By Elijah de Castro
On the final day of the 2022 Global Model European Union simulation, the Heads of Government Council turned its focus to the ongoing migrant crisis in Belarus and on the European Union’s eastern borders. The Heads of Government passed its final agenda item, which offers migrant relief and border control.
The migrant crisis began in July 2019 when disputed president Alexander Lukashenko began a campaign advertising moving to Belarus to thousands of prospective migrants in the Middle East. Belarusian forces then helped migrants cross the border into the eastern end of the European Union, specifically in the countries of Lithuania and Poland. The European Union has accused Lukashenko of using migrants as weapons of war.
The agenda item passed by the Heads of Government aims to reduce the burden of the influx of migrants on Lithuania and Poland so that all member states of the European Union can help address the problem. In response to pushback on proposed spending for humanitarian aid, the delegation for France emphasized the moral imperative member states have to take in refugees.
“We’re talking about human dignity and we’re talking about individuals being persecuted from war,” Emmanuel Macron of France said. “This is not just ‘I give you money so you take people fleeing persecution.’ That’s not how the EU functions.”
Michael D. Higgins of Ireland announced a support for isolationism and neutrality in regards to the situation.
“Ireland is a neutral nation,” Higgins said. “We have a neutrality clause in our founding document. We are not a member of NATO. We have not fought in any major war since our founding. If there is not an opt out, that is a deal breaker for Ireland.”
The first part of the agenda denounces the actions of Belarus and aims to support migrants who were pressured by Belarus to cross the border into the European Union. However, the second part of the agenda announces a new commitment to controlling border penetration.
The delegation from Germany announced that a strong surge in border officers would be unnecessary, as the number of migrants crossing the border has decreased in the past few months.
“Germany would like to voice opposition to the strong increase of border officers,” the delegation from Germany said. “We are not opposed to an increase. We just feel that the actual migrant migration crisis is actually deep. There are less bodies coming over the border than there were a couple months ago. This increase of 20,000 border personnel is a little bit too excessive in our opinion.”
The third part of the agenda will increase resources for processing migrants, as well as increasing finances for housing projects for migrants. Many member countries emphasized the long-term economic benefits of accepting migrants.
“The nature of immigration is that there are a lot of benefits to society,” Macron said. “That cannot be simply outweighed.”
The fourth part of the agenda received two “no” votes, and as a result, did not pass. The fourth part aims to establish a quota for member states on the number of migrants to be accepted by member states. However, after the final delegation meeting wrapped, the Heads of Government Council celebrated the passing of the first three parts of the Council’s immigration agenda, as well as the previous days’ passing of the Council’s Russia-Ukraine agenda.