VOA慢速英语2015 亚洲的船民:走私或贩运人口?

Asia’s Boat People: Smuggled¹ or Trafficked? 亚洲的船民:走私或贩运人口?

Reporters are following the story of Muslim Rohingya and Bangladeshis as they go overseas in search of a better future. Thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis were put on boats, but left at sea. News media also have reported on the discovery of many bodies along the border between Malaysia and Thailand. The remains² were buried at jungle camps on both sides of the border.

News reports, government officials and observers have used words like “trafficking” and “smuggled” when describing the boat people. But the two words have very different meanings.

To put it simply, smuggling³ involves transporting people who willingly go across borders. Their movement is either done secretly or through illegal methods. The word trafficking suggests tricking or abusing those being transported. It is commonly linked to human slavery.

So are the Bangladeshis and Rohingya being smuggled or trafficked?

Jeffrey Labovitz is head of the Thailand office of the International Organization for Migration⁴, the IOM. He says the migrants taking the trips are asking to be smuggled.

“A hundred and sixty thousand people have left (Bangladesh and Myanmar) since 2012. And these people have sat at dinner tables and over teas and coffees with community members and thought about how they can do this journey and how they can get enough money to pay.”

But as the IOM and others have found, the trip is not always easy. Sometimes families back at home could not pay. Payments were stolen. Prices suddenly increased.

“They’re put into these terrible situations where they are extorted⁵ and they’re tortured and they’re held in captivity⁶ and starved to death. Now, murder, rape⁷, extortion -- those are all terrible, terrible crimes -- and some of these cases it’s probably trafficking, too.”

Matthew Smith is the head of the rights group Fortify⁸ Rights. He spoke⁹ on Skype from the Oslo Freedom Forum¹⁰.

“It is a situation in which human beings are being regarded as property. They’re being tortured and coerced¹¹ into raising money to buy their own freedom. And that’s a deeply exploitative situation -- preying¹² on the desperation of asylum-seekers.”

Some officials see human trafficking as part of a larger smuggling network. But Mr. Smith and other activists¹³ think traffickers are running the business.

“We are not suggesting that every single person who has crossed the Bay of Bengal would meet the, the elements of human trafficking. But these are human trafficking syndicates that are bringing people from Point A to Point B. And the terms of consent change once the Rohingya or Bangladeshis board the boats.”

The countries along the network have generally failed to investigate suspected human trafficking. They also have ignored reports their officials -- in the military, police and at the local government level -- have been involved.

Human trafficking is a sensitive issue in Thailand, where military officers govern the country. Last year, the United States gave Thailand its lowest rating in the State Department’s “Trafficking in Persons” report.

When people are smuggled, they are often considered illegal migrants. If they have been trafficked, they are considered victims of trafficking.

As Matthew Smith notes, that results in a different set of rights under national and international laws.

“So this is part of the reason why we believe certain governments in the region are very hesitant to regard any of these people as victims of trafficking, because it would require a certain type of other response from them -- a more rights-respecting response, frankly¹⁴.”

Myanmar’s Rakhine state is home to many Rohingya. The government considers those who left the state to have been smuggled, not trafficked.

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

Words in the News

migration – n. movement of people or animals from one place to another

extorted – v. demanding something by force or making threats

regarded – v. considered or thought

exploitive – adj. unfairly using another person or group for profit

network – n. a group of two or more business organizations

1 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 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。

4 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

5 extorted   

v.敲诈( extort的过去式和过去分词 )；曲解

参考例句：

• The gang extorted money from over 30 local businesses. 这帮歹徒向当地30多户商家勒索过钱财。
• He extorted a promise from me. 他硬要我答应。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

7 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

8 fortify   

v.强化防御，为…设防；加强，强化

参考例句：

• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。
• This treaty forbade the United States to fortify the canal.此条约禁止美国对运河设防。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

11 coerced   

v.迫使做( coerce的过去式和过去分词 )；强迫；（以武力、惩罚、威胁等手段）控制；支配

参考例句：

• They were coerced into negotiating a settlement. 他们被迫通过谈判解决。
• He was coerced into making a confession. 他被迫招供。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 preying   

v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生

参考例句：

• This problem has been preying on my mind all day. 这个问题让我伤了整整一天脑筋。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For a while he let his eyes idly follow the preying bird. 他自己的眼睛随着寻食的鸟毫无目的地看了一会儿。 来自辞典例句

13 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。