VOA标准英语2010年-Violence Forces Evacuation of Hundreds

Hundreds of African immigrants have been evacuated¹ from the Calabrian town of Rosarno following violent clashes with the local population. The violence highlights existing tension and resentment² towards illegal immigrants in Italy.

Busloads of African immigrants were seen leaving the Calabrian town of Rosarno Saturday. Large numbers of Italian police were deployed³ throughout the southern Italian town as more than 900 immigrants evacuated after residents continued sporadic⁴ violent attacks against African farm workers.

Simon is from Ghana. He arrived five years ago, after a long journey that took him first to Libya and then by boat to Italy. He has been picking oranges and tangerines for a small wage, living in very difficult conditions. He says Italians are racists.

"They are treating us bad, even their dogs, they love their dogs past blacks. But why we are living like that, we don't have any place to go and if we don't work with them, you don't get money to feed yourself, even to pay house rent, light bill, water bill, you don't have a place to stay and we are human beings, we have to find a place to stay like them because we are not animals," said Simon.

People stand behind a barricade⁵ in Rosarno, southern Italy, 09 Jan 2010, following overnight clashes between migrants and police

The violence erupted late Thursday, when hundreds of angry African farm workers demonstrated after some of them were shot at with air rifles. The immigrants reacted by setting fire to cars and garbage dumpsters, smashing shop windows and terrifying residents.  More than 60 people were injured in the clashes.

Father Carmelo Ascone has been the parish priest in Rosarno for the past 25 years.

"The people here now feel offended and angry," he said.  "They have now turned to using violence to retaliate⁶ against the immigrants because they feel they have always been welcoming towards immigrants, helping⁷ them out."

As special buses with African immigrants continued to leave town, locals cheered and applauded. Simon and others say there is no future for them in this country.

"Yes we are now leaving, not only Rosarno, Italy, Italy,"  said an immigrant. "Everywhere in Italy, every city in Italy, whether Rome, Milano, for blacks it's no good."

For the time being, the African immigrants, most with no legal papers to stay in the country, were being taken to holding centers in other southern Italian cities. Italian authorities have said that even if they arrived in the country illegally, the immigrants would not be arrested. But their fate remained unclear.

1 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

2 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

3 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

4 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

5 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

6 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

7 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。