VOA标准英语2011--Report: Migrants Often Scapegoats for Society’s Problems

Report: Migrants Often Scapegoats² for Society’s Problems

 

A new report says few areas of public policy are subject to greater bias³, polarization and political debate than migration⁴. The International Organization for Migration, IOM, calls it one of the most misunderstood issues of our time.

The IOM says we’re living in an era of the greatest human migration in recorded history, calling it one of the defining features of the contemporary world.

“Nobody can deny that migration will play a bigger even role in the future. So, you love it or hate it, but migration is here to stay, said IOM spokesman Jumbe Omari Jumbe, adding, “It is a natural process in human evolution, if you like.”

Let’s talk about it

The new report is entitled World Migration Report 2011: Communicating Effectively about Migration. It recommends a fundamental shift in the way people talk about it.

“There is a lot of negative reporting. Not only negative reporting, but also there is a lot of misrepresentation of the migration debate. And we think that by allowing migrants themselves to speak about themselves rather than being spoken about them, this will at least rectify⁵ the imbalance that exists today,” he said.

Migrant workers from Africa stand in a line after they arrive by ship from Misrata during an evacuation operation organized by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) at the port of Benghazi May 5, 2011. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Jumbe said the media are partly to blame for the misrepresentation.

“First of all, the media do not represent the migrants themselves and very few media houses have migrant staff members. And the second thing is that most of the media houses we have followed do not understand the migration issue. Migration is a very complex issue,” he said.

Blame game

Jumbe said migration has become a scapegoat¹ or catchall issue that “masks the public’s fear and uncertainties⁶.”

“So migration is blamed for everything, starting from economic, social and even political issues. So this is a huge misrepresentation because it does not look at all sides of migration. We don’t deny that there are some negatives in migration,” he said.

For example, migrants may put a strain on social services or act in a way that is criticized by host communities. But Jumbe says the positives outweigh⁷ the negatives through an exchange of talent, services, skills and diverse experience. In addition, migrants send billions of dollars to their home countries in the form of remittances⁸. These may be a huge part of national budgets.

The IOM report also says the public often overestimates⁹ the size of the migrant populations in their country. In the United States, for example, an opinion poll indicated the public believed migrants made up 39 percent of the population. The actual figure was 14 percent. Another poll showed Italians believed migrants were 25 percent of the population, when in reality the figure was seven just percent.

1 scapegoat   

n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊

参考例句：

• He has been made a scapegoat for the company's failures.他成了公司倒闭的替罪羊。
• They ask me to join the party so that I'll be their scapegoat when trouble comes.他们想叫我入伙，出了乱子，好让我替他们垫背。

2 scapegoats   

n.代人受过的人，替罪羊( scapegoat的名词复数 )v.使成为替罪羊( scapegoat的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They were made the scapegoats for the misfire of the program. 他们成了那个计划失败的替罪羊。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Only some of the guards and a minor hotel employee, chosen as scapegoats, were imprisoned. 只有一些保镖和那个旅馆的小职员当了替罪羊，被关进了监狱。 来自辞典例句

3 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。

4 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。

5 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。

6 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

7 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

8 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

9 overestimates   

对（数量）估计过高，对…作过高的评价( overestimate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• These overestimates counterbalanced the uncertain risk of radiation releases after sealing. 这些过高估计抵消了在密封以后放射性物泄漏所产生的未知危害。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Never underestimate a man who overestimates himself. 切勿低估一个过高估计他自己的人。