2006年VOA标准英语-Migrants Stranded in Mauritania Sent Home

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
05 May 2006
 

Migrants from India wait at their home, an old movie theater in the town of Zouerate, Mauritania, Wednesday, April 19, 2006   
  
The International Organization for Migration¹ is returning home a group of 30 Indian and Bangladeshi migrants left stranded² in the baking Mauritanian desert by smugglers. IOM says the migrants were left with little water, no food or identification papers several months ago.

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The group, which consists of 22 Indians and eight Bangladeshis, are expected to arrive in Delhi, India and Dhaka, Bangladesh on Saturday. From there, staff working for the International Organization for Migration will arrange the final leg of their journey home.

The migrants had paid smugglers to take them to Europe. But, they were abandoned in the Mauritanian desert when they could not come up with extra money demanded by the smugglers.

Spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration, Jemini Pandya, says the men went through a horrific ordeal³.

"The Indian migrants told us that they had been left with half a gallon of water between the group of 22 and that this was obviously completely insufficient⁴ for the number of people and the water ran out extremely quickly and they had to survive by drinking their own urine," she said. "And, that had become so desperate that in the end they just lay down in the desert thinking they were going to die. Luckily for them, after about five days, they were found by a patrol and rescued."

Since December, Pandya says the men have been living in difficult conditions in the desert town of Zouerate with irregular and little water supply. She says they have survived largely by taking on any work they could find, such as doing laundry or cleaning.

The 30 migrants had been part of a much larger group of about 72 people that included Pakistanis. Pandya says the 42 other migrants in the group decided⁵ not to go home, but to try again with smugglers to get to Europe. She says she does not know whether any of the migrants actually got to Europe. But, she says some of the men apparently⁶ have reached a place called Camp Spain. This is where migrants congregate⁷ before separating to go to their final destinations in other European countries.

"It is interesting to say that the people in the group that we are helping⁸, they have mobile phones," she said. "And, while we were there with them, they were constantly getting calls from other migrants to say that some of them actually had reached Camp Spain. Just phoning to say 'Hi, I have got there' - as well as constantly receiving phone calls from smugglers, harassing⁹ them to continue the journey."

IOM reports every year, thousands of migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia try to reach the northern shores of the Mediterranean¹⁰ via the Maghreb by using smuggling¹¹ networks.

Since late 2004, IOM has assisted 290 Indians and Bangladeshi migrants who were left abandoned in the deserts of North Africa to return home voluntarily.

1 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。

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 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

4 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

7 congregate   

v.(使)集合，聚集

参考例句：

• Now they can offer a digital place for their readers to congregate and talk.现在他们可以为读者提供一个数字化空间，让读者可以聚集和交谈。
• This is a place where swans congregate.这是个天鹅聚集地。

8 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。

9 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

10 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

11 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。