美国国家公共电台 NPR Italy Surpasses Greece As Top Euro Destination For Asylum Seekers

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: 

In 2016, Italy took over from Greece as the primary landing spot for migrants and refugees entering Europe. Nearly 180,000 people arrived in Italy, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa. That's left Italy trying to manage a surge in asylum¹-seekers. And as NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports, most refugees do not understand the process.

SYLVIA POGGIOLI, BYLINE³: In central Rome, the man who oversees⁴ the national network of committees that process asylum requests sits at a desk covered with tall piles of folders⁵. Angelo Trovato says each committee has three members representing police, local authorities and UNHCR, the UN refugee agency.

ANGELO TROVATO: (Through interpreter) Each applicant⁶ is interviewed by one committee member, but when it comes to deciding the destiny of an individual, the decision can't be made by a single person. It must be reached collectively.

POGGIOLI: As of early December, some 116,000 migrants had filed request for asylum this year - almost five times as many as in 2013. Trovato says the committees must judge whether, in their countries, applicants⁷ face persecution⁸ due to race, religion, ethnicity, membership in a special group or political views, as established by international conventions, or whether they're just fleeing poverty and therefore should be sent home.

TOURE SEKOU: (Speaking French).

POGGIOLI: This young man speaking French is from Guinea in West Africa. Asked his name, he says Toure Sekou. Maybe it is, but Sekou Toure is also the name of his country's first president. Like many migrants, this young man is fearful and diffident toward strangers. Asked to tell his story, he says I prefer to tell it to the interviewer; I don't like to talk too much.

The entire asylum process can take from a few months to more than a year. A positive result depends on how believable is the applicant's story. Barbara Boni is a lawyer who does pro² bono work with asylum-seekers. The newly arrived, she says, are often still in a state of shock from the perilous⁹ sea-crossing. And those fleeing persecution or conflict often don't have documents to prove it.

BARBARA BONI: (Through interpreter) Asylum-seekers usually leave out details that they don't think are important. And if they're not prepared beforehand, they generally speak very little, and that hurts their chances.

POGGIOLI: For help navigating¹⁰ the system and legal advice, migrants can come to this immigration services center in Rome. Volunteer Abiba Outtara has lived in Italy since 2007. Outtara was granted asylum thanks to medical records that proved she had been tortured in jail during civil strife¹¹ in her native Ivory Coast. Trained as a nurse, she says her job now resembles that of a therapist, carefully probing to discover the real dramas often buried deep inside many migrants. Most of them, she says, don't even know what asylum is.

ABIBA OUTTARA: (Through interpreter) Most of them have probably been living for years under a dictatorship, but they tell the interviewer a different story because they don't even know what persecution is.

POGGIOLI: With migrant arrivals surging, so are asylum rejections¹². This year, committees denied 57 percent of requests. Migrants can then file appeal with Italian courts, which generally are more lenient¹³, but the entire process can take years. Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

1 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

2 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

5 folders   

n.文件夹( folder的名词复数 )；纸夹；（某些计算机系统中的）文件夹；页面叠

参考例句：

• Encrypt and compress individual files and folders. The program is compact, efficient and user friendly. 加密和压缩的个人档案和folders.the计划是紧凑，高效和用户友好。 来自互联网
• By insertion of photocopies,all folders can be maintained complete with little extra effort. 插入它的复制本，不费多大力量就能使所有文件夹保持完整。 来自辞典例句

6 applicant   

n.申请人，求职者，请求者

参考例句：

• He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
• In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。

7 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

8 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

9 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

10 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

11 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

12 rejections   

拒绝( rejection的名词复数 )； 摒弃； 剔除物； 排斥

参考例句：

• Most writers endure a number of rejections before being published. 大部分作家经历无数次的退稿才守得云开，作品得到发表。
• Supervise workers and monitors production quality to minimize rejections. 管理工人，监控生产质量，减少退货。

13 lenient   

adj.宽大的，仁慈的

参考例句：

• The judge was lenient with him.法官对他很宽大。
• It's a question of finding the means between too lenient treatment and too severe punishment.问题是要找出处理过宽和处罚过严的折中办法。