VOA标准英语2008年-Religious Pilgrims Seek Asylum in Australia

Refugee activists¹ say that 20 Catholic pilgrims have applied² for asylum³ in Australia after attending last month's World Youth Day event. The Asylum Seekers Center of New South Wales reports the pilgrims are mostly from African countries. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

Tens of thousands of young foreigners attended the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day in Sydney last month. Most came on short-term tourist visas to participate in events that included masses said by Pope Benedict.

So far 20 of those visitors have applied for political asylum. Refugee advocates think the number will increase when other pilgrims' visas expire.

Those seeking sanctuary⁴ sought help at The Asylum Seekers Center of New South Wales.

The center's director, Tamara Domicelj, told Australian radio that those seeking help came from a number of countries.

"A range of countries," she said. "We're seeing many African countries in amongst them, and you know we're seeing people from Cameroon, we're seeing people from Burundi, we're seeing people from Kenya, we're seeing people from Pakistan. But it's a diverse group."

Refugee activists say they had expected some World Youth Day pilgrims to apply for asylum, as they took advantage of the opportunity to reach a place of safety.

Australia resettles about 13,000 refugees every year under official humanitarian⁵ programs. Last month the Labor⁶ government said illegal migrants will no longer automatically be detained while their applications for refugee status are processed.

Starting next year, only asylum seekers who are considered to be health or security risks will be held in jail.

The changes mean that World Youth Day pilgrims who want to stay in Australia will live in the community while officials review their claims.

A spokesman for the Department of Immigration refused to comment on specific cases but has said that it has contingency⁷ plans to handle asylum seekers attending major events such as World Youth Day.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

3 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

4 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

5 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。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。