VOA标准英语2015--非法移民由巴尔干半岛西部抵欧盟

Migrants Trek¹ Through Western Balkans to Reach EU 非法移民由巴尔干半岛西部抵欧盟

Migrants from Africa and other places are finding different routes into the European Union in search of a  better life.

The Associated Press followed one group to document their trek through the western Balkans to Hungary, a route migrants started using about four years ago. Since then, it has become the second most popular path into Western Europe, after the option of sailing from North Africa to Italy.

A group of more than 40 men, women and children arrived in Greece earlier this year, after a long and arduous² journey from their countries to Turkey.

In Turkey, they paid $500 each for a passage across the sea. Their leader, a man from Ivory Coast, agreed to pilot their overloaded³ boat to a Greek island in exchange for free passage. He is now leading the group through Macedonia along railway tracks.

Hungarian borders

The group's destination is Hungary, from where migrants can enter Germany, France or some other Western European country without a visa or a passport.

Jean-Paul Apetey, 34, of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, said, "Really, you have to have the courage because there are many obstacles. The journey has many aspects, because Europe is huge. You think you just go to France, but before arriving there you have to walk thousands of ways."

People in this group are from Ivory Coast, Mali, Cameroon and Burkina Faso. The trek through the unknown is fraught⁴ with obstacles and danger. But they say the risk is worth it because at the end of the road, there is hope for a new life.

Fidel Castro Chimana, 31, of Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, said, "Most of us, we are from Africa and we have many problems in our continent - bad economics, bad politics, bad work, so you can get a diploma and you don't find work."

Frontex, the European Union agency charged with helping⁵ the bloc's countries seal their leaky borders, said more than 43,000 illegal crossings were made via the western Balkans route in 2014, more than double the year before.

In the first two months of this year, there have been 22,000 confirmed arrivals in Hungary by that route.

Hilarion Charlemagne, 45, of Ivory Coast, said, "We know that when we cross the border it's against the law. This we understand. When you enter clandestinely⁶ into a country, you feel you are a criminal; the feeling is indescribable."

Deportation⁷

Travel by night does not guarantee safety. After a chase by flashlight, Macedonian police captured most of the group and deported⁸ them back to Greece.  

Mirielle Djeukam, 34, of Cameroon, said, "The trip has been very hard, too hard. If I knew it was this difficult, I wouldn't have done it. I just can't walk like this."

One woman from Cameroon was able to keep her baby boy, who was born in Greece.

Another woman from Ivory Coast got separated from her baby daughter, born in Turkey, during the police chase in Macedonia. The child was taken by the handful of people from the group that made it to Serbia.

1 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

2 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

3 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。

4 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

5 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。

6 clandestinely   

adv.秘密地，暗中地

参考例句：

• You should do your competing clandestinely, by disguising your export volumes and prices somehow. 你应该设法隐瞒出口数量和价格，暗中进行竞争。 来自辞典例句
• Darlington. Stevens's angst is clandestinely disclosed while he makes contact with other people. 就在史帝文斯与他人接触的当下，透露出一种不可言喻的焦虑气氛。 来自互联网

7 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

8 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》