美国国家公共电台 NPR 'I Would Rather Die Than Go Back': Rohingya Refugees Settle Into Life In Bangladesh

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This week marks the one-year anniversary of what the Rohingya have begun to call the genocide. In late August of last year, Myanmar government soldiers and pro-government militias¹ began coordinated² attacks against the Rohingya Muslims. Hundreds of thousands of refugees streamed into Bangladesh. It was the start of the fastest human displacement³ since the Rwandan genocide. Over the course of the coming months, nearly 700,000 Rohingya fled into Bangladesh, where they now live in limbo⁴ in massive makeshift refugee camps. NPR's Jason Beaubien just returned from the camps and has this report. And just a warning - this story does include graphic⁵ details.

DILDAR BEGUM: (Foreign language spoken).

JASON BEAUBIEN, BYLINE⁶: "The Myanmar soldiers arrived in the morning," Dildar Begum says, and surrounded her village. It was in the days before the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha. Her family had been preparing for the upcoming feast, a feast that would never happen. In the ensuing attack, she says government troops killed 29 members of her family.

BEGUM: (Through interpreter) It's been 12 months that I'm living in Bangladesh, but there's not any days in which I don't remember my family. I miss them every day. I shed tears for them every day.

BEAUBIEN: While the exact details of Begum's account can't be confirmed by NPR, she's from the village of Tula Toli, where Human Rights Watch says hundreds of Rohingya villagers were killed on August 30 of last year. Begum estimates the death toll⁷ was in the thousands. A river runs along the edge of Tula Toli, and she says hundreds of villagers fled to the riverbank where they were trapped by the Myanmar troops. She described soldiers ripping her baby from her arms and hacking⁸ him to death. She watched them slit⁹ her husband's throat, she says. People were being killed all around her. Begum and her 10-year-old daughter were dragged to a house where Begum says she was repeatedly raped¹⁰.

BEGUM: (Through interpreter) My daughter was screaming for help. The soldiers beat her. She got cuts on her head and her body. Eventually, we both pretended to be dead.

BEAUBIEN: When the soldiers left, they were able to escape and hid in the forest for almost a week before starting the trek¹¹ to Bangladesh. The crowded encampment where Begum now lives is the largest refugee camp in the world. Bangladesh officials have made it clear that eventually they want the Rohingya to go back to Myanmar. Begum says, at least for her, that's not going to happen.

BEGUM: (Through interpreter) I don't expect they will let us stay here very much longer, but I would rather die than go back there. I would rather drink poison than go back to Myanmar.

BEAUBIEN: And many of the other refugees also say they're afraid to return home. Myanmar says the military action against the Rohingya was a cleanup operation targeting Rohingya militants¹² who'd attacked government police stations. Along with earlier waves of refugees, there are now roughly 900,000 Rohingya living in Bangladesh. The Muslim minority has suffered persecution¹³ in Myanmar for generations. Myanmar, also known as Burma, claims the Rohingya are Bangladeshi. Bangladesh claims they're Burmese. Myanmar stripped most of them of citizenship¹⁵ decades ago, making them essentially¹⁶ a stateless people. One year after this latest exodus¹⁷ from Myanmar, the conditions in the refugee camps in Bangladesh remain far from ideal.

FIONA MACGREGOR: This is an extremely difficult situation.

BEAUBIEN: Fiona MacGregor is the spokesperson for the International Organization of Migration's operation in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

MACGREGOR: It's almost a million people entirely¹⁸ relying on aid. It's the biggest refugee settlement in the world, and it's in an area that suffers extremely difficult environmental conditions.

BEAUBIEN: Shelters made out of tarps and bamboo are jammed together on steep, sandy hillsides. Heavy downpours turn the dirt pathways into rivers of mud. Aid agencies have sandbagged cliffs, put in pit latrines and dug water wells, but services remain minimal¹⁹. Officially, the Rohingya are not supposed to work in Bangladesh so most now survive primarily off international food aid. Each day in the Shafiullah Khata (ph) camp, the Turkish government runs a huge soup kitchen that distributes hot meals to 20,000 people. On this day, they're scooping²⁰ chicken curry²¹ and rice out of giant aluminum²² pots. Nurulol Houqwe (ph) and his son are walking out of the distribution compound of what Houqwe says will be enough curry for lunch for his family of five.

NURULOL HOUQWE: (Through interpreter) We always come here.

BEAUBIEN: Every day?

HOUQWE: (Through interpreter) Every day.

BEAUBIEN: Every day.

