Border Opening in Maglia

A Simulation Game about discrimination of minorities, immigration and refugees

3.) Information for Participants
3.1.) Scenario 3.1.1.) Geographical Background Maglia is situated in the southern part of the continent Armario. It borders to Kamut in the north-east and to Fulus in the north-west. Kamut is a poor country and most of the inhabitants do could never enjoy a good and high education. There are a lot of people, who went to primary school and had to work on the rice fields afterwards to support their families. This is why a lot of Kamutans have great knowledge in cultivating rice. Fulus instead is the richest country in Armario with the best educational system of the whole continent and with a lot of investors. In the south, Maglia is surrounded by water. Across the sea is Braga, which is a very poor country with severe internal conflicts. 3.1.2.) Maglias different Regions In Manica, the eastern angle of Maglia, the rice cultivation has been ruling the region for many centuries. The cultivation of rice has been passed on from generation to generation and Manicans are very proud of there profound know-how in agriculture. Unfortunately, the younger generation is not very interested in cultivating rice and most of the young adults went to university in Centapita, the capital, and do not want to work in the agricultural sector anymore as overqualified young entrepreneurs. There is a great movement to the cities, especially Centapita. In Stella, the western part of Maglia, the minority group Zirka is dominant. Eastern Armario is world-wide known for its high quality textiles and this is why the government decided to bring Zirkans to Maglia to work in this sector. This was in 1867, when thanks to the industrial revolution the production of textiles became a lot easier and more efficient. Maglia grows a lot of cotton in Stella, which is the reason for the governments decision to hire Zirkans and to establish a blooming industry, which turned out to be very fortunate for the country. With enough subsidies the industry went very well. However, the government decided to cut the subsidies immensely. In the same region arose a national group during the last years. They call themselves Scucitura. Most of them are unemployed and they figured that this is the result of hiring too many foreigners to work in Maglia, regardless to the long term, which Zirkans are already living in the country. Their opinion is that they should be actually having the jobs in the textile industry instead of the Zirkans, since Scucitura are
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native Maglians. They want to ban the Zirkans from the country, as well as the second group of immigrants in the central-east. They also do not want any other foreigners to come to Maglia, because they fear, that then other immigrants will harm or worsen their economical situation. The south of Maglia, Cintura, was famous for its tourism. Cintura has beautiful beaches and cliffs and at the same time astonishing mountains close to the sea. In summer the region used to be famous for hiking and the beach; in winter tourists came for skiing in the high and steep mountains and to enjoy the beautiful snowy

landscape and the partly frozen sea. The people from Cintura are very hospitable and friendly and their culture is warm and open. Cinturans love to celebrate, dance and make music, which is another very important aspect for the tourism. Cinturans had the pleasure to welcome tourists not only from all over the continent, but from the whole world. However, since the borders have been closed, there are no international tourists anymore and since the economy in the country decreased to a very low PIB after the countrys closure, the inhabitants of Maglia cannot afford travelling anymore and the tourism in Cintura broke down almost completely. You can still see the old lifts high up in the mountains, but neither in winter nor in summer not even one of them is working. The beaches are empty during summer, only a few people enjoy the sun at the beach, tan or take a bath in the warm water. Having enjoyed a very wealthy past, now, the region is one of the poorest in Maglia. Here, the unemployment rate is the highest in the whole country. In central-eastern Maglia, a group of immigrants has settled down. In the 1950s Maglia was an open country and accepted a lot of refugees, which is why a lot of people from Braga fled to Maglia. The people living there are already the second or third generation living there and, even if they still stick to some of their traditions from their home country, they feel and think of themselves as Maglians. 3.1.3.) Political Situation Maglia once was a very rich country with a lot of influence on other countries and good import and export relations. However, the government changed in 1973 and the newly elected Prime Minister turned out to be more radical as he presented himself during the election process. The opposition barely had any rights and demonstrations were forced back violently. In 1975 he closed the borders to all the other countries and isolated Maglia from the rest of the world in order to decrease immigration and
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improve the national market. What he did not expect was the reactions of the international partners and other countries. First the exports became very difficult and the imports were cut immensely, due to great disapproval for the closure of the other countries. Later some countries refused to accept any Maglian goods and denied exporting to Maglia. A few months ago, the government in Maglia changed and a new Prime Minister was elected. He promised to his people, that he will change the situation in the country completely and wants to get the countrys economy blooming again. His first step was to cut the subsidies for the textile industry, since the people working there are pretty wealthy in comparison to the rest of the country. Instead he wants to subsidize the rice farmers, the educational system or the Cinturans. As a next step he wants to open the borders after this long time of closure. Since the opinion of the population is much parted, he accepted the advice of a close friend and confidential of him to make a referendum and to let the citizens of Maglia decide what would be best. There might be a lot of advantages for opening the borders, but together with those, there might arise some disadvantages as well. 3.1.4.) Borders The borders that will be considered to be opened or not, are the border to Fulus in the East (1), the border in Cintura (2), and the border to Kamut (3): Border 1 will open the gates to Fulus. Investors see great chances in investing in a project in Maglia and establishing a business there. Border 2 will open the gates for all the tourists again. Even, if the situation in Cintura is not very good right now, there is still all the potential to let the tourism bloom again. Border 3 will open the gates to rice farmers from Kamut to come to Manica and work there in order to flee from poverty in Kamut.

3.1.5.) Press The press can be influenced by the actors. Together with the role profiles, each participant receives an action card that can be given to the press 15 minutes before the third news-show. The participants decide for themselves which action they want to take and what shall be announced in the news. An action could be for example a demonstration that is held in Centapita, a fair for human rights that is organized by some of the actors or rumors about other actors. Actors can also group up and hand
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in action cards together. The Prime Minister has the right to eliminate two of the action cards with his veto-right.

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3.2.) Rules and Regulations Borders: Each border has only one use: Border 1 is only opened for the businessman to invest in new projects and for students to go out of the country. Border 2 restricts only to tourism and by opening border 3 only the rice farmers will be allowed to get in. Favors: On each role card you will find your favors for or against the opening of a specific border. This does not mean that you cannot change those, but need to stick to your interests, meaning that you can keep those favors, but you can also change them, if this fits reasonably to your role profile. If you are neutral to one border, you need to decide either against or for a border. Voting process: In the end of the game the Prime Minister will implement a referendum. You will get two cards, a red one and a green one. During the voting process you have to raise your hand either with the red card (against the opening) or with the green card (for the opening). You cannot be neutral. If you have more than one vote for your team, you are also not allowed to divide the votes into yes and no. You need to put all of them on one decision.

The map

6.) Action Cards

Each participant will get one Action Card that he can use during the 2nd part of negotiations. 15 minutes before the News-Show starts it must be handed in.