Note from the Director

Hey there delegates! My name is Maanasa Chitti and I am thrilled to be your Director for the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at PCMUN this year. Im currently an 11th
grader in Oakridge Newton. My MUN journey began back in the 9th grade and Ive attended
several ever since. These conferences have brought out a change in me, and that is something I
wish to inculcate to others in the hopes that someone else will find in MUNs, what MUNs found
in me. Honestly, Im just that person who ends up whiling away half their day sitting in front of a
computer screen and occasionally socializing, just your ordinary teenager; but I'm extremely
excited to interact with you all and am open to all questions so please do feel free to ask me or
approach me with anything! I hope to share the fondness that Ive developed for MUNs,
debating, and the whole lot of fun awaiting us with all of you and I cant wait to meet all of you
at PCMUN!

(Feel free to contact me at maanasac622@gmail.com if you have any questions!)

Director
United Nations High Committee on Refugees
Maanasa Chitti

Note from the Assistant Director

Hello Delegates!

My name is Meghana Padullaparthi. It gives me immense pleasure to be your Assistant Director

for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees at PCMUN 2015. Im currently a 10th
grader in Oakridge Einstein.
I grew up in Edison, New Jersey and moved to India four years ago and have been living in
Hyderabad since then. I started MUNning back in the 8th grade and Ive attended a bunch ever
since. These conferences have brought my passion for debating and MUN's grow since then, and
MUN's are definitely going to be a big part of my life forever. My other interests include singing
and dancing, playing the violin, and socializing. I am surely looking forward to a thrilling
conference with heated debate and comprehensive resolutions.
Please do not hesitate to ask me or approach me with anything! I am very excited to meet all of
you this December. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you at PCMUN this November! If you
have any questions, feel free to approach me or your Director, Maanasa, about anything. I hope
I'm able to share everything I absolutely love about MUN's with all of you, as well as having a
lot of fun along the way!

Assistant Director
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Meghana Padullaparthi

UNHCR: What Is It?

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), also known as the
UN Refugee Agency, is a United Nations agency mandated to protect and support refugees at the
request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local
integration or resettlement to a third country. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland and is a
member of the United Nations Development Group.
A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave his or her country because of persecution,
war, or violence. The UNHCR was originally given a three-year mandate to help the 1.2 million
European refugees that were left homeless after World War II, but as the refugee crisis grew
around the world, the mandate was extended to five years. Today, UNHCR is one of the worlds
largest humanitarian organizations with 33.9 million employees over 120 countries.
Thus, the successful protection of the Hungarian refugees marked the UNHCRs transition from
a small UN body to a larger organization with more responsibilities and enhanced international
prestige. Almost all of the UNHCRs funding comes from voluntary contributions from
governments, intergovernmental organizations, corporations and individuals. In addition to this,
the UNHCR promotes agreements between international refugees, as well as monitors
governments involved in refugee disputes and displacement. The Office coordinates the
provision and delivery of items, such as shelter, food, water, and medical supplies.

Agenda: Sudanese Refugee Crisis

The South Sudan Civil War began on the evening of 15 December 2013 at the meeting of the
National Liberation Council meeting at Nyakuron, when opposition leaders Dr. Riek Machar,
Pagan Amum and Rebecca Nyandeng voted to boycott the Sunday December 15, 2013 meeting
of the National Liberation Council. President Salva Kiir ordered the Sudan Peoples Liberation
Movement major General Marial Ciennoung commander of the Presidential Guard (the Tiger

