VOA标准英语2015--重返阿富汗的难民生活每况愈下

Life for Returning Afghan Refugees Goes from Bad to Worse 重返阿富汗的难民生活每况愈下

KABUL—

Hadeesa is only 14 years old, but her face already shows the signs of life weighing her down. She manages the family’s meager¹ resources, takes care of a sick mother, and tends to a younger brother who gets beaten at work. Her father and brothers together make less than $40 a month, half of which goes towards the rent.

“We only eat bread with tea and pay rent," she says. "We can’t afford anything else.” 

Hadeesa is one of more than 70,000 undocumented refugees that have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan this year, according to the International Organization for Migration² (IOM).

Her mother Nukhbat Bibi complains their life has gone from “bad to worse.” In Pakistan they used to be in trouble due to lack of legal documentation, while in Afghanistan they have no money, no decent jobs, and no resources to manage their existence.

Pakistan started cracking down on undocumented Afghan refugees after a devastating³ attack on a school in the northern city of Peshawar that killed 150 people, mostly children. 

The result was a spike⁴ in the number of people who either voluntarily returned to Afghanistan or were deported⁵. Many arrived with no money and just the clothes they were wearing. Often these returnees had been living in Pakistan for decades. Some had grown up in Pakistan and had never been to Afghanistan in their lives. They frequently returned to communities where they did not have strong connections. 

The areas of the highest returns, like the Kunhar and Kunduz provinces, are rife⁶ with conflict. So many returnees could not go to their family villages, and became secondarily displaced inside Afghanistan.

Thirty percent of the returnees need help. Mathew Graydon, the spokesman for IOM in Kabul, said they had the resources to help only 10 percent, which meant that only the most vulnerable received some assistance.

“This has caused a major strain on the resources of the government and IOM to provide assistance to these people,” he said.

Approximately half of the three million Afghan refugees living in Pakistan have no documents. Pakistan has agreed to register them, which would give them a legal status and bring them under the auspices⁷ of UNHCR.

Syed Hussain Alemi Balkhi, Afghanistan’s Minister for Refugees and Repatriation⁸, told reporters in Kabul that Pakistan and Iran, another country with a high number of undocumented Afghans, have agreed to grant refugee status to them once Afghanistan identified them through bilateral⁹ committees that would start working by the end of June. 

He also assured the host countries that Afghanistan has made multiple plans to facilitate voluntary repatriation of the Afghan refugees. Qazi M. Khalilullah, spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign affairs ministry¹⁰, said his country is working “closely” with Afghanistan and UNHCR to “devise modalities and realistic time lines for the return of Afghanistan refugees.”

“Efforts are also being made for mobilizing international support and resources for creating [a] necessary pull factor inside Afghanistan to incentivize the return of refugees,” he added.

But many refugees in Pakistan said they do not want to return to Afghanistan due to the fragile security situation and lack of economic opportunities. Some of those who returned, like Hadeesa’s family, are struggling to survive.

1 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

2 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。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

5 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》

6 rife   

adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的

参考例句：

• Disease is rife in the area.疾病在这一区很流行。
• Corruption was rife before the election.选举之前腐败盛行。

7 auspices   

n.资助，赞助

参考例句：

• The association is under the auspices of Word Bank.这个组织是在世界银行的赞助下办的。
• The examination was held under the auspices of the government.这次考试是由政府主办的。

8 repatriation   

n.遣送回国，归国

参考例句：

• The Volrep programme is the preferred means of repatriation. 政府认为自愿遣返计划的遣返方法较为可取。 来自互联网
• Arrange the cargo claiming and maritime affairs,crews repatriation,medical treatment,traveling so on. （六）洽办货物理赔，船舶海事处理，办理船员遣返，就医，旅游等。 来自互联网

9 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

10 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。