澳大利亚难民营火灾引发对难民的关注

AS IT IS 2016-05-05 Burnings Bring Attention to Asylum¹-Seekers in Australian Camps 澳大利亚难民营火灾引发对难民的关注

A 21-year old Somali refugee² is critically injured after setting herself on fire on Nauru, a tiny South Pacific republic.

Australia operates a detention³ camp on the island. 

Some people are criticizing Australia for its refugee policy. However, Australia has said refugee supporters are putting pressure on migrants to harm themselves for the attention it will bring.

The 21-year old refugee Hodan Yasin has been taken to a hospital in the Australian city of Brisbane. She is in a critical condition after setting herself on fire Monday.

Refugee advocates say the injured woman was distressed⁴ after she was sent back to the South Pacific island. Before this incident, she had received medical treatment in Australia for injuries from a road accident.

Last week, a 23-year old Iranian asylum seeker died after he set himself on fire at the migrant center on Nauru.  

It is one of two camps operated by Australia as part of a policy to stop asylum seekers from reaching its northern waters by boat.  Even if detainees are found to be refugees⁵, they are not permitted to resettle in Australia.

Australian Greens party Senator⁶ Sarah Hanson-Young says her country is not supporting people who need help.

“They have been found to be refugees, therefore they deserve to be looked after and given an opportunity to rebuild their lives.  We should not be having languishing⁷ on Nauru even now, let alone for years and years to come.  We should end this suffering and bring these people to Australia and allow them to get on with their lives.”

Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has accused refugee supporters of increasing tensions on Nauru. He says they have encouraged migrants to take extreme measures to try to force Australia to change its border protection policies.

Australia sends Asylum seekers trying to reach Australia by sea to either Manus Island in Papua New Guinea or to Nauru.

Officials in the capital Canberra say the policy has reduced the steady flow of migrants trying to reach Australia by boat.

Last week, the government of Papua New Guinea said it would close the Australian facility on Manus Island after the country’s Supreme⁸ Court ruled it illegal.

Also, media reports say a boat carrying Sri Lankan asylum seekers has reportedly arrived on the Cocos Islands, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean.  If the arrival is confirmed, it would be the first refugee ship to have reached Australian waters in almost two years.

Words in This Story

advocates – n. someone who argues in support of a cause or person

distressed – adj. feeling or showing unhappiness or pain

detainees – n. a person who is being detained⁹

encourage – v. to make someone more likely to do something

1 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。

2 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。

3 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

4 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

5 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。

6 senator   

n.参议员，评议员

参考例句：

• The senator urged against the adoption of the measure.那参议员极力反对采取这项措施。
• The senator's speech hit at government spending.参议员的讲话批评了政府的开支。

7 languishing   

a. 衰弱下去的

参考例句：

• He is languishing for home. 他苦思家乡。
• How long will she go on languishing for her red-haired boy? 为想见到她的红头发的儿子，她还将为此烦恼多久呢？

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 detained   

留住( detain的过去式和过去分词 )； 耽搁； 拘留； 扣留

参考例句：

• One man has been detained for questioning. 一个男人被拘留审问。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group. 他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。