VOA常速英语2015--英国丹麦拒绝接收厄立特里亚难民

Britain, Denmark Criticized for Turning Away Eritrean Refugees 英国丹麦拒绝接收厄立特里亚难民

LONDON—

Some European countries are rejecting asylum¹ applications from Eritrean refugees, despite evidence they face imprisonment² and torture if they are forcibly returned to the country, according to human rights group Amnesty International. 

Eritreans are the third largest group of refugees arriving on Europe’s shores, after Syrians and Afghans.

继叙利亚和阿富汗难民后，厄立特里亚难民是抵达欧洲海岸的第三大集团。

Stefan Simanowitz of Amnesty says the vast majority are young men fleeing oppressive national service.

大赦国际的斯特芬·希曼诺维斯表示其中绝大多数是逃离国家压迫的年轻人。

“Children, from the ages of 17 or 16 are forced into conscription, which is meant to last 18 months, but in reality can go on for indefinite periods," he said.  "We spoke³ to people who had left after being in conscription and national service for 10 or 15 years.  Others who have had family members conscripted for over two decades.”

“17至16岁的孩子就要被迫服18个月的兵役,但实际上可能会持续很久。我们采访到的是已经服役10至15年后从这个国家逃离的人。"

Oppressive regime 

A U.N. commission of inquiry⁴ earlier this year described Eritrea as one of the world’s most oppressive regimes.  The Eritrean government denied the accusations⁵ made in the report.

而联合国的一个调查委员会今年早些时候称厄立特里亚是世界上最专制的一个国家。但厄立特里亚政府对这一报道予以否认。

Amnesty says the conscription amounts to forced labor⁶ and anyone trying to evade⁷ or escape it is detained in appalling⁸ conditions.

大赦国际表示会发展成强迫劳动的征兵，如果有任何人试图逃避或躲避都将面临可怕的后果。

“If they are seen or caught, they can be shot and killed.  They can be arrested, they can be tortured," he said.  "Many of them are locked up in cells underground or in shipping⁹ containers for long periods as punishment for trying to avoid conscription.”

“如果他们被看发现或被逮捕,就会被开枪射杀。他们会被逮捕并被折磨致死。有很多人都会在地下监狱或集装箱中被关押很长时间作为拒服兵役的惩罚。”

Amnesty says the same fate would likely face Eritreans who had fled overseas, but then forcibly returned.

希曼诺维斯表示被欧洲或其他地方强行遣返的厄立特里亚难民可能会面临同样的命运。

Safe haven 

Despite this some European countries, including Britain and Denmark, have begun rejecting the majority of Eritrean asylum applications.  The British government changed its advice in March, claiming that Eritrea is safe for migrants to return to after leaving illegally.  Simanowitz says they must change course.

然而,包括英国和丹麦在内的一些欧洲国家已经开始拒绝大部分厄立特里亚难民的庇护申请。今年3月英国政府改变了策略，两国政府表示非法离开的移民返回厄立特里亚非常安全。

“The situation for Eritrean asylum seekers is a desperate one and they must be given safe haven,” he said.

“厄立特里亚寻求庇护难民的局势令人堪忧,必须给他们提供安全的避风港。”

Speaking at last month’s EU-Africa Migration¹⁰ summit in Malta, French President Francois Hollande said the Eritrean regime must be confronted. He said the world needs to put maximum pressure on Eritrea, because what is happening is extremely serious.  Nobody is talking about it.  It is a country that is becoming empty of its own population.

Despite Britain and Denmark’s approach, Eritrean refugees were among the first refugees to be relocated from Germany to Spain under the European Union’s new migrant plan.  Each European country sets its own rules on asylum.

1 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。

2 imprisonment   

n.关押，监禁，坐牢

参考例句：

• His sentence was commuted from death to life imprisonment.他的判决由死刑减为无期徒刑。
• He was sentenced to one year's imprisonment for committing bigamy.他因为犯重婚罪被判入狱一年。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

5 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。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

8 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

9 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

10 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。