2007年VOA标准英语-Few Iraqis Find Refuge in US

By Brian Padden
Washington, D.C.
19 June 2007
 

June 20th is International Refugee Day so we are turning our attention to the refugee situation in Iraq.  The United Nations says nearly four million Iraqis have fled from their homes seeking refuge in either safer regions of their country or abroad.  And every month at least 40,000 more people are displaced. 

The United States faces increasing criticism for not doing more to solve the refugee crisis there or allowing more Iraqi refugees into the U.S.  In 2006 the United States allowed only 202 Iraqi refugees into the country.   VOA's Brian Padden found one of the few -- in Dearborn, Michigan. 

The large Iraqi community in Dearborn, Michigan, makes up a significant part of the 500,000 Arab-Americans who live in Detroit.

There is a large Iraqi community in Dearborn, Michigan.  It makes up a significant part of the 500,000 Arab-Americans who live in or around the Midwest city of Detroit. 

Most of the men at the Karbala Islamic Center, like the vast majority of Iraqis here, came in the early 1990s after the first Gulf¹ War.  But Ahmed Kareem arrived just a year ago.  Before he left Iraq, Kareem says he was working as a journalist in Baghdad for an American-supported Iraqi newspaper.   He says he fled after he was targeted for assassination² for helping³ Americans.  

The Karbala Islamic Center

"The last time in Iraq a couple of guys shot at me and that's why I had to leave Iraq because of this.  And my family was threatened too, and one of my brothers was assassinated," Kareem told us.

Kareem now lives in one small rented room.  He wants to bring other family members here.  They are now living in Egypt.  Kareem is one of the few Iraqi refugees who have been allowed into the United States.  In 2006 only 202 Iraqis were resettled in the U.S.  This is a controversial issue even in the Arab community here.  

Dawud Walid is executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Michigan.  He says the government is discriminating⁴ against Arabs and Muslims.  "We believe it is partly due to the demonization of Arabs in the post-9/11 era."

But Iraqi Imam Husham Al-Husainy says the U.S. needs to be careful not to allow pro-Saddam sympathizers or even terrorists into the country.  

"I am very concerned about Iraqi image and U.S. security.  If we bring bad elements, they will reflect bad image of Iraqis in America and they will disturb the peace in this country," says the iman. 

Ahmed Kareem

Kareem is considered one of the lucky few that has made it to America.  Many of the nearly four million displaced Iraqis live in camps, like one in the Kurdish region of Iraq. 

Lavinia Limon is president of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, a non-governmental organization.  She says the U.S. should do more to resolve the Iraqi refugee crisis and in particular to help those Iraqis who have assisted the U.S. government effort in Iraq.

"We are very dismayed.  We're dismayed that the U.S. government has not seen fit to rescue more people who have been directly affected⁵ by their involvement with our effort in Iraq." 

This year the Bush administration announced a $20 million increase in funding to support refugee programs.  And U.S. State Department Undersecretary Paula Dobriansky said the U.S. would work with the UNHCR, the U.N. High Commission for Refugees, to significantly increase the number of Iraqis allowed into the country. "We are expanding our capacity to receive referrals from UNHCR and plan to process expeditiously⁶ some 7,000 Iraqi refugee referrals in the near term," she said.

Limon says so far the government is failing to meet its own goal.  The problem she says is partly bureaucratic⁷ mismanagement but she also believes the administration wants pro-American Iraqis to continue to help the war effort in Iraq.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

3 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。

4 discriminating   

a.有辨别能力的

参考例句：

• Due caution should be exercised in discriminating between the two. 在区别这两者时应该相当谨慎。
• Many businesses are accused of discriminating against women. 许多企业被控有歧视妇女的做法。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 expeditiously   

adv.迅速地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• They have to be evaluated expeditiously, carefully with the patient fully UNDRESSED. 我看过许多的枪伤患者，但是就只有阿扁的伤口没有上述情形，真是天佑台湾。 来自互联网
• We will expeditiously facilitate trade transactions with the utmost professionalism. 我们会尽快贸易便利化的交易与最大的专业水平。 来自互联网

7 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。