VOA慢速英语2021 塔利班暴力提升 美国接受更多阿富汗难民

The United States is expanding efforts to permit Afghan citizens who have worked with the U.S. to resettle as refugees in America.

美国正在加大力度，允许曾跟美国共事过的阿富汗公民作为难民到美国重新定居。

The U.S. State Department announced Monday it was widening a refugee program. The move is expected to offer permanent U.S. refugee status to "many thousands of Afghans and their immediate¹ family members."

美国国务院周一宣布扩大难民计划。预计此举将为“数万名阿富汗人及其直系亲属”提供永久的美国难民身份。

The State Department said "the U.S. objective remains² a peaceful, secure Afghanistan." However, it added that the refugee program was being expanded "in light of increased levels of Taliban violence" in the country.

美国国务院声称“美国的目标仍然是一个和平、安全的阿富汗。”然而它还表示，鉴于该国塔利班暴力程度增加，这项难民计划正在扩大。

The expansion aims to help Afghans who might be targeted by Taliban militants³ because of their work with U.S.-based organizations during the 20-year war in Afghanistan.

此次扩大旨在帮助可能成为塔利班武装分子目标的阿富汗人，因为他们在阿富汗20年战争期间跟美国机构共事。

The announcement came as Taliban violence has increased ahead of a planned withdrawal⁴ of U.S. military forces from the country by the end of this month.

宣布这一消息之际，正值美国计划本月底从该国撤军之前塔利班暴力活动有所增加之际。

The State Department said it had created a new "Priority Two" category to accept more Afghan refugees within its U.S. Refugee Admissions Program.

美国国务院表示，它已经建立了一个“优先级二”的新分类，以便在美国难民接纳计划中接收更多阿富汗难民。

The change extends refugee status to current and former employees of U.S.-based aid and development agencies. Other assistance groups receiving U.S. financing are also included. In addition, Afghan citizens working for U.S.-based news organizations are included in the program.

这一变化将难民身份扩展到美国援助和发展机构的现任和前任雇员。其它接受美国资助的援助团体也包括在内。此外，为美国新闻机构工作的阿富汗公民也包括在该计划内。

The expansion will also cover current and former employees of the U.S. government and NATO military operations who do not meet requirements for existing refugee programs.

这次扩大还将涵盖不符合现有难民计划要求的美国政府和北约军事行动的现任和前任雇员。

The new category is meant for Afghans who are not able to get a Special Immigrant Visa, SIV, because they did not work directly for the U.S. government or did not hold their government jobs long enough.

新类别适用于无法获得特殊移民签证的阿富汗人，因为他们没有直接为美国政府工作，或是为美国政府工作的时间不够长。

To qualify, Afghans must be nominated by a U.S. government agency or by the highest U.S. citizen employee of a U.S-based media company or nongovernmental organization.

阿富汗人要想获得资格，必须由美国政府机构，或是美国媒体公司或非政府组织中最高级别的美国员工进行提名。

The first group of approved SIV holders⁵ -- most of whom served as translators or did other work for U.S. troops or diplomats⁶ -- arrived in the U.S. last Friday. That group of 221 people is among 2,500 who will be brought to the U.S. in the coming days.

第一批获批特殊移民签证的持有人于上周五抵达美国，他们大多数是为美国军队或外交官担任翻译或是其它工作。这221人是未来几天将被带到美国的2500人当中的一部分。

Another 4,000 SIV holders have not yet received full approval. They are expected to be resettled with their families to third countries ahead of the completion of the U.S. withdrawal. About 20,000 Afghans have expressed interest in that program.

另外4000名特殊移民签证的持有人尚未获得完全批准。他们预计将在美国完成撤军之前与家人一起被重新安置到第三国。大约有2万名阿富汗人表示对该计划感兴趣。

1 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。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 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。

4 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

5 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》