Ecosoc Study Guide Oakmun 2011

8/4/2019 Ecosoc Study Guide Oakmun 2011

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Economic and Social Council Study Guide

Topic A: The Adverse Effects of Illegal Immigration upon

the Global Economy and how to prevent it

Topic B : How to Combat the Growing trade of Drugs and

Narcotics Globally

By Joseph Jung and Rishi Kumar, chairs for the ECOSOC committee of OAKMUN 2011



2 | O A K M U N S T U D Y G U I D E F O R E C O S O C

Letter From The Chairs

Dear Delegates,

Welcome to the Economic and Social Council of the Oakridge Model United Nations 2011!

My name is Rishi Kumar and I am really looking forward to being your director this year!

I was born in Mumbai, but I‟ve spent most of my life in Toronto, Canada. About one year

back, I moved to Hyderabad and have really fallen in love with all aspects of this wonderful

city. Right now, I am a senior at Oakridge International School and I‟m currently taking the

International Baccalaureate program.

Learning about different cultures has always excited me and this is probably what fuels my

love for travel. This has also led to my love for History, which currently is one of my favorite

subjects, tied with Economics. As far back as I can remember, my father‟s side of the family

has always practiced Law and this has influenced my choice in choosing this area as my

future career. Aside from this, I‟ve always had an interest for the Humanities; I‟ve never

liked the Sciences. Thus, it was only natural that I took a liking to MUN as it‟s something I

really enjoy and also is a method for me to improve myself in all aspects. Furthermore, one

of the main benefits is that I can meet new people and learn about different cultures.

Aside from this, I‟m also a strong fan of American Football and Hockey. When I have free

time, which since I started grade eleven has been extremely rare; I either listen to my favorite

music or play football with friends.

The Economic and Social Council of the UN is one of the most important decision making

bodies as it improves the standards of living by facilitating economic development and

promoting full employment. Our session in Oakmun ‟11 will be extremely thought-

provoking as we will be discussing two very controversial issues; Illegal Immigration and

Sustainable development. I hope you all do extensive research into your respective countries

as it will ensure that our session will be not only informative but also exciting.

I am thrilled to meet you at the conference this year!

Rishi Kumar

Director of the United Nations Economic and Social Council at OAKMUN




Dear delegates,

It gives me a great pleasure to have you all in the first MUN of Oakridge International

School. My name is Joseph Jung, and I will be chairing Economics and Social Council.

I am a student of 12th grade of Oakridge International School, Hyderabad. I was born in

South Korea but moved to India when I was in the 5th grade. I like economics and world

history and I actively take part in formal debates like MUN, where I can display my skills in

these areas. I‟m also the Sports Captain of my school and I try to arrange as many matches

with different schools as possible both domestically and internationally, so that I can interact

with different people from different environment.

The topics for the ECOSOC are “Illegal immigration” and “Drug trade”. I thought that these

are some of the major social problems that the world is facing today and therefore I‟mlooking forward to listen to different opinions about these matters. I strongly believe that you

will not only enjoy the conference but also come across the importance of unity of nations at

the time of such crisis. I hope that OAKMUN gives you the maximum opportunity in

displaying your art of diplomacy to help you build yourself as a successful leader of India

and the world as a whole. I really look forward to meeting you all as soon as possible.

Wishing you the best of luck

Joseph Jung ([email protected])

ECOSOC Chair OAKMUN 2011




About The Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations was established under

the United Nations Charter as body responsible for the coordination of the economic, social,

and related work of the 14 UN specialized agencies, functional commissions and five

regional commissions. The Economic and Social Council serves as the central forum the

debate of said issues, and to create policies related to Economic and Social development for

member states and the United Nations Itself. Some of the main goals of this committee are to

facilitate international co-operation for the general betterment of economic and social

conditions for all humanity, such as promoting higher standards of living and full

employment, encourage awareness and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms,

and find solutions to the plethora of economic and social problems faced by countries.

