Take a look at this. Since the screening process began in 1989. about 125.000 Indochinese have been screened under close supervision of the UNHCR. Onequarter of those screened. representing more than 31.000 asylum seekers. have been found to be bona fide refugees and have been resettled in the West. The screening process included the right to appeal directly to UNHCR. which did not hesitate to overturn bad screening decisions. In fact. it overturned 1.500 initial refusals. While there are undoubtedly examples of error in such a massive screening process. the bulk of informed opinion. both government and NGO. disputes the assertion of mass fraud and corruption in the process. If you destroy this process by the Smith language in the bill. you have left the United States holding all of the responsibilities for the tide of refugees that you are about to launch. I ask you to think seriously about that. What about the egregious cases that are mentioned and identified by the NGOs? I will work with my colleagues and the NGOs to press UNHCR and the State Department to be more active in seeking redress. I understand that at least 48 cases from the list have been successfully overturned. and more perhaps should be. But I caution my colleagues in the House. do not launch this wave of refugees.
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refugees asylum seekers