VOA标准英语2012--Record Number of Africans Flee to Yemen

 

Record Number of Africans Flee to Yemen

A record number of African refugees and migrants have arrived in Yemen this year. Most are from Ethiopia. U.N. refugee agency spokesman Andrej Mahecic says more people are crossing the Red Sea and Gulf¹ of Aden to get to Yemen.

“There are now more than 43,000 people – migrants and refugees – from the Horn of Africa who have reached Yemen during the first four months of this year. We are looking at the record figures compared to the same period last year or any other year before,” he said.

For the same period last year, 13,000 fewer people made the journey.

“Last year, we have about 103,000 people arriving from the Horn of Africa into Yemen and that was the record year. Now should this trend of a high number of arrivals continue, this year, 2012, could sadly become another record year,” he said.

Many more Ethiopians

There was a time when most of the refugees and migrants reaching Yemen were Somalis. That began to change in 2009 and today every 3 out of 4 arrivals are Ethiopians. Unlike Somalis, who are fleeing conflict and a humanitarian² crisis, Ethiopians are said to be leaving their country for economic reasons. Once they arrive in Yemen, they hope to reach other Gulf States to find work.

However, while Somalis are automatically recognized as refugees, Ethiopians are not. As a result, they face arrest, deportation³ or worse.

Life and death

The UNHCR spokesman said Somalis reach Yemen often by boarding boats in northern Somalia, while Ethiopians make their way through Djibouti to cross the Red Sea. The journey can take days for Somalis, but just a few hours for Ethiopians. Nevertheless, Mahecic says both groups are in life or death situations.

“Every step of the journey they face, first of all, shocking levels of abuse and violence by the smugglers, by the traffickers. We are talking ultimately about the illegal migration⁴. They face also the arbitrary arrests and the possible detention⁵. The problems at the borders, the forced deportation. They lack access to shelter, water and food and medical assistance along the way,” said Mahecic.

Also, within Yemen itself 470,000 people have been displaced by both tribal⁶ clashes and fighting between government forces and militants⁷. The UNHCR is appealing for $60 million for humanitarian efforts in Yemen for both refugees and the displaced. 

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

4 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。

5 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。

6 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

7 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。