The second day of the United Nations conference has begun with delegates diving straight into the rising demand for international guidelines and economic legislation regarding refugees. The UNHCR toils on how to economically support the influx of refugees. The Russian delegation strongly supported reinstating the SEARS plan while the Chinese delegate focused on involving more large, developed countries in the effort. Many representatives highlighted the efforts already taken by their governments to mitigate the stress of increased refugees, with the Iceland delegate concentrating on the establishment of an international database of refugee identification as well as more available vaccination services. Similarly, the delegate from Japan spoke of increased funding of refugee education in the area of language training.
However, some delegates are more pessimistic about these possibilities than others. The Jordanian delegate was quick to open up the prospect of funding from United Nations-affiliated organizations such as UNICEF and organizations like the Red Cross, but showed disapproval of Chinese proposals, stating that these plans were “too close to neocolonialism.”
Unsurprisingly, the conversation turned to refugees from Ukraine. The Russian delegate was clear and concise on the matter, stating that Russia is “welcoming Ukrainian refugees with warm, open arms.” In fact, at this time, Russia has accepted more than 2.7 million refugees. The Russian delegate also highlighted the basis of its refugee response in the 1951 and 1967 conventions. The Belarusian delegate showed enthusiastic support for this perspective during the rest of the moderated caucus. Ultimately, the conference seems to split into two opposing groups.