Category: General Assembly

Delegates of DISEC Announce Decisions On Diasporic Kurds and State Defectors as The Defeat and Fatigue of Debate Creeps In


Staff runs through Grand Ballroom B, distributing over 300 copies of the eight working papers currently on the floor. CARE, FIRE, CAISAA, NEAR, Path to Prosperity, KAP, CSI, Kurds Just Want TO Have Fundamental Rights— the fruits of many hours of labor for over the 200 delegates fighting to find consensus on the future of a Kurdish state. As Friday comes to an end, these delegate rush to orate their ideas to the committee, hoping their solutions sit well.

Two delegates, representing Japan and China, spoke on the matter; “I think the committee received our solutions relatively well,” said the delegate from Japan, “having a physical copy of the resolution helped solidify out more abstract ideas.”  The delegate of China nodded in agreement and added, “It was great to explore the many perspectives on such a complex issue.” It should be noted, by this point of the night both delegates were notably tired—rung out by complex Question and Answer sessions. Both delegate still had their sights set on the future. The delegate of China said, “I’m excited to negotiate for the mergers—it’ll be great to see hour our policy fits into the context of other ideas.”

Figure 1 Japan and China (second and third from left, respectively) speak with the NEAR bloc

In many ways, the working paper submitted by Japan and China, NEAR, was an outlier in the pack. They resolution directly referenced the special provisions of Chapter XI, Article 85 which establishes how to gain semi-autonomy for the region. In doing so, the Delegation of Japan laid out the framework for a strong economic future for the Kurds—including referencing economic and fiscal policy, defense of national interests, trade, and humanitarian concerns. This effort was noted by the committee, as many delegates started their Question and Answers by commending the delegation on their efforts. Such efforts come at a price.

The fatigue of full day discussions started to creep up towards the end of the session. The delegate representing the United States of America approached the Delegate of Japan during their interview with The Financial Times and stated “man, I wish you were a part of my delegation.” Other antics of committee included a mass air-drop of memes, to which the committee directors responded through stifled laughter, “we don’t want to see this anymore.” The Financial Times hopes to see a refresh of substantive debate in the remaining committee sessions.


Editorial: This is it?


In the third session of the DISEC meetings on the Kurdish state, delegates started to present their working papers to the committee followed by an intense period of question and answer sessions from other delegates. In total, there are up to eight working papers on the floor each addressing the Kurdish question in their own unique way. Some mention education as an option, while other papers call for the establishment of a fully defined autonomous government and centralized region for the Kurds.

Specifically, one of the directives, known as “Kurds Just Wanna have Fun(damental Rights)”, tackles many facets of the Kurdish problem; however, they are many problems which this document does not properly solve. One clause in this paper calls for the governments of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey to “commit to administrative divisions” of Greater Kurdistan into three zones. These zones are to be divided by zone A, B, and C. The subclause about Zone B calls for shared power of these Kurdish regions with their respective States that control the land currently. The Kurdish get a security apparatus that can be vetted by them and the UNSC and their respective State cannot attack these forces at any cost. This seems to be hypocritical in the sense that the PKK has been known to kill innocents in Turkey and yet the Turkish government is criticized by the world for taking action against violent acts.

To let the Kurds militarize without opposition is unfair and unjust on the part of the international community. The United States has a history of taking unfair military actions on other countries and the nations of the world have always kept quiet and pretend what they do is right even if it leads to a destabilized nation. If a country such as Turkey cannot have the same chance to defend their people and to let another group arm up, this only goes to illustrate hypocrisy at its finest.

Additionally, this paper seeks to “address the geopolitical rivalries in the region [the Kurdish sectors], in particular, intelligence and spying.” The authors of this paper claimed that this resolution is “comprehensive”, yet it fails to deliver on that since this clause does not mention anything about achieving this goal. There are no specifics on how they will go about addressing the espionage issue and this vagueness is worrying for such a complex issue as this.

To support a paper such as this would be unwise since claims such as the previous one mentioned show just how incomplete their solutions are. There are alternative solutions that solve this issue, while also giving other nations affected by this equal and just opportunity to give their input into the matter without other countries shoving ideas into their mouths.         

International Organization for Migration Tackles Human Trafficking

KATIE JONES, The Boston Globe

The International Organization for Migration is pushing to work towards a universal solution for an international issue: human trafficking. What are some of the hot topics? Sentiments in the room expressed a urge for protection of women and children, while some powerhouse countries pushed for increased data collection on trafficking reports.

International Organization for Migration in voting procedure.


For the United States, pushing more efficient measures of data collection will have a significant impact on identifying trafficking rings, as well as improving the availability of resources for victims affected by human trafficking.

“In the United States we have a national hotline for victims of human trafficking. We are the only nation in the world to do this. All other nations have suicide hotlines, but nothing for trafficking. This can be a step to solve these issues,” said the delegation of the United States in a statement.

Various countries echoed the need for data organization and improvement, as well as pushing for an economic halt to human trafficking.

“Human trafficking is a business,” said the delegation of Ghana.

Delegation of Ghana

Senegal, a region with high areas of human trafficking, also advocated for an increase in funds to be provided to law enforcement, as well as distributing more humanitarian aid for emergency responses. Germany also supported this cause, believing that trained officers could lead to lower trafficking rates.

“We should be training local law enforcement officers on how to respond to human trafficking reports, as well as how to convict criminals appropriately,” said the delegate of Senegal.

