2007年VOA标准英语-Refugees From Iraq War are a Critical Problem f

By Jeff Swicord
Amman, Jordan
15 February 2007
 
watch Iraq Refugee report

 
Iraqi refugees now in Jordan
The United States has announced plans to receive 7,000 Iraqi refugees during the next eight months -- a significant increase from the less than 500 Iraqi refugees who have been admitted since the U.S. invasion in 2003.

The U.N. says nearly two million Iraqi refugees are fleeing to neighboring countries – 700,000 to Jordan alone.  They are seeking safety from the escalating¹ violence in their homeland.  Some are granted temporary residency in Jordan.  Others stay in the country illegally.  VOA's Jeff Swicord reports on what aid organizations are calling a hidden crisis.  In this, the first of two reports, he takes a look at the dilemma² Iraqis face while seeking legal residency in Jordan and other countries.

In the second part, he will take a look at the impact more than 700,000 Iraqis have had on Jordan, a country of five and one-half million people.

 
Serwan Baran Arif
Serwan Baran Arif is one of about 700,000 Iraqi refugees that the United Nations estimates is living in Jordan.  Born and raised an Iraqi Kurd in Irbil, he studied and worked as an abstract artist in Baghdad until December of 2004.

Like many in Iraq, he found the constant violence unbearable³. "I ran away from Iraq.  That is how I got out.  One day I was driving and my car was shot at.  I knew that people wanted to kill me and I could not stay here," he said.

Arif is one of the lucky ones.  He is now a legal resident of Jordan -- a status that does not come easily for middle-class Iraqis.  While the official figure is 700,000 Iraqi refugees in Jordan, unofficial estimates are closer to one million -- a staggering number for a country of five-and-a-half-million people. 

The Washington-based organization Refugee International says the flight from Iraq is now the fastest-growing refugee crisis in the world.  The United Nations estimates 3,000 people leave the country every day. 

 
Joost Hiltermann
Dr. Joost Hiltermann is the Middle East project director with the International Crisis Group in Amman. He says the Iraqi situation is very different from the typical refugee crisis. "These refugees, they are not the poor bedraggled masses that come walking across the border and end up in tents.  This is still the relatively⁴ wealthy middle class of Iraq who are coming here in order to find protection from the violence, schooling⁵ for their children, a relatively normal life."

The first wave of people to leave Iraq were well-to-do businessmen like Yousif  Agoub.  A successful restaurateur, he owned the five-star Al FunJan Restaurant in Baghdad.  When his life was threatened, he packed up his family and moved to Amman and started another restaurant.

He says obtaining an investor⁶ permit in Jordan is easy for those with money.  "It is a very easy thing for an investor.  After you invest and register your business with the Ministry⁷ of Commerce, you automatically get an annual residency.  And after 10 years, you get a five-year residency."

The official policy of the Jordanian government is to allow Iraqis into the country with temporary residency permits.  And government spokesman Nasser Judeh says that policy will not change anytime soon. "The presence of so many Iraqis or other non-Jordanians does put a strain on our natural resources, but we still do it.  We still welcome them because, as I said, we have always been a haven⁸ and we understand the difficult situation they are facing back in Iraq, and we understand that they need to go somewhere."

Most Iraqis arriving now find themselves in a difficult situation.  If they are lucky, they have a temporary residency permit, allowing them to stay in Jordan for six months.  After that, they either stay on illegally or face the prospect⁹ of returning to Iraq.

We took a walk through a downtown Amman mall where we met Aynas Alsadi sitting with a friend.  When we asked her why she left Iraq, she broke down in tears. 

She said her husband's life had been threatened, and all the bombing caused psychological problems for their daughter. Their six-month residency permit is about to expire, and they have spent all of their savings¹⁰ supporting themselves here in Jordan. Now they must return to an unknown fate in Iraq. "A person knows they are going to their death, but they have no other option. They have to go back."

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees calls the Iraqi refugee situation critical, and is asking for $60 million in emergency funds, double its request for Iraqi refugees last year.  All of the people we talked with say they hope to return to Iraq one day. But for now, their fate is tied to the political and military crisis in Iraq that continues to spiral out of control.

1 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

2 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

3 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 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。

6 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

9 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

10 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。