VOA标准英语2013--Amnesty: Growing Danger for Refugees

 

Amnesty: Growing Danger for Refugees

Amnesty International says the world is growing more dangerous for refugees and migrants. The organization’s annual report says the rights of millions of people who have escaped conflict and persecution¹ -- or migrated to seek work and a better life -- have been abused.

Amnesty says, “Another year has been lost for the Syrian people,” millions of whom have been displaced by conflict. It adds that little has changed in Syria, except the “ever increasing number of lives lost or ruined.”

Amnesty’s Netsanet Belay says, “Our view overall is that the Syria crisis remains² unresolved largely because of failure of the international community to make bold commitments to safeguard citizens. It’s really troubling to see so many civilians³ still trapped in the cycle of violence. We regrettably noticed how some governments have blocked effective international response to the crisis.”

Belay, the human rights group’s Africa Program Director, said many other people were also forced to seek safety in 2012, within countries or across borders.

“Much of our research in the past year is indicating that, particularly in Africa, given the escalation⁴ of armed conflict and communal⁵ violence in several countries, including Mali, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, we’re seeing massive displacement⁶ of people from their homes internally and into neighboring countries.”

For example, 400,000 people had to flee northern Mali, while 200,000 had to flee Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. He blamed that on “indiscriminate bombing by the Sudan Armed Forces

As for the DRC, he says, “The total number of internally displaced people inside the country grew to more than two-point-four million. This is the highest it’s been since 2009.”

Besides describing displacement, the Amnesty International report also levels accusations⁷ of human rights abuses. Belay highlighted several.

“In Mali, in Bamako, in [the] north, we’ve seen several people die as a result of extrajudicial killings⁸ and summary executions. The same happened in Nigeria, where we’ve seen scores of civilians who were killed not only as a result of attacks by Boko Haram forces, but also by government and security forces. In Sudan, we’ve talked to innocent civilians, who have fallen victim. We’re talked to [an] 11-year-old girl, whose legs have been injured by bombs thrown from Antonov warplanes,” he said.

Amnesty also says governments failed to protect the rights of many of the world’s 214-million migrants.

“Migrants in African countries and migrants going from Africa to European countries are facing serious and massive human rights violations⁹, both in terms of discrimination, treatment and asylum¹⁰ processing,” said Belay.

For example, Amnesty reports changes in South Africa’s asylum-seeking procedures led to intimidation¹¹ and xenophobic attacks against foreigners. And it can be difficult for asylum-seekers to find safe havens¹².

Belay said, “Much of the asylum seeker and refugee population is hosted by the poorest of the world. The poorest of African countries are hosting the majority of refugees leaving their countries as a result of persecution or conflict. The European Union only allows about 5,000 resettlements per year for asylum seekers, where we have seen more than 200,000 people fleeing from conflict in Sudan to neighboring countries like Ethiopia and South Sudan.”

The report says levels of police brutality¹³ are rising in many parts of Africa. It highlights last year’s incident in South Africa when police shot dead 34 protesting miners. In Senegal, six people were killed by security forces in pre-election violence.

Also, Uganda is criticized for its ongoing¹⁴ crackdown on the media, while Somalia stands out as one of the most dangerous places for journalists. It also says human rights activists¹⁵ are being harassed¹⁶ in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, The Gambia and Nigeria.

Belay said, “The underlying¹⁷ cause relates to the lack of institutional mechanisms¹⁸ that create democratic accountable systems in countries. Most governments in Africa indeed have traveled great distances in building these institutions and structures, but they are not there yet.”

The Amnesty report says, “The excuse that human rights are an internal affair” cannot be used as an “excuse for inaction.” It adds that “respect for state sovereignty” also cannot be given as a reason not to act against injustice¹⁹.

1 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

5 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

6 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

7 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

8 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

9 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

10 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

11 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

12 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

13 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

14 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

15 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

17 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

18 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。