Introduction
For two days students represented a country and got together to debate the current refugee crisis. The refugee crisis that has been marked the biggest crisis of our time since World War Two. The country I researched and portrayed at the debate was Germany and was in committee four.
Germany
Germany is a European country located in the western part of Europe. They have a democratic, federal republic government. Germanys involvement in the refugee crisis is that millions of those fleeing from Syria are taking a dangerous voyage across the Mediterranean sea to reach Germany. Germany has also been one of the most welcoming countries towards refugees with an open door policy they have received a massive influx but, continue to leave their borders open. Useful Sourceshttp://www.bfna.org/publication/newpolitik/germanys-response-to-the-refugee-situation-remarkable-leadership-or-fait-accompli
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/28/europe/germany-merkel-security-refugee-policy/ I chose these articles to be the most helpful because I was able to understand more of Germanys position towards the refugees. In the CNN article I learned that despite the refugee attacks in Germany and the major criticism Chancellor Angela Merkel's policy received Germany continued to open it's doors. In the second article I learned about specific facts that I was able to use in the debate. Specifically the numbers of Syrian and Iraqi refugees that are getting accepted into Germany, |
Position Paper
Two helpful pieces of critique that I received was 1. Add more emotion by speaking numbers, add statistics facts 2. To be more specific about the resolution. My position paper has changed drastically since my first draft. Thanks to critique from my classmates I felt that I was able to hook my audience more by researching numbers that would make them feel emotionally connected. The proudest part of my position paper I would say is my first two paragraphs. I believe that I did a very well job at research that was interesting and relevant and it was the sections that was constantly changing because of critique and I'm proud of how it turned out.
Opening Statement
Some majors changes that I did on my opening statement was taking out my continuing stance in keeping refugees. I received this critique by my peer Ana who thought that keeping it in would give away my stance in the Model UN conference, I am really proud of my opening statement, I think I did a really good job at guilting other countries, and was clear about my stance on refugee in an emotional way.
UN Conference
Personally I am most proud of growing in the debate department. Debate has never really been my strong suit and when it comes to taboo topics I am not one to voice my opinion and would consider myself shy, This debate I really learned the value of research and how important it is to be prepared especially coming into the conference, In my committee I am really proud about how I spoke out and the things I said when speaking out. I was able to use hard facts and statistics when debating to back my what I said up and I spoke with emotion. At the end of the debate I was able to win a diplomacy award. For next years students I think that it would be useful to meet up with your fellow country. I feel that I had a lot of question and had a lot to discuss that students that had my same country would have been able to answer and would have been really useful just to meet up with them.
Committee Four Reflection
A golden moment in our committee was when we were in a moderated caucus discussing the Syrian conflict and president Assad. Russia was defending Syria speaking how Syria is doing its best to fight off ISIS and I rose my placard and called Russia out saying that their military airstrikes has killed more civilians that ISIS members and I provided hard facts and credible sources while staying professional. I thought that was golden moment because Russia did a really good job at defending Syria and I felt they had a powerful control over the topic and me saying that sat Russia down a little bit, and reminded everyone of Russia's and Syria's actions.
A turning point in the conference I would say was when Romania totally switched positions. The first day he was totally against Syria and Russia and the second day they were allies and defending each other. It was really crazy to see that happened because it happened out of no where and he was a really powerful delegate in the conference.
A turning point in the conference I would say was when Romania totally switched positions. The first day he was totally against Syria and Russia and the second day they were allies and defending each other. It was really crazy to see that happened because it happened out of no where and he was a really powerful delegate in the conference.