained organized policies designed to encourage legal migration (rather than migration by illegal means) both into and out of the country. Among the key policies of the Czech Government’s Migration Policy Principles (laid down in Resolution of the Government of the Czech Republic No. 55 of 13 January 2003) is the Programme for Support in Combating Illegal Migration created by the Ministry of the Interior. According to the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic, “Its basic goal is to ensure efficient cooperation among persons who were the subject of an action to facilitate illegal immigration… while simultaneously ensuring the necessary care of the persons concerned and possibly even for their family members currently staying in the territory of the Czech Republic, with a fundamental emphasis on their personal safety.” Thus, the Czech Republic has made conscious efforts to encourage safe and legal migration. This goal is the cornerstone of the Czech Republic’s position on the questions placed before the assembly today.
Regarding the issue of immigrant rights, the Czech Republic holds that nations should not have to bar entry or exit from any nation entirely except in a case of international crisis. Restrictions “placed on the free movement of peoples” could potentially inhibit necessary demographic change and thus, by extension, stifle the free flow of people toward opportunity. No human should be denied the right to opportunity, economic or otherwise. Perhaps, to prevent a potentially tyrannical restriction on citizens to exit a nation, fewer restrictions should be placed on the rights of a citizen to leave a country than those to enter one.
Though mild restrictions on immigration are acceptable for a country to have, perhaps to avoid crises such as overpopulation, the scope of such restrictions should remain minimal. Citizens may have more rights to enter or exit a nation, and benefits in their home nation, but noncitizens should by no means be extremely discriminated against. Governments should have certain obligations to their resident immigrant populations, and these should be decided upon by this assembly. Finally, different circumstances require a difference in treatment for immigrants. For example, there should be different policies for immigrants who are migrating to a country for work or career purposes.
These positions would be implemented especially successfully in Europe, but they can work for many nations. To help achieve these goals, the United Nations could come to a consensus concerning the circumstances when a nation should be able to regulate immigration to the point of prohibiting entry or exit. Solitary, independent nations may be more opposed to the idea of fewer restrictions on immigration, but the Czech Republic is confident that a compromise can be achieved.
