Delegation from: Djibouti

Represented by: Chardon High School

Position Paper for The United Nations High Commission for Refugees

The issues before the High Commission for Refugees (UNHRC) are: Combatting Barriers to Education
for Child Refugees; and Creating Employment Opportunities for Refugees. The delegation of Djibouti has
always been accepting of refugees of all countries, although lacking resources such as health care and safe
water for many. Djibouti has been the sanctuary to over 28,000 refugees in the past 25 years, despite
dealing with its own countrys crises, and maintaining a safe and stable government for these people to
survive in.

I. Combating Barriers to Education for Child Refugees

Education is the foundation of the modern world and vital to the rehabilitation of refugees. The cost of
education is the largest barrier separating refugee children and their access to schools. This year, the
Republic of Djibouti and UNICEF plan to enroll 8,000 refugee children in schools and need $722,100 to
do so. As of 2016, 3,750 refugee children attended schools. Djibouti is working on making education
available to all of its children and bridging the gaps in its current system. Not only is it important to enroll
children in schools but to keep them enrolled. Many children are not motivated to stay in school because
they feel it may be unnecessary for survival. Education is crucial for stabilizing societies and establishing
a basis for learning in all children. It allows for future development and hope for eventual employment.
Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that Everyone has the right to education.
Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. This is clearly a very
important part of development as education is meant to strengthen respect, promote understanding,
tolerance, and friendship, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
We can not deny the displaced refugees a basic human right. Djibouti needs the help from other countries
that are part of the UNHRC

The delegation of Djibouti would like to stress the need for education for refugees and the fact that the
trauma that comes from displacement. Djiboutis demographic is relatively young, with 40% being under
15 years of age. The general education system is largely influenced by that of France, but the 70%
illiteracy in Djibouti is a major issue with our population. While trying to combat our own illiteracy rates,
it is extremely difficult to aid and contribute to education of refugees. Refugees provide a more difficult
challenge because of their language differences, and it is difficult to find trained professionals who have
the ability to cater to the needs of refugees, even though they deserve a stable place for development and
psychological stabilization.

The delegation of Djibouti would like to see the UNHRC accomplish multiple tasks and find a
comprehensive solution to the problem at hand. One way we can start to enhance the education system for
refugees and the general public is with aid from more powerful countries. The United Kingdom and
United States of America recently denied acceptance to many incoming refugees. These refugees were
forced to relocate to other countries. If the countries that are concerned about terrorism of refugees can
compensate by giving towards the countries who are fully accepting of all refugees. If we can work
together to come to a compromise on exactly what we are going to do about these incoming peoples, we
can come together to ensure the development of children, and protect their universal human rights.

II. Creating Employment Opportunities for Refugees

Creating employment opportunities is a very important part of hosting refugees. However, despite its
importance, it is extremely difficult to verify the credentials of trained/educated displaced peoples. With
the challenges of checking the validity of refugee capabilities, it has come to our attention that other
options must be available when previous occupations cannot be attained by the incoming emigrants.
Hopefully, with careful planning and aid from other more powerful countries, we can help all of our
refugees have as easy of a transition as possible into their new life.

This is difficult with previously highly qualified individuals as it is difficult for them to be satisfied with
new low-level and low-specialization occupations given to them. These low-level jobs are necessary to
the economy and must not be brushed to the side. Countries with refugee and employment crises have
concerns about letting in too many refugees for fear that the refugees will take the jobs from the native
citizens. This is not the case, and has been shown that the jobs given to the refugees are in fact not taking
away from the citizens of the country.

Djibouti has dealt with a refugee crisis for over the past 20 years, and has been host to over 28,000
refugees. The collapse of the Somali government caused Djibouti to open our first refugee camps in 1991.
An increasing flow of refugees soon caused some of our camps to be overburdened with people and
limited resources. The Djiboutian government has done its best to provide funding for all of the incoming
refugees who do not feel any sense of security. People have gone so far as to make shelters out of old and
ragged clothes. Funding is being contributed from the World Bank to support reformations in the financial
sector. These reformations should fix the issues of the national payment system and create a better
business environment. From there, Djiboutis economy can expand, thus reducing unemployment and
poverty.

The delegation of Djibouti would like to see the UNHCR succeed in their endeavors to give aid to
displaced peoples and all refugees who do not feel safe in their own country. Any and all aid given to
smaller countries taking in refugees is crucial because these small countries are some of the only places
refugees are allowed. Other countries may be too concerned with their own affairs, but Djibouti has
always found some extra space for those seeking shelter. It is of the utmost importance that we quickly
come to a consensus on what can be done to aid these innocents and how we can guide their transition to
their new country as smoothly as possible. All efforts must be towards giving people their basic human
rights, and having people not be constantly in fear of their lives.