非洲侨民希望美国接受更多非洲难民

African Diaspora Advocates for More African Refugees in US 非洲侨民希望美国接受更多非洲难民

LOS ANGELES—

The United States says it will significantly increase the numbers of refugees it accepts from around the world over the next couple of years.  While the recent focus has been on Syrian refugees, members of the U.S. African diaspora hope African refugees will also benefit from the pledge. However, there is one hurdle¹ that keeps Africans in the U.S. from speaking as one voice.

On the edge of downtown Los Angeles, a group of people, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo, gather at the African First Community Church of Southern California once a week for a little piece of home.  About one-third of them arrived in the U.S. as refugees.  Camille Ntoto, founder² of Africa New Day, said applying to the U.S. under refugee status is not an easy process.

“Sometimes it’s very difficult.  It’s a very long process and we never know when you start the process when it’s going to actually end up being -- the person actually coming to the States, said Ntoto.

On this Sunday, Ntoto talks to the congregation about the work he’s been doing to help the Congolese people back home -- in a country plagued by war and violence.

“There are militia³ groups all over the eastern part of Congo but, again, when I say militia, people don’t understand. Let me say there are ISIS all over and then people will understand. If I say they are al-Qaida and Taliban all over, then people will understand. But this has been going on for the past 25 years,” he said. Ntoto’s homeland is not the only African country in turmoil⁴, said the church's pastor⁵, Kasereka Kasomo.

”The whole country is in, the whole continent I wanted to say, is in big turmoil, so when we are seeing Africans really running for their lives, I don’t know why many times the international community closes its eye,” said Kasomo.

Ethiopian native Saba Maskel has been a persistent⁶ voice for African refugees.  “The victims are those who are regular people. They can’t work in their country. They have been jailed. They have been tortured,” said Maskel.

Maskel has been helping⁷ refugees navigate⁸ life in the U.S. for almost 35 years.

In 2015, about one-third of all refugees who have arrived in the U.S. have come from Africa. 

Talk show host and magazine editor Pamela Anchang, who's originally from Cameroon, hopes more Africans will be able to come as the U.S. increases the numbers of accepted refugees over the next few years.

“People are getting killed, getting slaughtered⁹, even in my own country, [in] the north, Boko Haram has infiltrated¹⁰ and has caused a lot of havoc¹¹, but it just seems to be that the emphasis is more on the European crisis, and the Africans are feeling neglected, so I think we as Africans ought to speak up,” said Anchang.

Anchang hopes the plight¹² of African refugees will get more attention through her TV shows and a magazine about immigrants and the African diaspora. 

But she said it is not easy for the African diaspora to speak as one voice. 

“Africans are very tribal¹³ in their thinking.  We’re very regional in our thinking, so we’ve been so divided and conquered back home, so Africans typically don’t see themselves in a homogenous¹⁴ way,” said Anchang.

Anchang said that in the U.S., it is best to work with one voice: the voice of an African.

1 hurdle   

n.跳栏，栏架；障碍，困难；vi.进行跨栏赛

参考例句：

• The weather will be the biggest hurdle so I have to be ready.天气将会是最大的障碍，所以我必须要作好准备。
• She clocked 11.6 seconds for the 80 metre hurdle.八十米跳栏赛跑她跑了十一秒六。

2 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

5 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

6 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

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。

8 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

9 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 havoc   

n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱

参考例句：

• The earthquake wreaked havoc on the city.地震对这个城市造成了大破坏。
• This concentration of airborne firepower wrought havoc with the enemy forces.这次机载火力的集中攻击给敌军造成很大破坏。

12 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

13 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

14 homogenous   

adj.同类的，同质的，纯系的

参考例句：

• Japan is a wealthy,homogenous,developed nation with a stable political system.日本是一个富裕的同质型发达国家，政治体制稳定。
• My family is very homogenous and happy.我们这个家庭很和睦很幸福。