VOA慢速英语--孟加拉开发孤岛安置10万罗兴亚难民

A small island in Bangladesh is ready to house 100,000 Rohingya refugees, government officials announced Thursday.

No date has been set to begin moving people from crowded refugee camps along the country's border with Myanmar, also known as Burma.

The island, named Bhasan Char¹, is in the Bay of Bengal, about 60 kilometers off the coast from the mainland. It was often flooded during monsoon² seasons. It resurfaced only 20 years ago and has never been lived on.

Mahbub Alam Talukder is the head of Bangladesh's refugee, relief and repatriation³ efforts. He told The Associated Press, "Bhasan Char is ready for habitation. Everything has been put in place."

Bhasan Char is equipped with flood protection equipment, housing, hospitals and Islamic religious centers, officials say.

The island is equipped to hold 100,000 people. That is a small percentage of the one million Rohingya Muslims who have fled violence in Myanmar, which has a large Buddhist⁴ population.

About 700,000 people came after August of 2017. That is when Myanmar's military launched a harsh campaign against the Rohingya. Military officials said it was in answer to an earlier attack by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation⁵ Army.

Human rights groups and the United Nations called the campaign ethnic⁶ cleansing⁷ involving rapes⁸ and killings⁹.

One reporter's visit to the island

Foreign media have not yet been permitted to visit the fully¹⁰ equipped Bhasan Char. But Bangladeshi reporter Saleh Noman was recently able to visit the island. He described what he saw.

"I saw a market with about 10 grocery shops and roadside tea stalls. Some were selling fish and vegetables," he said. "All is set there with a solar power system and water supply lines."

The Bangladesh navy has been taking steps to protect the island, which was underwater for months during monsoon seasons.

But many international aid agencies and UN officials have strongly opposed the plan since it was first proposed in 2015. They fear that a big storm could put the island -- and those living on it -- at great risk.

Mostofa Mohamamd Sazzad Hossain is a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner¹² for Refugees in Bangladesh. He said Thursday that the agency is not ready to support plans to move the refugees. He added that the agency is waiting for a chance to visit the island.

Where to go

The current refugee camps are near the coastal¹³ town of Cox's Bazar. They are overcrowded and dirty. Disease and organized crime are problems there. Education is limited and refugees are not permitted to work.

Yet most Rohingya have expressed an unwillingness¹⁴ to return to Myanmar because of safety concerns. Government officials do not have an estimate of how many refugees would be willing to move to the island.

On Thursday, two Bangladeshi workers involved with development of the island described its infrastructure¹⁵ as "modern" and of good quality. They spoke¹¹ to the AP on condition that their names not be used because they did not have permission to talk to the media.

"Bangladeshi villages have never seen such good work," one worker said. He added, "We constructed raised concrete buildings that could be used as cyclone¹⁶ shelters. Many trees have been planted."

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has told the U.N. and other international partners that her administration will speak with them before making a final decision on the relocation. She has also said that no refugees will be forced to move to the island.

In November, Bangladesh attempted to start sending refugees back to Myanmar, but no one was willing to go.

The Rohingya are not recognized as citizens in Myanmar, leaving them stateless. They face many other forms of discrimination.

In 2018, a UN-supported investigation¹⁷ proposed charging Myanmar's top military commanders with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for the violence against the Rohinya.

Myanmar is now facing the International Court of Justice in The Hague after the African nation of Gambia brought a case against the country.

Words in This Story

monsoon - n. a wind in the Indian Ocean and southern Asia that brings heavy rains in the summer

repatriation - n. the act of returning (someone) to his or her own country

habitation - n. the act of living in a place

shop - n. a building or room where goods and services are sold

stall - n. a small open counter or partially¹⁸ enclosed structure where things are displayed for sale

solar - adj. produced by or using the sun's light or heat

infrastructure - n. the basic equipment and structures (such as roads and bridges) that are needed for a country, region, or organization to function well

construct - v. to build or make (something physical, such as a road, bridge, or building)

cyclone - n. an extremely large, powerful, and destructive storm with very high winds that turn around an area of low pressure

1 char   

v.烧焦；使...燃烧成焦炭

参考例句：

• Without a drenching rain,the forest fire will char everything.如果没有一场透地雨，森林大火将烧尽一切。
• The immediate batch will require deodorization to char the protein material to facilitate removal in bleaching.脱臭烧焦的蛋白质原料易在脱色中去除。

2 monsoon   

n.季雨，季风，大雨

参考例句：

• The monsoon rains started early this year.今年季雨降雨开始得早。
• The main climate type in that region is monsoon.那个地区主要以季风气候为主要气候类型。

3 repatriation   

n.遣送回国，归国

参考例句：

• The Volrep programme is the preferred means of repatriation. 政府认为自愿遣返计划的遣返方法较为可取。 来自互联网
• Arrange the cargo claiming and maritime affairs,crews repatriation,medical treatment,traveling so on. （六）洽办货物理赔，船舶海事处理，办理船员遣返，就医，旅游等。 来自互联网

4 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

5 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

6 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。

7 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

8 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

9 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

10 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

11 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。

12 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

13 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

14 unwillingness   

n. 不愿意，不情愿

参考例句：

• Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题，这不利于她所处的形势。
• His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱，他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

17 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

18 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。