VOA常速英语2008年-Police Arrest Angry Liberian Refugees in Ghana

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
17 March 2008

Police in Ghana have arrested Liberian refugees who were leading protests at a camp outside the capital Accra. The refugees had refused to stop their month-long demonstration¹ against a U.N.-funded repatriation² program. VOA's Nico Colombant has more, with reporting by Ruby³ Amable from Ghana.

Police say they arrested about 200 refugees and that they were being processed for court action.

They said they were being held at a police location in Agomeda, in the east of the country, after they were moved there following a police operation.

Meanwhile, residents outside the Buduburam camp near Accra where the protest was taking place said police had cordoned⁴ off the area.

For the past four weeks, Liberian mothers and children sat outside on small pieces of foam⁵ and thin mats on a football field just outside their camp, about an hour's drive north of the capital, Accra.

Police and Ghanaian government officials said this was unacceptable, and that the refugees were violating public order. They said they were causing traffic and public disturbances⁶.

The Liberians are against what is being called a voluntary repatriation program, which is set to expire at the end of June. Ghanaian officials say the Liberians will lose their refugee status and become illegal aliens if they stay in Ghana.

The refugees are being offered a free trip and $100 by the U.N. refugee agency to resettle in Liberia, but they say it is not enough.

They are also afraid.

Some of them, like Elvira Cheady, says that since she is from the same ethnic⁷ group as Liberia's former military ruler, Samuel Doe, she feels she will be persecuted⁸.

One of her friends explains what exactly she is trying to say.

"She says she cannot go back home because she is from the Doe regime and the Doe regime are the people that they are looking for," she said. "They are the hunted people so she cannot return to Liberia, while she knows that they will locate her, and they will hunt her, so it is her fear."

Madison Gwoin acted as a spokesman for the protesters. Just before the police operation, he said Liberian refugees would rather be sent to another country.

"We feel that countries are out there, by the grace of God, in this Liberian context, that will see reason to open their corridors for resettlement," said Gwoin.

Another refugee, Sarah Mayson, said she feels long-time refugees should be getting more help, including jobs and schooling⁹ in another country.

 

"We sit here and sell cold water," said Mayson. "We have to sell peanuts to make ends meet. So I think we should be resettled to a third country where we will be able to work and go to school, to prepare our children for tomorrow. A lot of us came here in our early 20s and we are now in our 40s, some of us are in our 50s and 60s, and nothing has been done."

Officials from Ghana's government refugee board say 40,000 Liberian refugees remain in the country, and that very few have left since the end of the Liberian civil war in 2003.

UNHCR officials have said large-scale resettlement outside Liberia is not an option, and that these refugees should make an effort in helping¹⁰ rebuild their country.

1 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

2 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

3 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

4 cordoned   

v.封锁，用警戒线围住( cordon的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the area until the bomb was defused. 警方封锁了这个地区直到炸弹被拆除为止。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

6 disturbances   

n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍

参考例句：

• The government has set up a commission of inquiry into the disturbances at the prison. 政府成立了一个委员会来调查监狱骚乱事件。
• Extra police were called in to quell the disturbances. 已调集了增援警力来平定骚乱。

7 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

8 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

9 schooling   

n.教育；正规学校教育

参考例句：

• A child's access to schooling varies greatly from area to area.孩子获得学校教育的机会因地区不同而大相径庭。
• Backward children need a special kind of schooling.天赋差的孩子需要特殊的教育。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。