2006年VOA标准英语-Vietnam Accused of Detaining Street Children Du

By Matt Steinglass
Hanoi
13 November 2006

A U.S.-based human rights group says Vietnamese authorities are taking homeless children off the streets of Hanoi in the run-up to international events such as this week's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and putting them in detention¹ centers, where they are mistreated. But other agencies dispute the Human Rights Watch claims, saying the government's policies towards Vietnam's street kids are not all bad.

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Vietnamese walk past APEC banner in Ho Chi Minh   
  
Hanoi shoeshine boy Ba left his home in Vietnam's impoverished² Phu Tho province two years ago to find work in the capital. He earns two dollars a day cleaning shoes, sometimes working inside a Hanoi bia hoi, or beer garden, and sometimes walking the streets looking for customers.

But right now, Ba is staying inside the beer garden. He is afraid that if he tries to find work on the street, he will be arrested.

As Hanoi prepares for this week's Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which will be attended by the leaders of 21 countries, police have been rounding up homeless kids in an effort to clean up the city.

Ba says when his friends have been arrested, they have been held in what's called a Social Protection Center named Dong Dzau outside Hanoi. They are held for 15 days for a first offense³, and three months for a second offense.

Traffic swirls⁴ around young female beggar as she is pulled through early morning traffic    
  
Human Rights Watch has issued a report on Vietnam's street children called "Children of the Dust", which is based on three years of research. The report says conditions at the Dong Dzau center are terrible - detainees are beaten by guards, refused medical treatment, and given inadequate⁵ food.

Human Rights Watch also says the roundups of street children intensify⁶ around international events like the APEC summit.

The organization says that conditions at another Social Protection Center near Hanoi, named Ba Vi, are better, but that both camps violate Vietnam's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The Vietnamese government denies the allegations. Nguyen Thanh Chau, the deputy head of the APEC Secretariat says it is not true that Vietnam is sweeping⁷ street children up and taking them out of the city. He says Vietnam is trying to protect children's right to an education by sending them back to their families in the countryside.

Some of those who work with Vietnam's street children say the situation is not clear-cut and that Human Rights Watch and the government are both right. Those workers say the government is trying to send street kids back to their families, but the policy is misguided and results in abuse.

Bui Quang Minh is the senior program officer at the children's development organization, PLAN International, in Hanoi. He says the government sees the rounding up of the street kids as part of an attempt to guarantee the children's rights.

"According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, they are not allowed to work on the streets," Minh explained. "I think that the main purpose is protecting them, but the way of protecting them may be not so appropriate."

The Human Rights Watch report says trying to return street children to their homes is futile⁸. They tend to come from impoverished areas, and usually return immediately to the city, to try to earn money on the streets.

Other approaches are more promising⁹. PLAN cooperates with the Vietnamese government to provide centers for migrant children and families in Hanoi, where they can get schooling¹⁰ and health care.

These children are on their way to school at the "May 19 Warm Shelter" in Hanoi. Some are with their families, migrants who lack residence permits for Hanoi. Others are here alone, and work selling gum on the street.

The children say they are unable to work during APEC. The teachers at the center have signed a pledge to keep the children off the street for the duration of the summit.

But, shoeshine boy Ba says he is happy the APEC summit is being held in Hanoi.

Ba says he is making more money lately, because most of his competitors have either gone home to their villages or been arrested.

1 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

2 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 offense   

n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪

参考例句：

• I hope you will not take any offense at my words. 对我讲的话请别见怪。
• His words gave great offense to everybody present.他的发言冲犯了在场的所有人。

4 swirls   

n.旋转( swirl的名词复数 )；卷状物；漩涡；尘旋v.旋转，打旋( swirl的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Swirls of smoke rose through the trees. 树林中升起盘旋的青烟。 来自辞典例句
• On reaching the southeast corner of Himalaya-Tibet, It'swirls cyclonically across the Yunnan Plateau. 在到达喜马拉雅--西藏高原东南角处，它作气旋性转向越过云南高原。 来自辞典例句

5 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

6 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

7 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？

8 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

9 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

10 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。