Human-smuggling bill violates rights of real refugees

The recent Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ministerial meeting was the largest conference on refugees and stateless people in its history. The UNHCR sought to recommit and re-engage the support of member states for key legal treaties, including the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. A major additional question was whether industrialized countries would address a deep imbalance in international support for the world’s forcibly displaced.