VOA慢速英语2020 委内瑞拉人因疫情再次逃离国家（在线收听）

Eleazar Hernández slept on the side of a road in the light rain as the weather turned cold.

天气转冷，阴雨绵绵，埃莉扎尔·赫尔南德斯（Eleazar Hernández）露宿在街头。

The 23-year-old Venezuelan was trying to get to the Colombian city of Medellin with his wife. She is seven months pregnant.

这位23岁的委内瑞拉男子正试图带着妻子一起前往哥伦比亚城市麦德林。妻子已怀孕七个月。

They had no money for transportation by the time they reached the small town of Pamplona, about 480 kilometers away from Medellin. Hernández hoped to get a ride on the back of a truck to cross the Paramo de Berlin, an area high in the mountains.

当他们到达距离麦德林大约480公里的潘普洛纳小镇时，他们已经没有钱乘坐交通工具了。赫尔南德斯希望能搭上一辆卡车穿越柏林帕拉莫——一个高山地带。

"My wife can barely walk," said Hernández. "We need transport to get us out of here," he added. The Associated Press (AP) reports the two spent four days sleeping on Pamplona's sidewalks.

“我妻子几乎不能走路了，”赫尔南德斯说。“我们需要交通工具离开这里，”他补充道。美联社报道称，两人已在潘普洛纳的人行道上睡了四天。

Venezuelans are again fleeing their nation's economic and humanitarian disaster.

委内瑞拉人再次逃离本国的经济和人道主义灾难。

The disease COVID-19 and measures to slow its spread halted one of the world's biggest migrationmovements. Venezuelans are going to Colombia to escape an economy where many people earn less than two dollars a month.

新冠病毒和为减缓其传播采取的措施中止了世界上最大型的迁徙活动。委内瑞拉人们纷纷前往哥伦比亚，企图摆脱许多人月收入不到两美元的经济困境。

The number of people leaving is smaller than before. But Colombian immigration officials expect 200,000 Venezuelans to enter the country in the next few months. In Colombia, there is the chance for them to find work, which will allow them to send money back to feed their families.

逃难的人数比以前要少。但哥伦比亚移民部门预测未来几个月将有20万委内瑞拉人入境。在哥伦比亚他们或许有机会找到工作然后寄钱回去养家糊口。

The new migrants are finding conditions worse than those who fled Venezuela before COVID-19. Many shelters remain closed. Colombians fearing infection are less likely to help with food donations. And drivers are less likely to pick up hitchhikers.

与新冠疫情之前逃离的委内瑞拉人相比，这些新迁徙的移民面临的情况要更糟糕。许多庇护所仍处于关闭状态。担心被感染的哥伦比亚人不太可能愿意去捐赠食物。而且司机们也不太可能会拉搭便车的人。

"We hardly got any lifts along the way," said Anahir Montilla. She is a cook from the Venezuelan state of Guarico. Montilla spoke with The AP as she was nearing Bogota, Colombia's capital, after traveling with her family for 27 days.

阿纳希尔·蒙蒂拉说：“我们一路上几乎没有没搭到车。”她是来自委内瑞拉瓜里科州的一名厨师。蒙蒂拉在哥伦比亚首都波哥大附近接受了美联社的采访——她和家人历时27天才到达此地。

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, over 5 million Venezuelans had left their country, notes the United Nations. The poorest simply walked.

联合国指出，在新冠疫情大流行之前已有超过500万委内瑞拉人逃离本国。最贫穷的人只能靠步行。

As governments across South America took action in hopes of stopping the spread of COVID-19, many migrants found themselves without work. Over 100,000 Venezuelans returned to their country, where at least they could live with family members.

随着南美各国政府为阻止新冠肺炎的传播纷纷采取行动，许多移民发现自己无法找到工作。有超过10万委内瑞拉人又返回了本国，在那里他们至少可以和家人住在一起。

Today, official land and bridge crossings between the two countries are still closed. Migrants are forced to cross the border illegally, where the roads are controlled by drug traffickers and rebel organizations like the National Liberation Army.

今天，两国官方的陆路边境和水路边境仍处于关闭状态。移民们被迫非法越境，而边境的道路被毒贩和民族解放军等反叛组织控制。

"The return of Venezuelan migrants is already happening even though the border is closed," said Ana Milena Guerrero. She is an official for the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian non-profit organization helping migrants.

国际救援委员会的工作人员安娜·米勒娜·格雷罗表示：“尽管边境关闭了，但已经有委内瑞拉移民返回本国”。该委员会是一个帮助移民的人道主义非营利组织。

Many Venezuelans are now forced to walk within their own country for days to reach the border because of fuel shortages.

由于燃料短缺，许多委内瑞拉人被迫在本国境内步行数日才能抵达边境。

Hernández said it took him seven days to walk from his hometown of Los Teques, Venezuela, to Colombia.

赫尔南德斯说，他花了7天时间从他的家乡委内瑞拉洛斯特克斯步行到哥伦比亚。

"I can't allow my daughter to be born in a place where she might have to go to bed hungry," he said.

“我不能让我的女儿出生在一个她将不得不饿着肚子上床睡觉的地方，”他说。

Once the migrants arrive in Colombia, they face new problems. Colombia's rate of unemployment rose from 12 percent in March to almost 16 percent in August. Those who cannot pay for rental housing are being pushed out of their homes. More than 50 percent of all Venezuelans in Colombia are living there illegally and have no legal protection.

一旦移民抵达哥伦比亚，他们就将面临新的问题。哥伦比亚的失业率从3月份的12%上升到8月份的近16%。那些付不起房租的人会被赶出家门。哥伦比亚有50%以上的委内瑞拉人属于非法居留，不受法律保护。

Words in This Story

migration - n. the movement of people from one area to another

allow - v. to let or to make an opportunity to do something

hitchhiker - n. one who stands on the side of the road asking for a ride

pandemic - n. a contagious disease that moves around the world

rental - adj. not owned but paid for monthly or weekly like an apartment or car