It has the power to make or initiate studies and reports on these issues. It also has the

power to assist the preparations and organization of major international conferences in the

economic and social and related fields and to facilitate a coordinated follow-up to these

conferences. With its broad mandate the Council's purview extends to over 70 per cent of the

human and financial resources of the entire UN system.




Topic A: Illegal Immigration-

Chapter 1: Introduction to illegal immigration

In a simple definition, illegal immigration is the migration of a foreign citizen who is

not authorized by the government of the nation to which the person has migrated. When we

say “unauthorized” it means that the person does not meet the legal requirements for

immigrating in that country, that is, when they are violating the immigration laws of that

jurisdiction.

People emigrate from one country to another for a variety of complex reasons. Some are

forced to move, due to conflict or to escape persecution and prejudices, while others may

voluntarily emigrate. Although such a move may be necessary, it can be quite traumatic on

top of the challenges experienced so far.

From another perspective, immigration can also represent an act of courage. For example,

•Moving to a different country with different culture and norms can be quite daunting;

•The potential loneliness to be suffered is not always easy to overcome;

•There may be the additional pressure to earn enough to live (in a more expensive-to-live-in

country) and send back meager savings.

An economic migrant, a person searching for work, or better opportunities, will be stepping

into the unknown — an exciting prospect if the person is already well-to-do, or daunting at

least, if out of desperation.

As Inter Press Service (IPS) reported, the European Union has recently acknowledged a

concern about immigration that has not received much media attention. That is, a large

number of people are attempting to leave the devastation of their own country caused by the

current form of globalization and other political and economic policies, which, as well as

creating winners, is creating a large number of losers, and increasing inequality. Tackling

poverty and addressing issues of development and opportunity are important aspects of

tackling this type of immigration.




Chapter 2: Illegal immigration in

different countries

Angola

In 2007 around 44,000 Congolese were forced to leave Angola. Since 2004, more than

400,000 illegal immigrants, almost all from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have

been expelled from Angola.

Argentina

The preamble of the Constitution of Argentina states as its purpose to secure the blessings of

liberty to all men of the world who wish to dwell on Argentine soil. Furthermore, the section

25 of its Constitution states that the Federal Government shall foster European immigration,

and may not restrict, limit or burden with any tax whatsoever, the entry into the Argentine

territory of foreigners who arrive for the purpose of tilling the soil, improving industries, and

introducing and teaching arts and sciences. Although the Constitution of Argentina makes

impossible the existence of such a thing as "illegal immigration", there are in the country,

however, undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants were estimated at 50,000 to

2,500,000 in the year 2001.

Bhutan

Immigration in Bhutan by Nepalese settlers (Lhotshampa) began slowly towards the end of

the 19th century. In 1985, the government passed a new Citizenship Act which clarified and

attempted to enforce the 1958 Citizenship Act to control the flood of illegal immigration.

Those individuals who could not provide proof of residency prior to 1958 were adjudged to

be illegal immigrants. In 1991-92, Bhutan expelled roughly 139,110 ethnic Nepalis, most of

whom have been living in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal ever since. The United

States has offered to resettle 60,000 of the 107,000 Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese origin

now living in U.N. refugee camps in Nepal. The Bhutanese government, even today has not

been able to sort the problem of giving citizenship to those people who are married toBhutanese, even though they have been in the country for 40 years.

Brazil

Brazil has long been part of international migration routes. In 2009, the government

estimated the number of undocumented immigrants at about 200,000 people; a Catholic

charity working with immigrants said there were 600,000 unauthorized immigrants (75,000




of which from Bolivia). That same year, the Brazilian Parliament approved an amnesty,

opening a six-month window for all foreigners to seek legalization irrespective of their

previous standing before the law. Brazil had last legalized all immigrants in 1998; bilateral

deals, one of which promoted the legalization of all reciprocal immigrants with Bolivia to

date, signed in 2005, are also common.

