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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Thailand Seafood1 Industry Denies Human Trafficking Allegations 泰国海鲜产业否认贩卖人口的指控
BANGKOK — Thailand reels in more than $7 billion annually2 as the world’s third largest exporter of seafood, but the industry has been tainted3 by links to human trafficking.
Leaders of Thailand’s shrimp4 and tuna suppliers say they are being unfairly maligned5, causing damage to their businesses which employ hundreds of thousands of people.
Thailand’s fishing industry relies on migrant labor6. Rights groups and Western media have uncovered evidence of a brutal7 system of slavery utilizing8 trafficked workers.
Min Min Chan, from Myanmar, claims that eight years ago, at the age of 17, he was tricked by a recruiter and sold to a Thai fishing boat for little more than $600.
He says for several years he toiled9 on the ship with little sleep, water or food. And when he became seriously ill, the captain told him not to stop working.
“I thought it was better to die by jumping into the water than to die by being tortured by these people," the former seafood worker said. "When I was about to jump, my friend grabbed me from behind and saved my life.”
He later escaped and hid out on Indonesia’s Ambon island until this year when he was repatriated10 by the International Organization For Migration11.
Such testimony12 has led to Thailand being listed among the worst violators of trafficking in persons.
In an annual report released Friday, the U.S. State Department cites surveys that show between 17 and 57 percent of those in Thailand’s seafood industry work against their will.
Those statistics are rejected by industry officials here, who question the sources and reliability13 of the data.
The Thai Tuna Industry Association, formed last year, says it allows external verification to ensure workers are treated ethically14.
At a news conference Tuesday, a coalition15 of Thailand’s frozen shrimp industry said, “There is no slavery involved in the shrimp supply chain.”
Industry leader Panisuan Jamnarnwej says Thailand’s prawns16 have been clean of exploitive labor for years.
The former president of the Thai Frozen Foods Association says the industry cannot risk concealing17 damaging information.
“Consumer perception, we have to work on. We have to provide the truth," said Panisuan Jamnarnwej. "If we keep lying, sooner or later, they’ll discover it and it’ll be even worse than what’s happening at the moment.”
The publicity18 is having an impact.
Some major international retailers19 are dropping suppliers linked to the allegations of slavery and overseas buyers plan to work with non-governmental organizations to try to ensure that there is no forced labor in the supply chain.
1 seafood | |
n.海产食品,海味,海鲜 | |
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2 annually | |
adv.一年一次,每年 | |
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3 tainted | |
adj.腐坏的;污染的;沾污的;感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 );使污染;败坏;被污染,腐坏,败坏 | |
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4 shrimp | |
n.虾,小虾;矮小的人 | |
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5 maligned | |
vt.污蔑,诽谤(malign的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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6 labor | |
n.劳动,努力,工作,劳工;分娩;vi.劳动,努力,苦干;vt.详细分析;麻烦 | |
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7 brutal | |
adj.残忍的,野蛮的,不讲理的 | |
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8 utilizing | |
v.利用,使用( utilize的现在分词 ) | |
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9 toiled | |
长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的过去式和过去分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉 | |
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10 repatriated | |
v.把(某人)遣送回国,遣返( repatriate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11 migration | |
n.迁移,移居,(鸟类等的)迁徙 | |
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12 testimony | |
n.证词;见证,证明 | |
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13 reliability | |
n.可靠性,确实性 | |
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14 ethically | |
adv.在伦理上,道德上 | |
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15 coalition | |
n.结合体,同盟,结合,联合 | |
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16 prawns | |
n.对虾,明虾( prawn的名词复数 ) | |
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17 concealing | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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18 publicity | |
n.众所周知,闻名;宣传,广告 | |
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19 retailers | |
零售商,零售店( retailer的名词复数 ) | |
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