With additional funds for developing nations such as Senegal, the delegation hopes to push these funds towards establishing shelters and infrastructure to better support victims and their families.

In prevention of human trafficking, the delegation of Mexico advocated for addressing poverty, as well as promoting education to women and children on the possibilities and dangers of trafficking.

Going forward, if the committee officially votes to establish human trafficking as the topic of debate, delegates will analyze trafficking through a variety of perspectives — labor, sexual exploitation, as well as tissues, cells, and even organs.

Internal Push for Kurdish Awareness Campaign Creates Alternative Solution To Strife Within DISEC Committee

ISAAC BYKHOVSKY, Financial Times

Figure 1 The DISEC Committee listens to opening speeches

Off to a contentious start, the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC) discusses “The Kurdish Question” after introductory speeches from delegates calling for solutions ranging from unification to integration, as well as reaching further to education and cultural assimilation. As these discussions continue late into Thursday night, the delegation of France makes a concerted effort to draw the committee’s attention towards Kurdish cultural awareness.

A clear theme of the committee has been to create universal definitions of statehood for the Kurdish people and region—as well to define if the Kurds are a ‘threatened religious minority’ or a sectarian group searching for their own governing power. To cut the partisan debate—the delegation of France moved to speak about “Kurdish Awareness.” In speaking with the delegate of France, she stated “We are looking for a long-term education solution—one in which the Kurdish history of suffering can be used to influence their security.” When introduced to the committee, the idea was accepted by delegates from the Russian Federation and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK). Both delegations recognized the efforts of France to sway the partisan debate.

Figure 2 The Delegate from France (Right) with various members of DISEC

When asked what France’s long-term goal for this solution was, she stated “We untimely want to cooperation of Member states.” When pushed to give specifics, the Delegation of France’s hinted at a campaign that focuses on the “optimization and innovation of ideas.” She mentioned a movement to “implement Artificial Intelligence for uses in targeted campaigns of Kurdish education in United Nations member states.” The delegation of Russia echoed these sentiments, and further added that they are willing to provide such a campaign with funding and “institutional knowledge.”

These sentiments of cooperation, though, are few and far between in the committee. During opening speeches, the delegation of Iraq gave a speak which mentioned “internal kurdish protection,” while other delegates who asked to remain anonymous stated that

“people seem enthusiastic about non-self-governing territories as provided by Chapter 11 of the United Nations Charter.”

The delegate of France hopes to capitalize on this strife to create, as she put it, “a strong middle ground solution.”

The Financial times is excited to follow this solution as it develops throughout the conference and will continue to cover the story and its updates. It seems as the DESEC committee will continue to debate the Kurdish Question in several different directions.

A Free Kurdish State?


In the Disarmament and International Security committee, delegates are revisiting the never-ending question about Kurdish state. Do the Kurdish people deserve to have their own internationally recognized state, or not? It is sort of comparable to a child trying to justify how urinating in public is all right.

There is a reason why the Kurdish people do not have a recognized sovereign land in the first place. Giving them the sovereign land would fracture an already volatile Middle East that is in political, social, and economic turmoil. To take away land from other Middle Eastern nations and form a new country with it is a recipe for disaster especially since they are known to take down governments in which they do not like.

The Republic of Turkey has to face the Kurdish threat every day since the so-called “freedom groups” or more formally known as the PKK fighters. These “fighters” only serve to harm the Turkish state and its people and spread their ill will and death too is citizens. How can the nations of the world give thought to the idea of giving these fighters, who murder innocents for an unimportant cause, recognition?

The Belgium delegation in DISEC on the state of the Kurdish people

The international community needs to understand this not from a social standpoint, but a security view. Now, they have helped out in times of need especially when it came to helping the Iraqi/US armed forces in the fight against ISIS; however, that is only so they can use this one-time example of their “cooperation” to get what they want. Even powerful nations such as the US know they cannot fully support the Kurdish cause because they also want to maintain stability in a reeling Iraq whose leadership would look down upon such a move. Additionally, many of the delegations speaking in the DISEC committee bring secure nations a lot if the Kurds get a recognized state. What these nations forget, though, is that this only exacerbates the Iranian and US tensions even more. This only pushes the world towards another nuclear scare reminiscent to that of the Cold War era.

As it stands now, most nations agree on the autonomous region they already control in the northern border of Iraq and that is with Iran supporting this. Yet, if the international community is going to try to bring back an old issue that was shut down for many reasons, it would be unwise to instigate further heated debate and risk partnerships just so one group, that has caused harm to many innocent people, can be satisfied over recognition.  

IOM: The Polarization in the Worldwide Perspectives of Migration





European migrants policy trends


Asian voice for the migrants


So, what is next?


Brains Behind Press Corps, Goodbye and Thank You For Everything


A new family was formed in the Press Corps committee with delegates from all around that world that held the same purpose: updating the other delegates with the latest events taking place in HNMUN’s 62nd session.

The hard work made by each delegate here was exhaustive. From press conferences to updates in the committees, each news agency was supposed to cover the whole conference.


Phoebe, Tae, Fabiana (El País) and Karishma

Meet Karishma Shah, our director. She worked really hard to make the committee and was helped by Phoebe and Tae, the Assistant Directors, to review the articles submitted by each news agency. We did our best to cover the whole conference and we are sure that the other delegates recognized our efforts.

Today, the HNMUN conference ends, and we return to our countries happy and with a lot of acquired experience.

Thank you all for everything and be safe.


The Press Corps dais and the delegates representing El País, The New York Times, The Times of India, and Die Welt.