Clandestine immigrants in Brazil enjoy the same legal privileges as native Brazilians

regarding access to social services such as public education and the Brazilian public

healthcare system. Most unauthorized immigrants in Brazil come from Bolivia, Paraguay,

Peru, China (mainly from Fujian), North Korea and sub-Saharan Africa. A Federal Police

operation investigated Chinese immigrants who traveled through six countries before

arriving in São Paulo to work under substandard conditions in the textile industry.

After signing the 2009 amnesty bill into law, President Lula said, in a speech, that

"repression and intolerance against immigrants will not solve the problems caused by the

economic crisis", thereby also harshly criticizing the "policy of discrimination and prejudice"

against immigrants in developed nations.

An October 2009 piece from O Globo, quoting a UNDP study, estimates the number of

unauthorized immigrants at 0.7 million, and points out to a recent wave of xenophobia

among the general populace




Chapter 3: Consequences of illegal immigration:

Economic and Social impacts of illegal immigration

Positive impacts:

•One of the prime advantages that the destination country faces because of illegal

immigration is cheap labor. This keeps the economy moving smoothly as the immigrants fill

up for the low-wage jobs.

•Illegal immigration increases the consumer base for the variety of goods and services

produced in the country, hence boosting the economy in a big way.

•Quite often, the illegal immigrants contribute to the social security funds and then do not

claim it back. This is add-on revenue for the state economy.

•It has been observed that illegal immigrants pay sales tax on time and diligently contribute

to the revenue model of the country.

•Illegal immigrants, who are property owners and possess real estate properties, also pay real

estate taxes and boost the economy of the state. While purchasing real estate, the immigrants,

in turn, generate commissions for agents and brokers.

•Usually, the illegal immigrants take up properties in depressed locales, where finding

tenants is a major difficulty.

•Illegal immigrants also contribute to mortgage loan profits. The financial and auto insurance

loans immensely contribute to the insurer‟s profit margins as well as to the country‟s income.

•Since the illegal immigrants enjoy the banking services of the country, they pay interests

and dividends to the banks, again strengthening the country‟s economy.

Negative impacts:

•Due to illegal immigration, the overall population of the country spurts and results in major

difficulties. There is overcrowding and increased burden in public places and public transport

to name a few.




•Serious judicial problems arise in case an illegal immigrant commits a crime and escapes

the country borders.

•There is an increased crime rate among the population as well as increased risk of cases

related to human trafficking.

•It is also seen that illegal immigration results in a burden on tax-based resources, costing

taxpayers billions of dollars.

•Once the illegal immigrants fulfill the demand for cheap labor and low wages, there is a

continued demand for it.

•There is a growing imbalance in the authorized immigration quotas which results in

disparity between the legal immigrants who diligently follow every rule and those who don‟t

and still live together within the aspired territories of a country.

•The country invests in quite a fortune for illegal immigrant maintenance cost and at the end

of the day there is no government reimbursement of the fund.

•The illegal immigrants may pose a potential threat to the working and middle class citizens.

•It has been thoroughly observed that those who successfully trespass the border, inspire

those who are left behind to tread on the same prohibited path.

•There is a lingering fear of a gradual imbalance in the ethnic diversity, which can lead to the

dominance of one particular language or culture in the society.




Topic B: How to combat the global

narcotics and illegal drug trade

Chapter 1: About the Global Drug trade

Drug trafficking is defined by the United Nations as a global illicit trade involving the

cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug

prohibition law. It is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture,

distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. The

United Nations is continuing its research into global illicit drug markets in order to

gain a more comprehensive understanding of their dynamics as it is an imperative

issue for all countries to combat. Globally, the United Nations estimates that

between 155 and 250 million people (3.5 to 5.7% of the population aged 15-64)

used illicit substances at least once in 2008. Globally, cannabis users comprise the

largest number of illicit drug users (129 - 190 million people). Amphetamine-group

substances rank as the second most commonly used drug, followed by cocaine and

opiates




Chapter 2: Major drugs which compromise the narcotics

trade in drug-prone areas

A) Heroin

At current levels, world heroin consumption (340 tons) and seizures

represent an annual flow of 430-450 tons of heroin into the global heroin market.

