A Duty to Not Obey Unjust Laws

Angelina Jolie is a Special Envoy for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. In her speech “Refugee system breaking down”, she says:

“Everyone must respect the laws and asylum procedures. That said, we must bear in mind that the distinction is complex.”

Sure, the distinction is complex. It's the governments who think they can make a distinction and complicate things more than necessary. What's more, I don't agree that one must respect laws that are unjust.

My husband suggested I add “like many more of some importance before me” to the above sentence. So here I go:

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so."
                                                                  Thomas Jefferson
“If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law.”
                                                                  Henry David Thoreau
"One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
                                                                  Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail

Tolstoy and Gandhi were of the same opinion as well.

Hasn't Jolie ever heard of Civil Disobedience? That's a rhetoric question. I'm sure she has. But obviously, she chooses to ignore it.

                                                        Yes, ’n’ how many years can some people exist
                                                        Before they’re allowed to be free?
                                                        Yes, ’n’ how many times can a man turn his head
                                                        Pretending he just doesn’t see?
                                                        The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
                                                        The answer is blowin’ in the wind
                                                                    Bob Dylan, age 21 at the time of writing


PS: Please read the full version of the analysis of this speech.