VOA慢速英语2014 什么因素决定谁是真正的难民？

 

AS IT IS 2014-08-04 What Makes a Refugee¹? 什么因素决定谁是真正的难民？

Thousands of children have traveled to the United States from Central America without one or both parents.  Officials are struggling to deal with the situation. The growing number of arrivals has led to a debate over whether or not they can stay.  That will largely depend on whether the U.S. government considers the children refugees².  But what helps officials decide who is a refugee?

联合国报道——数以千计的孩子被送入美国收留所，官方正努力处理这一状况。

More than 21,000 children arrived last year without their parents from three nations: El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.  That information comes from a recent United Nations report.  Almost 19,000 other girls and boys came from Mexico.  This year, the numbers have continued to grow.

去年来自萨尔瓦多，危地马拉和洪都拉斯多于两万一千的留守儿童来到美国少年收留所，联合国报道。近一万九千个孩子来自墨西哥。今年数量又在增长，引起了一场洪水大体上决定他们是否被定义为难民的争论。

Anna Greene works for the International Rescue Committee.  She says parents are sending their children to the United States because of extreme poverty and violent crime.

“The children that are fleeing violence and who would be in harm’s way if they returned, those are children who would likely qualify³ for protection here in the United States.  But not all would.”

“如果他们回来的时候，那些孩子以一种受伤害的方式逃离暴力，那么那些孩子可能会在美国得到很好的保护”，国际救援委员会的安娜.格林说。“但并不是所有的都是这样。”

Individuals who seek to leave property behind for a better life in another country are often called “economic migrants.”  They are not forced from their homes as refugees are.

格林说，那些寻找逃避困难的往往是被称为“经济难民”的人。和难民不一样的是，他们通过选择离开他们的家乡。

If someone seeking asylum⁴ is found not to be a refugee, then he or she can be returned to their home country.  But who exactly is considered a refugee?

如果某人决定不做一个难民而在美国找一个收容所，那么某人可能会被驱逐出境。但是什么因素决定谁是真正的难民？

Jane Mason with the U.N. refugee agency says there are five justifications⁵.

联合国难民事务高级专员公署嘉娜.梅森说，有特定的理由给予难民身份。

“There are five grounds, and it has to be linked to persecution⁶ – race, religion, your ethnic⁷ or national background, a political opinion that you hold, or membership⁸ in a particular social group.”

“有五个根据，它是和对种族，宗教，你的种族或国家背景，你所持有的政治观点，某个社会团体中的成员的迫害有关，”他说。

She adds that the United Nations sometimes identifies whole groups of people as refugees.  Examples are those who flee the war in Syria or conflicts in Africa.

在一些特殊的环境下，联合国把作为难民的群体进行了分类，比如说那些逃避叙利亚战争的或者是非洲冲突的难民。

So does a government have a different responsibility to a refugee fleeing poverty than it does to one fleeing war?

政府是否对一个难民有不同程度的责任——特别是对一个孩子来说逃避贫困比逃避战争更重要。

Anna Greene of the International Rescue Committee says the answer is no.

国际救援委员会的格林否认这样的看法。

“It looks different, but the protection principles are exactly the same.  Including the fact that every child who is unaccompanied, regardless of why they may have left, needs certain types of protection that adults don’t.”

“这看起来是不同的，但保护原则是一样的。包括每一个留守儿童，不管他们可能是因为什么可能的原因离开的，需要正确的保护方式，恰巧是成年人不会的，”她说。

Jane Mason has examined the U.S. border case.  She says it is important that undocumented migrants be given the chance to tell their story and go through the asylum process.

在美国边界案件中，梅森说重要的是，非法移民被给予机会讲述他们的故事和办理庇护的过程。

“International law says that if someone could be a refugee, you basically have to give them the benefit of the doubt and not send them back.”

“国际法称如果某人是难民，你基本上已经给他们好处而不是送他们回去，”梅森说。

The experts say the way to reduce the number of children and other asylum-seekers is to understand what is causing them to make the trip in the first place.  I’m Caty Weaver⁹.

专家说阻止留守儿童和其他的从美国中部到美国的寻找收留所的人的关键是解决导致他们做出这样一个危险的旅程的潜在因素。

1 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

2 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

3 qualify   

vt.取得资格，有资格，限定，描述；vi.取得资格，有资格

参考例句：

• I won't qualify until next year.我明年才具备资格。
• You must qualify yourself for the post.你必须使自己具备担任这一工作的资格。

4 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

5 justifications   

正当的理由，辩解的理由( justification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If he a vulgar person, she does not have justifications for him. 如果他是个低级趣味的人，她早就不会理他了。
• It depends on their effect on competition and possible justifications. 这则取决于它们对于竞争的影响和可能存在的正当抗辩理由。

6 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 membership   

n.成员资格，会员全体，从属关系

参考例句：

• I must renew my membership of the sailing club.我必须延续我的航海俱乐部会员的资格。
• He made up his mind to apply for membership in the Party.他决心申请入党。

9 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。