Battalion) to leave the meeting venue and return to the barracks to disarm the troops. After
disarming, Marial allegedly ordered that the Dinka members be re-armed. His deputy began to
question this order and a fight ensued when surrounding officers saw the commotion. The Nuer
soldiers re-armed themselves as well. Fights erupted between the Dinka elements of the
Presidential Guard and the Nuer elements, lasting from Sunday night til Monday afternoon.
Civilian causality began when the Dinka elements began targeting Nuer civilians in the capital
city, Juba.
Historically, refugee assistance programs in Sudan have relied on the definition of a refugee as
one who has crossed an international frontier. This definition is increasingly inappropriate
worldwide and especially so in Sudanic Africa, where the number of internally displaced persons
(IDPs) exceeds the number of refugees. Additionally, refugee literature tends to represent the
refugee as a problem, and this tends to shift the focus away from the circumstances and root
causes that led to mass displacement in the first place. The emphasis, therefore, is placed on
seeking ways of dealing with the refugees, and these are usually temporary and do not address
the violent conditions which produced the refugees. An estimated 1.8 million Sudanese are
internally displaced, and another 78,000 are in IDP-like situations. 300,000 of these IDPs were
newly displaced in the first months of 2013 due to renewed intertribal conflict. Continuing
insecurity, combined with government restrictions on humanitarian access in the Darfur region,
South Kordofan, and Blue Nile States, has hampered UNHCR's activities. Due to the shortages
in UNHCR assistance to Sudanese refugees, some Church groups have opened learning centers
for refugee children. In addition, churches also offer training programs for adult refugees,
provide food rations to families, in addition to financial assistance, health services, and job
placement. With respect to those Sudanese living in shantytowns in Greater Khartoum or in other
urban areas of Africa and the Middle East, remittances provided by kin resettled in Western
countries have become an essential part of the overall income needed to meet daily subsistence
and other critical needs.Urban migrants reliance on cash assistance from abroad is seen as a
unique situation since there are few NGOs and humanitarian-based support mechanisms
available to adequately meet the needs of refugees in Cairo, Beirut, Damascus, and elsewhere on
Sudans periphery. The UNHCR regional office in Cairo (RO Cairo) is overextended, and after
Somalis the Sudanese (mainly southern Sudanese) represent the largest caseload.

People of Concern
Populations of concern to UNHCR in Sudan include: Eritrean refugees and asylum- seekers,
mainly residing in the east and in Khartoum; refugees from South Sudan having fled violence in
their country since December 2013; IDPs, of which several hundred thousands were newly
displaced in 2014, overtaking the Office's planning figures; people of South Sudanese origin,
who have been living in Sudan since the secession and remain at risk of statelessness.

Response
In 2015, the influx from South Sudan is expected to continue, with the current estimate at
130,000 South Sudanese refugees by the start of the year. UNHCR will continue to lead and
coordinate the response to this, in support of the Government's efforts. It will advocate a
predictable legal framework for newly arrived South Sudanese, to ensure they can access the
rights and entitlements affirmed in public statements by the authorities. Following the
Government's suspension of activities planned under the Transitional Solutions Initiative (TSI) in
2014, the authorities have reviewed their approach and are determining strategic self-reliance
interventions that will benefit both refugees and host communities. UNHCR will strengthen
national partnerships to respond to new displacement and potential returns from asylum
countries, as well as anticipated new arrivals from South Sudan. It will support community-based
interventions to avoid conflict between returnees and host populations over scarce resources in
highly volatile regions.

Implementation
UNHCR will continue to work closely with its main governmental counterpart, the COR, and
relevant governmental entities, in particular the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the Ministry of Justice. Strong partnerships have also been established with the
Humanitarian Aid Commission for internal displacement and issues related to the South
Sudanese. In Darfur, the Office liaises with the Darfur Regional Authority and the African
Union/United Nations Hybrid operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and will remain fully engaged in
the UN Country Team and Humanitarian Country Team, including through its role in the interagency cluster arrangements. The new Refugee Coordination Model will continue to be applied
in response to the South Sudanese emergency situation and UNHCR will be actively engaged in
related inter-agency initiatives, including the Regional Response Plan.

Questions the Resolutions Should Answer:

1. How can UNHCR provide protection to refugees?
2. How can UNHCR enforce the human rights of refugees and protect their free and protected
movement?
3. What are the long-term solutions?
4. What can the UNHCR do to increase funding for programs to manage the refugee problem?
5. What can the UNHCR do to protect refugees and refugee camps further from the violence of
the war, and how could your country contribute?

Endnote
Delegates, we definitely hope this background guide was of use to you but please do remember
this is just a base to your research and this should not be something you completely depend on.
We do suggest (you need to) you know the foreign policies for the country you are representing,
as this is a very crucial point to be covered by the delegates so that they know whom to and not
to form groups with. We realize that the agenda may cause some people to freak out a bit, but I
assure you that there is absolutely nothing to worry about. We promise you a great experience
and a huge learning outcome and, most importantly Im sure well all have a huge amount of fun
along the way! :)

Bibliography
http://www.unhcr.org.in/
http://www.unhcr.org.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1&Itemid=102
http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49da0e466.html
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/sudan.htm