VOA常速英语2007年-UNHCR: Iraqi Refugees Suffer From Poverty, Dise

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
15 December 2007

Three research studies show that Iraqi refugees in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon are living under precarious¹ circumstances.  The UN refugee agency says the studies, which were conducted over the last few months, find many Iraqi refugees are barely able to make ends meet and often resort to extreme measures to survive.  Lisa Schlein reports from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

The U.N. refugee agency (UNHCR) says more than 2 million Iraqis have fled the country, most of them to neighboring Syria and Jordan.

More than 3,500 Iraqis were surveyed in Syria.  The study finds most of these refugees are running out of money.  About a third say they have enough money to last for three months or less, while 24 percent say they are relying on remittances² from family abroad to survive.

UN refugee spokeswoman, Jennifer Pagonis, tells VOA that 10 percent of the children of the families surveyed in Syria are working.

"Some Iraqi families have been forced to resort to survival sex -the women in the family, maybe the daughters.  And this is done purely³ and only because they do not have the financial resources to survive.  And it is a very grim reality of the situation that the Iraqi refugees are facing," said Pagonis. 

A similar study was conducted in Lebanon among more than 2,000 individuals.  The results reveal nearly 80 percent of Iraqis entered the country illegally, with 60 percent of them 29 years old or younger. 

The study says the situation of Iraqi refugees in Lebanon remains⁴ precarious with the majority of those who are there illegally subject to arrest and detention⁵.

As in the case of Syria, a study in Jordan finds a majority of Iraqi refugees are living on savings⁶ or receive transfers.  It says the depletion⁷ of their savings increases their risk of becoming vulnerable.

Jennifer Pagonis says there is a high prevalence of chronic⁸ disease among Iraqi refugees in all three countries.

"And, that they do not seem to be getting the medical treatment that they need to treat these chronic illnesses," she said.  "It is also deeply worrying to see that so many have been victims of violence and torture and that this has clearly had a terrific impact upon them." 

Pagonis says early next month, the Centers for Disease Control in the United States will provide a fuller analysis of the trauma⁹ and depression experienced by Iraqi refugees. 

She says preliminary readings of the results show many Iraqis are facing considerable stress and trauma as a result of having been abused.

She says the reason thousands of Iraqis have chosen to return home has more to do with their tenuous¹⁰ situation as refugees than with the improving security situation in Iraq.

1 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

2 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

3 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

4 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。

5 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。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 depletion   

n.耗尽，枯竭

参考例句：

• Increased consumption of water has led to rapid depletion of groundwater reserves.用水量的增加导致了地下水贮备迅速枯竭。
• Farmers should rotate crops every season to prevent depletion of the soil.农夫每季应该要轮耕，以免耗尽土壤。

8 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

9 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

10 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。