Source: Google ref·u·gee ˌrefyo͝oˈjē/ noun plural noun: refugees
a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
The purpose of this project was to discuss the Syrian Refugee Crisis with our committees which had several other countries one them being Syria which was interesting on hearing their input on this situation. We each got assigned to represent a country. I got assigned to Bulgaria, a country which I was not familiar with.
Here are some basic facts from Bulgaria ! - Bulgaria is located in the continent of Europe. -Bulgaria shares land borders with 5 countries: Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Turkey, Serbia. - Sofia is Bulgarias capital city
According to wikipedia "The politics of Bulgaria take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic,[1] whereby the Prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system.[2] Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the National Assembly." I struggled finding research on Bulgarias stance on the refugee crisis at all. I got various sides of Bulgaria and its challenging because I can't just contact Bulgaria and ask them. But lucky me,our previous project was about finding reliable sources so I was able to apply that to this project. I researched and eventually came to the conclusion that Bulgaria was definitely not the biggest fans of refugees.
In the year 2013-2014 Bulgaria received more than 10,000 refugees that may not be a lot to compared to other countries, but due to Bulgaria being one of Europe's weakest economies and with nearly a quarter of the population lives below the poverty line. I tried and did the math and in 2016 Bulgaria was $4.92 billion in debt. On many of the articles that I read citizens shared how they are "Broke and Christians" they also accused many refugees on how they would wander around freely and steal groceries without paying. So overall representing Bulgaria "we" cannot accept many refugees because they have caused destruction including riots, and even if "we" did accept them more we are struggling with our financial status.
While looking for articles I came across this one. This article was very useful because it had brief information on the Bulgaria stance it also shared the experiences that some refugees had gone through. As soon as I printed the article I immediately found multiple things to highlight that could be helpful to understand more about what Bulgaria thinks about refugees. Although in this article Bulgaria seems to be harsh with refugees, but to every story you'll always get two sides. immediately
I had a difficult time with starting my position paper. A question I repeatedly asked myself was " How do I catch their attention?" After each critique session my position paper improved. The critique that many people gave me helped clear things up. Critiquing other people's position papers helped me a lot too because it gave me ideas on how to transition or what kind of information to use. I am very proud of my position paper, although if we were given more time I know I could've made it even better.
Opening Speech
Writing opening speech was both easy and difficult because it is very brief and you don't want to give it all away but you also want to include everything so all the other countries can understand your stance on this crisis. I tried to include all the information that would be helpful to the other delegates. When I got critique many people included the fact how they liked how I added how Bulgaria is currently struggling, but for warm feedback they told me to explain more on what the UN thinks Bulgaria should do.
When Model UN came I was very nervous to represent a country. Its pretty nerve-racking! The first day felt like it went by slow because 4 hours into the discussion we had already come up with resolutions. I tried to push myself to talk as much as I could but I was really scared about other countries attacking me for Bulgarias opinion on this dilemma. When the discussion began they opened the "Speaker's List" which was when you read you're opening statement. As I raised my placard to be placed on the speakers list I became nervous. When the "Chairs" finally called Bulgaria I stood up and read my opening statement and after I felt refreshed and not as nervous anymore. I felt more confident. While discussing the refugee crisis a delegate motioned to move into a moderated caucus for the purpose of speaking about ISIS. ISIS is also a reason with why refugees are fleeing their countries. In 8th grade I did Model UN and my topic was ISIS and I had a lot of knowledge on this topic. So when it came to discussing this topic I asked the delegates questions and stated some facts and this was a golden moment for me because I wasn't that afraid to raise my placard anymore. Overall Model UN was a great experience because it gave me more knowledge on the crisis around the world and it helped me get a better view.