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VOA慢速英语--联合国:索马里的移民对新冠肺炎知之甚少

时间:2020-06-27 23:53:52

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UN: Migrants in Somalia Know Little if Anything About COVID-19

It is hard to imagine that there is anyone in the world who has not heard of the new coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19.

But, migrants arriving in Somalia tell United Nations workers that they have never heard of the virus.

Observers for the U.N. migration1 agency have spoken with people at the border in Somalia, a country that has suffered years of conflict. The people are at the crossroads of one of the world's most dangerous migration paths. They cross the Red Sea with traffickers, pass through Yemen, which is torn by a civil war, and then hope to enter one of the rich Gulf3 countries.

The U.N. agency wants to know more about these people. So they ask questions about where they come from and where they are going. They are also asked if they have heard of COVID-19. In recent weeks, 51 percent said they had not.

Celeste Sanchez Bean leads a program with the U.N. agency based in Mogadishu. She told the Associated Press (AP), "The first time I saw this I was also very shocked."

The finding, which appeared in an agency report, shows how difficult it is to reach people everywhere with information about infectious4 disease.

She said the migrants are often young men from rural parts of nearby Ethiopia. Most have no education. The internet is not widely available. In the past, some were not even aware that there was a civil war going on in Yemen.

Bean is pleased that the number of those who do not know appears to be falling. When COVID-19 questions were first asked about 12 weeks ago, 88 percent had not heard of the disease.

When migrants who are questioned have not heard of the virus, workers explain how it spreads and what can be done to prevent infection. However, Bean is concerned because there is evidence that migrants are passing through areas where infections have been found.

"The migrants are putting themselves at risk," she said.

The migrants face other problems in cities like Bosaso. That is where boats leave for Yemen. The U.N. migration agency said local people blame the migrants for bringing the virus to their city.

However, it is not only migrants who have not heard of the coronavirus. The AP spoke2 to Fatima Moalin, who lives in southern Somalia. She said, "Muslims don't contract such a thing."

Others in rural Somalia, especially areas held by the Muslim extremist group al-Shabab, dismiss concerns about the virus. Officials blame limited internet and even extremists' restrictions5 on communications.

A recent study by the U.N. of displaced6 people in Somalia's separatist area of Somaliland found "very high" levels of misunderstanding about the coronavirus. Some people thought it was spread by mosquitos and that it causes diarrhea.

But most people knew about the disease outbreak. Information comes from radio broadcasts, word of mouth and message played on mobile phone services. All these methods are common in Africa.

Bean said, "Slowly, slowly the information is getting there."

But so too is the virus. Somalia, a country with one of the world's weakest health systems, now has thousands of cases.

I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

Words in This Story

contract –v. to become sick with a disease


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 migration mDpxj     
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。
2 spoke XryyC     
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。
3 gulf 1e0xp     
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂
参考例句:
  • The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
  • There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。
4 infectious I7jx1     
adj.传染的,有传染性的,有感染力的
参考例句:
  • Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
  • What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊!
5 restrictions 81e12dac658cfd4c590486dd6f7523cf     
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则)
参考例句:
  • I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
  • a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制
6 displaced 80a237e34fd2de4119d9d640b29506b6     
移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 ); 替换; 移走; 撤职
参考例句:
  • Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
  • He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。

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