POSITION PAPER

Committee: SOCHUM
Country: The Republic of Cuba
Agenda: Marine Refugees
I. OVERVIEW OF THE ISSUE
The Federal Republic of Cuba believes the last decade has seen an upsurge in the number
of people taking to the sea in search of safety, economic opportunities, or both.
The addition of a criminal element has hardened both official and public attitudes toward
boat arrivals, restricting the number of illegal refugees. Authorities in the intended
countries of destination tend to lump all the arrivals into the category of economic
migrants, complicit with criminals, despite the fact that many of the arrivals declare their
intention to claim asylum and come from some of the most repressive and/or lawless
countries in the world. Despite the dangers, people have continued to embark, often en
masse, from places such as Albania, North Africa, the Caribbean, and Southwest Asia.
Countries such as Turkey and Indonesia have served as major staging points for
smugglers assembling passengers from many countries.
The toll in human life has been high. Estimates of the number of people drowned in the
straits between Spain and North Africa in the 1990s range from 600 to 3,000. At least a
dozen immigrants died and 56 more were missing at the beginning of December 2002,
after a vessel carrying about 120 illegal immigrants from Libya toward Italy sank in bad
weather off the Libyan coast. Almost exactly a year earlier, a ship carrying 187 would-be
immigrants ran aground just south of the Florida coast, drowning two and leaving the rest
to be detained by the U.S. immigration service. Unknown numbers of Cubans and
Haitians have died trying to reach the United States in rickety boats and rafts.
II. POSITION OF CUBA
Cuba, which has survived decades of US sanctions as well as the collapse of the Soviet
bloc which used to subsidise it heavily, has experienced a downturn in its economic
fortunes. But despite this, Cuba has maintained its reputation for providing good free
health care and education to which the some 700 refugees on the island also have access..
Refugees are not allowed to work in Cuba and many are dependent on a minimal
allowance from UNHCR to help them survive. Those living in urban areas are lodged in
private houses, where they have their own bedroom and access to a bathroom and
kitchen. But, UNHCR's budget to pay for the upkeep of refugees like Marie Rose is
continually being reduced because of funding constraints. Resourceful refugees, like
Cuban nationals, try to find ways to benefit from subsidised products.
All of the 697 refugees in Cuba are what is called "mandate refugees" which means
UNHCR has given them refugee status as the government which has not signed the
refugee Convention, has no mechanism to recognise refugees. Mandate refugee status

gives refugees temporary asylum in Cuba, while UNHCR, which operates there with a
minimal staff, works to find countries which will accept them on a permanent basis.
III. PROPOSALS
Such a lare scale refugee crisis calls for cooperation among all the parties -states, the shipping industry, and international organizations such as UNHCR
and the International Maritime Organization -- to uphold the humanitarian
practices that are an honorable part of maritime tradition. As long as there is
violence and repression and people determined to escape it, asylum seekers will
be found among those who encounter danger on the high seas.
Looking to the future, the kind of negotiations and arrangements that defused the
crisis of rescue in the South China Sea in the 1970-1980s could be codified into
more general responsibility-sharing arrangements for the protection of refugees
rescued at sea. This way, the shipping industry along with the masters and crews
of ships would not be required to bear alone the burdens of applying international
humanitarian laws and standards.