VOA慢速英语2016--美国承诺9月底前接收难民

AS IT IS 2016-09-21 US Rushes to Admit Refugees Before End of September 美国承诺9月底前接收难民

The month of September has been one of the busiest months for the arrival of refugees in the United States.

Almost 79,000 refugees from 78 countries have come to the U.S. since October of last year. That is the largest number of refugees coming to America in 17 years, according to official data.

The effort to bring more Syrians fleeing violence in their country has made September the busiest month for arrivals in 10 years.

The U.S. refugee program is operated by several federal agencies. These agencies still expect that 85,000 refugees will arrive by the end of September.

Lots of airplane tickets bought

Michel Tonneau is a staff member with the U.S. refugee program at the International Organization for Migration¹’s Washington office. He said his agency had bought enough airplane tickets for the targeted number of refugees to reach the U.S. by the end of the month.

He said September is usually a busy time for the arrival of refugees. The refugee program tries to get close to the target number without exceeding it.

The actual number of refugees often falls a little short of the target. That happened last year. President Barack Obama and the State Department decided² 70,000 refugees would be allowed into the U.S., and the country admitted 69,933.

European countries struggled to process hundreds of thousands of refugees and asylum-seekers in 2015. President Obama announced an increase in the number of refugees the U.S. would accept for resettlement this year. The number rose to 85,000 from 70,000. The decision included the goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees.

'Crazy' months for admitting refugees

The summer months saw a sharp increase in arrivals. The numbers increased because many Syrian families quickly came from Jordan.

“July and August were so crazy. We definitely felt the push,” said Aerlande Wontamo, regional director for Lutheran Social Services of the National Capital Area.

The social services group finds immediate³ housing for families of refugees. Someone from the service provides transportation, helps enroll⁴ children in school and provides support in a new country.

Lutheran Social Services and other groups say they can meet the demand of even more refugees. The groups say they could assist 200,000 more refugees.

The government set a goal of 100,000 for the coming fiscal⁵ year. The fiscal, or financial year, begins October 1. Media reports this week have suggested that Obama will raise that target to 110,000 refugees.

“We’re excited to hear more refugees are going to be coming,” said Wontamo. “That’s a great need.”

The U.N. refugee agency registered 16.1 million refugees in 2015. Only about 107,000 of those individuals were relocated to countries that volunteer to take displaced persons. These countries include the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Bill Canny⁶ heads migration and refugee services for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops⁷. He said the current effort is not good enough.

“Those figures are incredibly low…,” Canny said. “We can all do better, including the United States.”

Words in This Story

enroll – v. to enter someone as a member of or participant in something

figures –n. numbers

incredibly – adj. difficult or impossible to believe

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 enroll   

v.招收；登记；入学；参军；成为会员（英)enrol

参考例句：

• I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
• They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。

5 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

6 canny   

adj.谨慎的，节俭的

参考例句：

• He was far too canny to risk giving himself away.他非常谨慎，不会冒险暴露自己。
• But I'm trying to be a little canny about it.但是我想对此谨慎一些。

7 bishops   

（基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象

参考例句：

• Each player has two bishops at the start of the game. 棋赛开始时，每名棋手有两只象。
• "Only sheriffs and bishops and rich people and kings, and such like. “他劫富济贫，抢的都是郡长、主教、国王之类的富人。