2007年VOA标准英语-Australian City Rejects Sudanese Refugees

By Phil Mercer
Tamworth, Australia
15 January 2007

Australia's most-famous musical town, Tamworth, is beset¹ by a dispute over the city council's decision to reject refugees from Sudan. City councilors have voted down a request by the Department of Immigration to resettle five Sudanese families as part of a pilot program, for fear it could lead to racial unrest. The city is already divided over the presence of about 25 Sudanese men resettled there under a separate program. From Tamworth in northern New South Wales, Phil Mercer reports.

Tamworth, 595 kilometers north of Sydney, is the heart and soul of Australian country music. This dispute over refugees from Sudan threatens to overshadow the annual festival that starts here later this week.

The city council insists that it can not cope with any more Sudanese migrants. Refugees already here, like 23-year-old Henry Tombek, say they have suffered racial abuse in Tamworth.

Tombek says he rarely ventures into the city center, after he was assaulted in what he says was an unprovoked racist² attack.

"Like last time I went to the club - that was the pub in the town - I was just walking, and then he just came and punched me in the face, and then I thought 'Man, you're drunk. Just go.' Then he came again," said Tombek. "From that day I didn't even go to the town, even just go do shopping."

The council's decision to reject more Sudanese is supported by many of Tamworth's residents. A recent survey has suggested that three out of four of the city's 45,000 citizens agree that the refugee resettlement program should be blocked.

There are strongly held views among some of those living on the same street as Henry Tombek and his Sudanese compatriots.

"I just don't like them mate, that's all I'm going to say," said one male resident. "I don't like the noise for a start. The way they're going every night. They go 'til five, three and four o'clock in the bloody³ morning. We've been here for bloody many years, mate. We don't want them things here."

"If they don't know what our laws and what our culture is like and they are just plonked here, they are going to react as they would in their own country, which is totally different to the Australian way of life," said another male resident.

Tamworth's mayor said recently that the Sudanese were responsible for a mini-crime wave, even though the police have disputed that claim.

The refugees also deny allegations that they are troublemakers⁴.

"Some people say like here in Tamworth we causing trouble. How? How are we going to do that? From work to home, home to work. How are we going to cause trouble to people?" he asked. "Some people look at us because we are black they know - the main reason because we are black. You know, we got many people from different backgrounds, you know. We got Muslim people, we got Lebanese, Iraqi. Why they pick on us? Why?"

Not everyone in Tamworth objects to the refugees, and the issue has become extremely contentious⁵ here. After much negative publicity⁶, the city council is now in damage-control mode.

Officials are saying it is not a question of criminality or race, but simply one of resources.

They argue that new migrants would need expert trauma⁷ counseling, legal assistance and translators - services that Tamworth either does not have or can not afford.

The city's deputy mayor is Phil Betts, who says criticism of the council is not justified⁸.

"A lot of it has been ill-founded. It really has," said Betts. "It's about looking after community at large, not just [the] Tamworth community, to make sure that these programs are identified as being workable and sustainable."

Betts continute that Tamworth is "not a racist town at all. It's a multicultural⁹ town."

Tamworth is gearing up for the carnival¹⁰ that has made it Australia's most famous musical city.

One of the festival's founding fathers is Max Ellis, who believes the refugee debate is damaging the city's reputation.

"We're very much about Australian country music, and Australian country music has always been about mateships and helping¹¹ other people," he said. "For one group to be singled out - I think most Tamworth people are really offended by what's happened, and don't believe that it's indicative of what we're like as a community."

And there are those like Anglican minister Ken¹² Fenton, who believes this part of the Australian outback will be enriched if more refugees are encouraged to come.

"We don't know how incredibly immersed in things we are - in material things. We're absolutely swamped by it. You get someone from another culture where they don't have anything and that can really change your perspective," he said. "And I don't know what Sudanese food is like. I don't know whether we're going to have great cafes, you know. "Eat here at the Sudanese cafeteria!' But there's no question that interaction between across different value systems can be very productive."

Australia is resettling more refugees from Sudan under official humanitarian¹³ programs than from any other country, including Iraq and Afghanistan. More than 3,700 Sudanese arrived last year out of a total refugee intake¹⁴ of 14,000.

Allowing them to make new lives in Australia is one thing. Encouraging a conservative and sometimes hostile population to accept them is apparently¹⁵ something far more challenging.

1 beset   

v.镶嵌；困扰，包围

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。

2 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

3 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

4 troublemakers   

n.惹是生非者，捣乱者( troublemaker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was employed to chuck out any troublemakers. 他受雇把捣乱者赶走。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She had automatically labelled the boys as troublemakers. 她不假思索地认定这些男孩子是捣蛋鬼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

6 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

7 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

8 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

9 multicultural   

adj.融合多种文化的，多种文化的

参考例句：

• Children growing up in a multicultural society.在多元文化社会中长大的孩子们。
• The school has been attempting to bring a multicultural perspective to its curriculum.这所学校已经在尝试将一种多元文化视角引入其课程。

10 carnival   

n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演

参考例句：

• I got some good shots of the carnival.我有几个狂欢节的精彩镜头。
• Our street puts on a carnival every year.我们街的居民每年举行一次嘉年华会。

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 ken   

n.视野，知识领域

参考例句：

• Such things are beyond my ken.我可不懂这些事。
• Abstract words are beyond the ken of children.抽象的言辞超出小孩所理解的范围.

13 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

14 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

15 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。