Some Reflections on Refugee Policy

Few photographs are more heartrending than the classic “madonna shot,” the one of the thin, wan refugee mother and her dull-eyed baby. It is often used to bring to public attention the private sufferings of thousands of human beings caught up in the cross-currents of revolution and war.

In recent years the Madonna of the Refugee Camp tends to have an Asian visage. She is usually Vietnamese or Khmer. A boat person, perhaps, or an escapee from Cambodia. She could well be Chin...