Of that total, opium from Myanmar and the Lao People's Democratic Republic yields

some 50 tons, while the rest, some 380 tons of heroin and morphine, is produced

exclusively from Afghan opium. While approximately 5 tons are consumed andseized in Afghanistan, the remaining bulk of 375 tons is trafficked worldwide via

routes flowing into and through the countries neighboring Afghanistan.

The Balkan and northern routes are the main heroin trafficking corridors linking

Afghanistan to the huge markets of the Russian Federation and Western Europe.

The Balkan route traverses the Islamic Republic of Iran (often via Pakistan),

Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria across South-East Europe to the Western European

market, with an annual market value of some $20 billion. The northern route runs

mainly through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (or Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan) to

Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. The size of that market is estimated to

total $13 billion per year.

Figure 1- Trade routes of heroin in Asia




B) Cocaine

In 2008, global heroin seizures reached a record level of 73.7 metric tons.

Most of the heroin was seized in the Near and Middle East and South-West Asia (39

per cent of the global total), South-East Europe (24 per cent) and Western and

Central Europe (10 per cent). The global increase in heroin seizures over the period

2006-2008 was driven mainly by continued burgeoning seizures in the Islamic

Republic of Iran and Turkey. In 2008, those two countries accounted for more than

half of global heroin seizures and registered, for the third consecutive year, the

highest and second highest seizures worldwide, respectively.In 2007 and 2008,

cocaine was used by some 16 to 17 million people worldwide, similar to the number

of global opiate users. North America accounted for more than 40 per cent of global

cocaine consumption (the total was estimated at around 470 tons), while the 27

European Union and four European Free Trade Association countries accounted for

more than a quarter of total consumption. These two regions account for more than

80 per cent of the total value of the global cocaine market, which was estimated at

$88 billion in 2008.

For the North American market, cocaine is typically transported from

Colombia to Mexico or Central America by sea and then onwards by land to the

United States and Canada. Cocaine is trafficked to Europe mostly by sea, often in

container shipments. Colombia remains the main source of the cocaine found in

Europe, but direct shipments from Peru and the Plurinational State of Bolivia are far

more common than in the United States market. Following a significant increase over

the period 2002-2005, global cocaine seizure totals have recently followed a stable trend,

amounting to 712 tons in 2007 and 711 tons in 2008. Seizures continued to be

concentrated in the Americas and Europe. However, the transition from 2007 to 2008

brought about a geographical shift in seizures towards the source countries for cocaine.

Seizures in South America accounted for 59 per cent of the global total for 2008, compared

with 45 per cent in 2007.




Figure 2- Global Cocaine Trade Routes

Figure 3- Global Trade Routes for Heroin and Cocaine




C) Cannabis

The United Nations estimates that the cannabis herb production ranged from 13,300-

66,100 metric tonnes and the cannabis resin production from 2,200-9,900 metric tonnes.

The resulting total area under cannabis cultivation was estimated at 200,000-641,800

hectares. Trafficking of cannabis derivatives continues to affect most countries worldwide.

Of the 147 countries and territories for which were surveyed, 137 had seized at least one of

the cannabis derivatives: 129 had made seizures of cannabis herb, 92 of cannabis resin, and

26 of cannabis oil. Based on 2003-2008 data, approximately one half of seizure cases

related to all illicit drugs worldwide involved cannabis herb, resin or oil. Cannabis herb was

the most frequently seized drug in Africa, the Americas and Oceania, while cannabis resin

was the most frequently seized drug in Europe, followed by cannabis herb. Globally, the

number of people who had used cannabis at least once in 2008 is estimated between 129

and 191 million, or 2.9% to 4.3% of the world population aged 15 to 64.

