2006年VOA标准英语-US To Accept 10,000 Burundian Refugees From Tan

By Catherine Maddux
Washington
17 October 2006
 
The United States says it will accept around 10,000 Burundian refugees from Tanzania, many of whom have lived outside their home country for more than three decades.

  
  

Some of the Burundians being considered for resettlement to the United States left Burundi in 1972 and have lived over the years in three separate countries - Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and finally, Tanzania.

State Department Deputy spokesman Tom Casey says the United States made the decision to accept the Burundian refugees following a request from the UN High Commissioner¹ for Refugees and in cooperation with the Tanzanian government.

He said, "This is a long-standing issue, obviously. In this particular case, we respond to requests that are made by the UNHCR [UN High Commissioner for Refugees] after their evaluation² of these folks. While there is a long history on this and some resettlement and repatriation³ of individuals and other concerns back and forth⁴, the fact of the matter is we only got this request for resettlement from them within the past year and so this is why we are acting⁵ on it now. "

Every refugee being considered for resettlement will be interviewed by U.S. officials from the Department of Homeland Security to determine their eligibility⁶ for refugee status. Once in the U.S., they will be given the option of applying for citizenship⁷.

Steve Corliss, the UNHCR representative in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania, says the United States has a good program for resettling refugees.

"There is quite a large infrastructure⁸ for refugee resettlement in the United States. There are voluntary organizations; there are church organizations, community organizations and non-governmental organizations that work together with the U.S. Government to help refugees resettle. They actually settle in every corner of the United States, from New York to California and every place in between," he said.

 
Map of Burundi
  
The resettlement process for the Burundian refugees is expected to take two years to complete. The UNHCR says the first group of Burundian refugees will likely arrive in the United States by early or mid-2007. The 10,000 chosen for resettlement are a tiny percentage of the estimated 170,000 Burundian refugees currently living in Tanzania.

Burundi long has been plagued by tensions between the majority Hutus and minority Tutsis, who dominated the government after independence from Belgium in 1962.

Ten years later, intense ethnic⁹ clashes erupted, during which the Tutsi army attacked and killed up to 150,000 Hutus. Hundreds of thousands of Burundian Hutus fled the violence.

The UNHCR has been helping¹⁰ to repatriate¹¹ Burundians ever since the peace process began to take hold in that country following a decade of civil war. Some 230,000 Burundians have been returned home over the last four years .

1 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。

2 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

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 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

7 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

8 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。

9 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。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

11 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。