The number of boat people trying to reach Australia continues to surge, with a new boat recently found. Most are fleeing conflicts in South Asia.
坐船偷渡到澳大利亚的人数持续增加。最近又有一艘新的小船被发现。大部分偷渡客是为了逃离南亚的冲突。
So far this year, about 900 illegal migrants have been found at sea near Australia - four times the number for all of 2008. The surge has authorities worried.
到目前为止，今年在澳大利亚近海发现了大约900名非法移民。这个数字是2008年总人数的四倍。涌入的非法移民让当局备感担心。
In the latest case, about 73 asylum seekers are being taken to the Australian territory of Christmas Island in the middle of the Indian Ocean for processing.
在最近一例偷渡案中，大约有73名寻求庇护的人被带到了在印度洋中心由澳大利亚管辖的圣诞岛等待处理。
Most of the migrants trying to reach Australia this year are escaping fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
今年，大部分想到澳大利亚的移民是从阿富汗、伊拉克、巴基斯坦和斯里兰卡战乱中逃出来的。
Most travel to Malaysia or Indonesia where people smugglers have established the logistics, however dangerous, to ferry people in search of safety and a better life into Australian waters.
他们中大部分人抵达马来西亚或者印度尼西亚后，那里蛇头已经打点好一切。无论有多危险，蛇头也会把这些一心想要寻求安全和更好生活的人用小船送往澳大利亚水域。
Pamela Curr is a campaign strategist for the Asylum Resource Center in Melbourne. She says more needs to be done to help those seeking to flee troubled homelands.
科尔是寻求庇护者资源中心的战略专家。她说，要帮助那些逃离充满不安的家园的人，还有许多事情要做。
"The fact of life is there is [are] no formal or thoughtful mechanisms for someone facing death in Afghanistan or Iraq to get out," Curr said. "They go to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Jakarta, they get turned away and told to go to the Australian embassy. They go to the Australian embassy, same thing. This is what they tell me, four to five times they go backward and forward and then where do they go? They go to the people smuggler who offers them a trip on a boat."
她说：“实际上，没有任何正式或者考虑周详的机制让那些在阿富汗或者伊拉克面对死亡的人可以逃出来。他们去雅加达的联合国难民事务专员办事处却得不到帮助。他们被告知去找澳大利亚大使馆。他们去澳大利亚使馆，结果也是一样。这是他们告诉我的。就这样，他们来来回回四、五次。他们能去哪儿呢？他们找到可以让他们上船的蛇头。”
The increased numbers has resulted in much closer cooperation among customs agents and police in Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia where Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently visited and asked for help in shutting down people smuggling.
增长的数字导致澳大利亚和印度尼西亚、马来西亚的海关、警察合作更加紧密。澳大利亚总理陆克文最近访问了上述国家，寻求帮助，希望切断偷渡。
However, Curr says this will not be enough to stop the current wave of boat people despite the perils of barely seaworthy vessels.
然而科尔说，尽管小船经不起风浪，这不足以阻止偷渡潮。
"We can give advice from our perspective and that is 'Don't get on a boat, you stand a good chance of drowning because the boats that are used are boats that are disposable,'" Curr said. "The fishermen who rent them out and bring them across know they are going to be burnt at the other end. So they are not boats that are fit for a return journey."
她说：“从我们的角度，我们能给出的建议是：‘不要上船。因为这些船本来是只用一次的船只，所以你们很可能溺水。’把它们租下来并带过去的渔民知道，到了另一头，这些船会被烧毁。所以，这些船不适用于往返行程。”
Curr says despite those warnings, until life in Central Asia and the Middle East improves, and governments in transit countries like Indonesia and Malaysia firmly grasp the issue, the flow into Australia is unlikely to abate.
科尔说，尽管发出警告，但是，如果中亚和中东生活得不到改善，像印度尼西亚、马来西亚等中转国的政府不能对偷渡严格控制，那么澳大利亚的偷渡潮不会减退。
Members of the conservative opposition blame Prime Minister Rudd for the increased flow, because he eased rules on indefinitely detaining suspected illegal migrants and other policies on boat people. The opposition argues that Mr. Rudd's new policies encourage people to sneak into the country.
Australia accepts more than 10,000 refugees a year, after they have been screened through official programs run by the United Nations and other organizations. |