Commission on Population and Development:

The Commission on Population and Development came together quickly to submit their first draft resolution concerning Topic 1: International migration and development. Migration issues have long been a focus area for the Commission and the UN; in 2018, the UN General Assembly passed the non-binding Global Compact for Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration.  This Global Compact, along with New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants in 2016, forms the foundation for a framework of cooperation to ensure safe, legal, sustainable, and beneficial migration.  

In 2020, COVID-19 added an entirely new dimension to international migration. COVID-19, when asymptomatic, is difficult to detect and protect against, but an asymptomatic person can spread the virus that becomes devastatingly symptomatic to others. As a result, the world largely shut down all travel, requested everyone stay home and tried to help the virus die out. This also meant that migration stopped as well as the allowance for citizens to return to their origin states until the virus could be contained and managed.  

Thirteen WHO-approved vaccines are now in distribution, and global vaccination rates are growing daily. WHO’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard indicates that as of November 19, 2021, over three billion people are fully vaccinated of an approximate 7.9 billion global population. These vaccines now provide for the possibility of safe international border crossing, but migrants and vulnerable populations may not yet have been able to receive the full vaccine course and may be in populated communities where COVID-19 is easily spreadable. Representative Jonathan Banza of India noted that refugees in particular may be fleeing from situations that inhibit the ability to get the vaccine from their origin state. The Commission began its work for this conference addressing the virus’s impact on the migrant crisis and drafted a resolution to address those concerns.  

The resolution calls for a commission to oversee vaccinations at international borders, recommending and encouraging Member States and the UN to provide sufficient vaccine doses in order to inoculate migrants, refugees, and returning citizens prior to entry. These populations may not yet have had the opportunity to become vaccinated, as global vaccine dosage supplies are still being manufactured to meet the global needs. The resolution also calls for developing safe quarantine zones for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated populations at the borders. Member States are urged to develop laws that balance the migrant crisis with COVID-19 protection, including developing laws and regulations that stipulate the ability of unvaccinated migrants to move within the State to protect all peoples. The resolution also recommends vaccination efforts at ports of entry and border crossing locations.

This resolution builds on several of the Global Compact Objectives (paragraph 16), including Objective 7 – Address and reduce vulnerabilities in migration, Objective 15 – Provide access to basic services for migrants, Objective 21 – Cooperate in facilitating safe and dignified return and readmission, as well as sustainable reintegration, and Objective 23 – Strengthen international cooperation and global partnerships for safe, orderly, and regular migration.

As of Sunday afternoon, the Commission is still refining this resolution and seeking international consensus in their recommendations.