VOA慢速英语--新冠病毒期间美国难民面临特殊的困难

Refugees² Face Special Difficulty in US During Crisis³

The Amiri family arrived in the United States more than a month ago, but the children are still waiting for their first day at school. Their father, Mahmood, has not been able to find a job. He and his family moved to Utah about a week after states began ordering schools and businesses to close to try to stop the coronavirus from spreading.

The Amiris are refugees from Afghanistan. Because of concerns about the virus, they have yet to visit a local mosque⁴ to meet other Muslims.

Starting a new life in America is never easy for refugees. It is more difficult during a pandemic, especially after the government suspends the financial aid to help them resettle.

Coronavirus restrictions⁵ have affected⁶ refugee¹ families in the same ways as anyone else. Take job losses and childcare issues, for example. But many refugees are facing language barriers and lack extended family or close friends in their new communities.

Mahmood Amiri, his wife and their four children arrived in Salt Lake City on March 24. They had waited three years for permission to go to the United States. When that permission came, they ignored warnings that moving overseas during the pandemic would be dangerous.

For them, it was worth the risk. Amiri feared the Taliban would target his family if its supporters learned that he worked for the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.

Aid groups have turned from training refugee families for work and school to showing them how to request aid for jobless workers or do schoolwork online. They are spending emergency money to pay for housing and food for families after losing federal financial support.

Krish O'Mara Vignarajah leads the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, known as LIRS. The non-profit service is among nine groups that work with the United Nations to help refugees resettle in the United States. LIRS has given emergency aid to more than 215 families facing job losses.

O'Mara Vignarajah says refugees, like the Amiris, who arrived over the past few months are in difficult situations. She said many do not have the work history required to qualify⁷ for unemployment and other kinds of assistance from the U.S. government.

Ana Lucia Ibarguen and her three children arrived in Claxton, Georgia, last July after fleeing violent crime in Colombia. She and her 20-year-old son began studying English and working at a center that provides clothing to the very needy⁸. Then, the coronavirus appeared. The crisis left them without jobs or a school to study the language.

She and her son have requested unemployment assistance but have yet to receive any money. He got $1,200 from the federal program to help those affected by the pandemic. They used the money to pay for their housing in May. But they do not know how they will pay for anything in June if they cannot get work.

"It's very hard. Everything changed from one moment to the next," Ibarguen said in Spanish.

The COVID-19 crisis has not left all refugees without work. Some continue in jobs that put them at risk of infection, like driving taxis, restaurant service, and meat processing.

In Aurora⁹, Colorado, P.J. Parmar sees many of those workers outside his office, where he wears head-to-toe protective cover. Parmar is a doctor who serves only refugees. He told The Associated Press that 45 percent of his patients have tested positive for the virus. One has died, and two others are very sick.

That high rate is understandable considering that refugees often live in crowded homes with other families, making social distancing impossible, Parmar said. They also share crowded vehicles over long distances to get to work.

Inside those vehicles, Parmar said, "when one coughs, they all cough."

The Amiris said Catholic¹⁰ Community Services of Utah is paying for their food and housing and that they feel safe. But that does not mean it has been easy to be trapped in their small two-bedroom home near Salt Lake City.

The Amiris do not have a television or car. The parents try to entertain their children — ages 15, 13, 6 and 3. But they are restless and want to explore their new city.

Utah's public schools were already closed when the family arrived. The children know little English and struggle without in-person help from teachers.

Amiri's cousin, who lives nearby, and Catholic Community Services are helping¹¹ him look for a job.

Most refugees find work in three to six months, but the insecurity linked to the pandemic makes it harder, said Aden Batar of the Catholic aid group.

"The unknown, that's what we're worried about, not knowing how long this pandemic is going to go on."

I'm Caty Weaver¹².

Words in This Story

mosque -n. a building that is used for Muslim religious services

pandemic -n. an occurrence¹³ in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world

qualify -v. to have the right to do, have, or be a part of something

positive -adj. the result from a test that shows that a particular germ, condition, or substance is present

cousin -n. a child of your uncle or aunt; also a person who is related to you but not in a close or direct way

cough -n. to force air through your throat with a short, loud noise often because you are sick

entertain -v. to amuse (someone)

1 refugee   

n.难民，流亡者

参考例句：

• The refugee was condemned to a life of wandering.这个难民注定要过流浪的生活。
• The refugee is suffering for want of food and medical supplies.难民苦于缺少食物和医药用品。

2 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

3 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

4 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

5 restrictions   

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 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

7 qualify   

vt.取得资格，有资格，限定，描述；vi.取得资格，有资格

参考例句：

• I won't qualify until next year.我明年才具备资格。
• You must qualify yourself for the post.你必须使自己具备担任这一工作的资格。

8 needy   

adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的

参考例句：

• Although he was poor,he was quite generous to his needy friends.他虽穷，但对贫苦的朋友很慷慨。
• They awarded scholarships to needy students.他们给贫苦学生颁发奖学金。

9 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

10 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

11 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。

12 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

13 occurrence   

n.发生，出现，事件，发生的事件

参考例句：

• Two things account for its occurrence.发生这件事的原因有两个。
• For a military commander，winning or losing a battle is a common occurrence.胜败乃兵家常事。