D) Amphetamine-type Stimulants

Trafficking of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), along with their production, has

come to affect the entire globe. The number of reported ATS( Amphetamine-type

Stimulants)-related clandestine laboratories increased by 20% in 2008, and for the first time

revealed the existence of manufacturing laboratories in Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, the

Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka. Information on the 8,408 detected

laboratories came from 32 countries, with the largest numbers reported from the United

States of America, the Czech Republic, Australia, China, Slovakia, New Zealand, the

Netherlands, Canada and Mexico.

The type and form of ATS manufactured vary across regions. For example, in East and

South-East Asia, manufacture of methamphetamine is primarily in tablet form („yaba‟) and

high purity crystalline form („ice‟), although there are increasing incidents of ecstasy

(MDMA) manufacture. Tablets sold as Captagon in the Near and Middle East often contain

amphetamine and are sourced from South-East Europe and from within the region. In




Europe, ATS manufacture is mainly powder and tableted amphetamine and ecstasy

(MDMA), with methamphetamine („pervitine‟) manufactured primarily in the Czech

Republic and Slovakia, and other eastern European countries, with evidence that

manufacture is further spreading. South Africa-based manufacture is predominately

methamphetamine („tik‟) and methcathinon. Global methamphetamine laboratory counts

increased 29% in 2008 to 8,295, With the largest numbers reflected increases reported from

the United States (7,226).

Chapter 3- Consequences of the illegal drug trade- the economic

and social impacts on the countries which they plague and ways of

combating the problem.

At the core of drug consumption lie the „problem drug users‟: those who inject drugs

and/or are considered dependent, facing serious social and health consequences as a result.

Based on the global estimates of the number of cannabis, opiate, cocaine and ATS users, it is

estimated that there were between 16 and 38 million problem drug users in the world in

2008. This represents 10% to 15% of all people who used drugs that year. It can be estimated

that in 2008, globally, between 12% and 30% of problem drug users had received treatment

in the past year, which means that between 11 and 33.5 million problem drug users did not

receive treatment that year. Thus it is clear that drug users place a significant strain on

countries‟ healthcare systems, as each year, millions of dollars are used to treat drug relatedafflictions and diseases which are transmitted through drug use, such as the H.I.V virus

which is spread through infected needles which are often used by heroin addicts.

Furthermore, to prevent and discourage drug usage, governments around the world require

large amounts of funds to pay for law enforcement and prisons to correct those who frequent

drugs. Furthermore, unemployment, which can often be seen in populations of drug users

coupled with a financial burden on healthcare systems is extremely detrimental to a country‟s

economy. Research indicates that spending on treatment produces savings in terms of a

reduction in the number of crime victims, as well as reduced expenditures for the criminal

justice system. At a minimum there was a 3:1 savings rate, and when a broader calculation of

costs associated with crime, health and social productivity was taken into account, the rate of

savings to investment rose to 13:1. These savings can improve disadvantaged situations

where opportunities for education, employment and social welfare are undermined, and

increase possibilities for families to recover battered economies, thus facilitating social and

economic development. Nonetheless, huge amounts of funds are required to provide such




treatment, and it is thus not feasible for many countries to do so. This is especially the case

for developing countries

As they have many other priorities and fewer resources and are not in a position to absorb the

consequences of increased drug use. As a result, there is now the risk of a public health

disaster in developing countries that would enslave masses of humanity to the misery of drug

dependency. Thus, while options such as extensive seizures of drug stocks could be useful, it

may only last for a short-term basis as significant resources are required to maintain such

actions. Thus, while traditional methods are somewhat useful, newer methods which are

much more effective are necessary to combat the growing drug trade lest it progress further.




Useful Sources for Further Study

http://www.globalissues.org/article/537/immigration

http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-prevention-and-treatment/index.html







Ecosoc Study Guide Oakmun 2011

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