2007年VOA标准英语-Burmese Refugees Resettling in Central New York

By Kane Farabaugh
Utica, New York
05 September 2007
 

The exodus¹ of minority populations in Burma is the largest migration² of people in Southeast Asia.  An estimated 160,000 live in nine refugee camps in Thailand.  There, they wait for resettlement in a third country.  Many come to the United States.  VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports from one town in the northeastern state of New York that is welcoming thousands of Burmese refugees.

Aye Cha and his family arrive at the airport with plans to resettle in New York state

Just two days before they arrived in the United States, Aye Cha and his family were living in a refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border.

They are now in New York State after a series of firsts -- first stay in a hotel room, first trip on an airplane and now, first time in a Western country.

They do not speak English, have little experience with life in a developed nation and have arrived with little more than the clothes on their backs.

As ethnic³ Karen, a minority group in Burma, Aye Cha and his family have spent most of their lives in the same rural village.

Daniel Cribb

Daniel Cribb knows this new environment is a stark⁴ contrast to what they have fled.  He also is Karen and works for the Mohawk Valley Refugee Resource Center in Utica, New York.  It is the organization that will help the new arrivals through most of their resettlement. "They were the very simple people that live daily, like they do rice farming, growing rice.  Their homes were attacked by the Burmese military.  They were just living peacefully there and they were attacked."

Aye Cha and his family are part of the growing population of Burmese Karen who now call Utica home.

In August, the Mohawk Valley Refugee Resource Center resettled 119 Burmese, mostly Karen.  By next summer the center expects to settle more than 1,000 more.

Cribb says, "The Karen community [here] is the second largest community in the U.S., which is behind the Minnesota, St. Paul, so I think this is a good place for these new arrivals."

Within a year, if all goes well, Aye Cha and his family will have jobs, money, food and a place to live. But being here for the first time, far away from Burma and the village life they knew, is difficult.

"Being here is all so very new for them.  Everything is -- the country, the language, everything is very new for them.  So basically, I feel like it's my responsibility, my duty to help them," says Cribbs.

Settling into their new lives begins at home. 

Peter Vogelaar

Refugee Resource Center director Peter Vogelaar says many Karen who come to Utica are reunited with extended family members. "The extended family structure helps to create an environment of support and mutual⁵ assistance that leads them to a more successful integration⁶ experience, and to more success."

The classroom is the next step in the integration process.  English lessons at the Refugee Resource Center can last for months, even years.

The Refugee Resource Center also helps provide the refugees with many of their needs -- health care, employment and housing. But even with some language skills and assistance, it can be a daunting⁷ transition.

Aye Cha's wife Puay Paw is accustomed to providing food and other needs for her family. As the family makes its way from the airport to a new home in Utica, she is full of questions for Cribb.

"'How am I going to find food, how am I going to buy food?'” she asks Cribb. “These simple things -- I think they do know that there is going to be some greater challenges they're going to face ahead," he tells us.

Aye Cha and his family will not face them alone. They will have the support of a growing community of people just like themselves who have fled oppression in Burma

1 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

2 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。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

5 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

6 integration   

n.一体化，联合，结合

参考例句：

• We are working to bring about closer political integration in the EU.我们正在努力实现欧盟內部更加紧密的政治一体化。
• This was the greatest event in the annals of European integration.这是欧洲统一史上最重大的事件。

7 daunting   

adj.使人畏缩的

参考例句：

• They were faced with the daunting task of restoring the house.他们面临着修复房子的艰巨任务。
• Starting a new job can be a daunting prospect.开始一项新工作有时会让人望而却步。