VOA慢速英语2015 东南亚国家拒绝救助移民

AS IT IS 2015-05-14 Southeast Asian Nations Refuse Calls to Rescue Migrants 东南亚国家拒绝救助移民

Thousands of Bangladeshis and ethnic¹ Rohingya from Myanmar remain stranded² on boats off the coasts of Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. However, governments in the area show little interest in rescuing them.

Human rights workers have talked by phone with a Thai-registered boat. The boat is believed to be in the waters of Thailand or Malaysia. They say 350 migrants are on board. Fifty women and 84 children are among those on the Thai boat. Those on the boat have made many requests for help. They say they are entering a fourth day without food or fresh water.

One young person on the boat told rights workers that 40 people on board have died, including 13 people on Tuesday. However, officials cannot confirm the information.

Chris Lewa is the founder³ of the Arakan Project, a Rohingya rights group. Mr. Lewa has talked on the phone many times with those on board the boat.

“We do not know where they are. So now the main thing is to identify where they could be, of course, on the Thai side or Malaysia side,” Mr. Lewa told VOA Wednesday.

He said cell phone contact had been made with another boat in a similar situation. Its location is also not known. “There are most likely many more [boats] in the same situation, abandoned. There should be an organized regional search-and-rescue operation taking place.”

Many of the migrants on board are trying to get to Malaysia. However, Malaysia has refused calls to rescue the boats carrying immigrants. Malaysian officials said Tuesday if they find these boats, they would give food and other supplies to those on board. And if the boats were still seaworthy, they would turn them away. The Thai and Indonesian navies have similar plans in place.

The United Nations refugee⁴ agency said Wednesday it is “extremely alarmed” at reports saying Indonesia and Malaysia have pushed back boats carrying migrants. Volker Turk, a UN refugee agency official, said avoiding responsibility for the migrants puts lives at risk.

“The first priority⁵ is to save lives. Instead of competing to avoid responsibility, it is key for states to share the responsibility to disembark these people immediately,” Mr. Turk said.

Thailand’s effort to contain human smuggling⁶

Smugglers have used rubber factories in the southern part of Thailand as a way to enter Malaysia by land. The discovery of human remains⁸ this month led Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha to order that the smuggling network be shut down.

The prime minister told reporters Tuesday that the military-led Thai government is considering opening refugee camps for Rohingya. He also said his main goal is “to take care of the Thai people. “But human rights cannot be denied either.”

The smuggling network, mostly for ethnic Muslim Rohingya, has existed for many years. Rohingya minorities are fleeing violence and discrimination in Myanmar. But the recent Thai crackdown has affected⁹ the network’s operation.

Thai border police also told VOA on Wednesday they had discovered another large camp used by human smugglers near the Malaysian border. Smugglers used the camp to detain¹⁰ Rohingya migrants.

The Freeland Foundation says the human smuggling network in Thailand was a “multi-million dollar operation.” The migrants would need up to $3,000 from family and friends in Thailand to receive their freedom. Or they would be moved to the Malaysian border, where they were sold to Malaysian farmers for $1,000 each.

With many of these camps now closed, observers say that between 8,000 and 10,000 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh may now be at sea on overcrowded wooden boats.

Despite all of the risks, thousands of poor Bangladeshis and repressed Rohingya continue to want to migrate¹¹.

In the first three months of 2015, some 25,000 people are believed to have taken boats from Bangladesh and Myanmar. That is two times the number in the same period last year.

Thailand is planning an international conference on the situation in Bangkok on May 29. Thai officials say 15 affected countries plan to attend.

Words in This Story

stranded – v. : to leave (a person or animal) in a place without a way of leaving it — usually used as (be) stranded

location – n. a place or position

seaworthy – adj. fit or safe to travel on the sea

smuggle⁷ – v. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly

network – n. a group of people or organizations that are closely connected and that work with each other

crackdown – n. a serious attempt to punish people for doing something that is not allowed : an increased effort to enforce a law or rule

1 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。

2 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 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。

5 priority   

n.优先处理的事，居先，优先（权）

参考例句：

• The development of the national economy is a top priority.发展国民经济是应予以最优先考虑的事。
• Things should be taken up in order of priority.办事应有个先后次序。

6 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

7 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 detain   

vt.拘留，扣留，留住，耽搁

参考例句：

• The act allows police to detain a suspect for up to 48 hours.该法令允许警方将嫌疑犯扣押最多48小时。
• Allow me to detain you for a moment.请允许我耽误你一会。

11 migrate   

vi.（候鸟等）迁徙，移居（国外），迁移

参考例句：

• Many birds migrate south for the winter.冬天时，许多鸟类迁徙南方。
• The rich people often migrate in winter to Florida.有钱的人常在冬季搬迁到佛罗里达州去。