Situation in Syria Mun!

Committee Name: General Assembly Committee Topic: Situation in Syria Country Name: Canada A. Dating back to the time of the Ottoman Empire, the situation in Syria has become increasingly violent over time. [1] Back in 1911, an organization called Al-Fatat (Young Arab Society) was founded. [1] According to research, it was basically a secret Arab nationalist organization that aimed to gain independence and unity for multiple Arab nations that was, at the time, under Ottoman rule; their movement was a successful on that took them to their independence from the Ottoman rule. 1] However, it wasn’t until February 5, 1919 that the first official political party, the Instiqlal Party, was formed since the independence. The political party is what changed the history of Syria. [1] In 1970, a man named Hafez al-Assad became President of Syria. He was the president who amended the Syrian constitution in order to reduce the age of the President from 40 to 30. This allowed his son Bashar al-Assad to become a ruling president in 2000, unopposed. 1] Since his presidency, Syria has become very violent because of the numerous rebel groups that are against this ruler who claims that he will be Syria’s only ruler; a ruler for life. Recent news articles state that Syria has been experiencing much worse battles compared to those in Libya because of the political unrest. [1] B. The UN has taken several minor actions in reducing this so called revolution taking place in Syria. By doing so, the UN has passed resolutions that have helped alleviate some of the unrest in Syria.

However, the problem has increasingly still remains and has gotten progressively worse over the years. For example, the UN drafted a resolution in June 28, 2011 that was called the “Arab League Plan”. This resolution focused on how Syria can transition to a democratic, plural political system, in which citizens are equal despite ethnicities, beliefs, or affiliations. [2] Not only that, but this resolution also called on the Syrian Government to cease violence against civilians and to withdraw its armed forces with cities and towns and return them to their barracks. 2] After much discussion, this resolution has been recently voted on and was double vetoed by the countries of Russia and China. [2] Therefore, the UN must continue to discuss and come to compromises on this matter immediately in order to prevent any further mass causality in Syria. C. The country of Canada has been a major source as Syria’s international partner to pave the way for a peaceful transition to a society that needs respect for fundamental rights of its entire people. 3] In the past, Canada has supported Syria’s situation by supplying Syria’s embassy with diplomatic staffs to better the country’s border control in order monitor what the people bring in and out of the country. [4] To be more specific, Canada was assisting Syria’s by making sure rebel groups were not smuggling any illicit weapons that can further threaten the people in Syria. However, as instability grew in Syria, Canada began to reduce their staff in concern for the wellbeing of their own citizens residing in Syria. 4] Canada’s main priority, as of recent, is to urge all Canadians to leave Syria now before the violence escalades. By doing so, Canada will continue the use of sanctions on Syria under the Special Economic Measures Act in response to the continued repression of Syrian civilians and Syria’s failure to implement the Arab League plan to resolve the crisis. [5] When this is somewhat achieved, Canada will slowly reduce the sanctions understanding that sanctions may cause the situation in Syria to worsen.

To keep the peace going in such a situation, the country of Canada would like to push for peace talks held in Geneva that would be between the Big 5, Syrian government, Syrian people, Middle Eastern countries, and Canada or any other countries in the UN as mediator in order to come to compromises and negotiations, especially after the recent double vetoed resolution made by the Security Council just recently. Lastly, Canada would like to focus briefly on the humanitarian aspect in Syria.

As part of the EU, Canada actively participates in an organization called MSF. (Medecins Sans Frontieres) This organization is an international, independent, medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion and natural or man-made disasters. [6] The country of Canada has found this organization very effective in such situations for it has helped humanitarian issues in Myanmar and other Third World Nations. [6]