On June 8—9, 2011 in the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus the V International Competition on Refugee Law «New Horizon» was held, in which representatives of institutions of higher education of ministries of internal affairs and border service from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan took part.
Competent jury of this competition consisted of representatives of Belarusian universities, UNHCR Office in the Republic of Belarus, International Non-governmental Association for Scientific Research, Information and Educational Programmes «Evolutio», Centre for Children and Adolescents «Evrika», Bar Association, Belarusian Red Cross.
The programme of the competition was meant for two days and included some competitive tasks. Within the task «Prologue» refugee problems in the represented region and measures for solving them undertaken in the country, as well as to give well-reasoned basis for the team’s proposals concerning improvement of the state of refugees. Use of PowerPoint-presentation was obligatory. The task «Poster Contest» — demonstration and explanation of a poster— was estimated by such criteria as correspondence with the topic of the competition, art expressiveness, conformity with a genre, execution singularity. «Legal Marathon» can be named the principal task of the International Competition; within this task the teams had the possibility to get the largest number of points. 31 questions were asked in total. One minute was given to the team for discussion; the teams had the opportunity to receive from 1 to 3 points for each answer depending on complexity of a question. Undoubtedly, this task was principal in the competition.
The next day the participants were to demonstrate their physical training, taking part in the task «Way of a Refugee». The task included range of specially simulated situations, in which refugees get on their way from country of origin to the refuge country. The competitive task presupposed evaluation of abilities and skills in organization of group cooperation, getting one’s bearings, equipping of temporary dwelling, rendering first medical help.
It was interesting to watch peripeteias of the competition. After every task one or another team dashed forward. In the end the team that had passed the race most evenly became a winner — the team of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus. Representatives of the Police Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan took second place. The team of the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic closed the top three of prize winners. Pleasant impression was made by the beginners of the competition — representatives of Kazakhstan who took fourth place at once. The team of the Institute of Border Service of the Republic of Belarus, the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tajikistan, the Police Academy of Armenia came after.
All the participants received diplomas, prizes and valuable gifts from the UNHCR Office in the Republic of Belarus and the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Belarus.