People line up before sunrise to try to get the cooked food. When the volunteers have ladled out the last of the curry, there are still hundreds of people in line jammed chest-to-shoulder blade, like a human accordion²³. The World Food Program also distributes dry rations¹⁴ every two weeks. But cooking in the camps can be a challenge as firewood supplies dwindle²⁴ and finding dry firewood during the monsoons²⁵ is almost impossible. While many of the Rohingya continue to focus on surviving from day to day in the camps, others are setting up businesses. There are bustling²⁶ markets offering fish and vegetables and piles of fire engine-red chilis. Refugees have started barbershops and small grocery stands. Abdu Rokim owns a small tea shop known as the Police Station Restaurant in the Balukhali 2 camp. It got its name simply because it's next-door to a Bangladeshi police barracks.

ABDU ROKIM: (Foreign language spoken).

BEAUBIEN: "If a man is jobless, he's not respected by the people," he says. "That's why I opened this restaurant, to sell things and make a living." His restaurant, like most structures in the camps, is made out of tarps strung over bamboo poles. The floor is dirt. There are a dozen mismatched plastic tables surrounded by mismatched plastic chairs. Rokim serves tea and samosas²⁷ and soft drinks.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "COMMANDO 2")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, foreign language spoken).

BEAUBIEN: A TV blares a Hindi action movie while a half-dozen of Rokim's employees cook, clear tables and wash dishes.

ROKIM: (Foreign language spoken).

BEAUBIEN: "I expect to be here for at least five years," he says. The United Nations Refugee Agency says that the Rohingya will not be forced back to Myanmar and any repatriation²⁸ will be voluntary. But if other refugee crises are any guide, the longer the Rohingya stay, the less likely it is they will ever leave. Jason Beaubien, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

GREENE: And we will hear more reporting on Myanmar later today on All Things Considered. As we just heard, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya are still living in Bangladesh. They are living in perilous²⁹ conditions. And Bangladesh says it wants to send them back to Myanmar. To listen to that story and more, ask your smart speaker to play NPR, or you can ask for your local member station by name.

1 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

2 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

4 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

5 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

8 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

9 slit   

n.狭长的切口；裂缝；vt.切开，撕裂

参考例句：

• The coat has been slit in two places.这件外衣有两处裂开了。
• He began to slit open each envelope.他开始裁开每个信封。

10 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

11 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

13 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

14 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

15 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

16 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

17 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

18 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

19 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

20 scooping   

n.捞球v.抢先报道( scoop的现在分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等）

参考例句：

• Heated ice cream scoop is used for scooping really cold ice cream. 加热的冰淇淋勺是用来舀非常凉的冰淇淋的。 来自互联网
• The scoop-up was the key phase during a scooping cycle. 3个区间中，铲取区间是整个作业循环的关键。 来自互联网

21 curry   

n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革

参考例句：

• Rice makes an excellent complement to a curry dish.有咖喱的菜配米饭最棒。
• Add a teaspoonful of curry powder.加一茶匙咖喱粉。

22 aluminum   

n.(aluminium)铝

参考例句：

• The aluminum sheets cannot be too much thicker than 0.04 inches.铝板厚度不能超过0.04英寸。
• During the launch phase,it would ride in a protective aluminum shell.在发射阶段，它盛在一只保护的铝壳里。

23 accordion   

n.手风琴；adj.可折叠的

参考例句：

• The accordion music in the film isn't very beautiful.这部影片中的手风琴音乐不是很好。
• The accordion music reminds me of my boyhood.这手风琴的乐声让我回忆起了我的少年时代。

24 dwindle   

v.逐渐变小（或减少）

参考例句：

• The factory's workforce has dwindled from over 4,000 to a few hundred.工厂雇员总数已经从4,000多人减少到几百人。
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority.他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。

25 monsoons   

n.（南亚、尤指印度洋的）季风( monsoon的名词复数 )；（与季风相伴的）雨季；（南亚地区的）雨季

参考例句：

• In Ban-gladesh, the monsoons have started. 在孟加拉，雨季已经开始了。 来自辞典例句
• The coastline significantly influences the monsoons in two other respects. 海岸线在另外两个方面大大地影响季风。 来自辞典例句

26 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

27 samosas   

n.萨莫萨三角饺( samosa的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The food will be samosas, chicken curry and rice, and naan bread. 食品将是五香三角菜饺，咖喱鸡肉饭和印度飞饼。 来自互联网
• A: How about some vegetable samosas to start and today's special chicken curry? 甲：那么先尝一尝蔬菜炸馅角然后再试‘日精选-咖哩鸡’好不好？ 来自互联网

28 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

29 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。