VOA慢速英语20060424b

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Number of Refugees in the World at Lowest Level in 25 YearsBy Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, April 24, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Development Report.

The number of refugees in the world is at its lowest in twenty-five years. The United Nations refugee agency estimates the current number at a little more than nine million.

More than half are people who have been in exile for at least five years. The agency says no solutions to their cases can be seen. But it notes progress in efforts to return millions of others to their home countries.

For example, more than four million have returned to Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have returned to Angola, Sierra Leone, Burundi and Liberia.


UNHCR report

Antonio Guterres is the U.N. High Commissioner² or Refugees. He says that although the numbers of refugees are down, their well-being³ remains⁴ a concern. A report from his office last week says immigrants and asylum-seekers face greater barriers than ever. These include fears of terrorism, stronger immigration limits and growing rejection⁵ of foreigners.

Mister Guterres says there is a growing intolerance happening everywhere. In his words: This is creating a difficult environment in which the foreigner, the one that is different, is sometimes hated, sometimes feared.

The high commissioner says the world also faces problems with how it deals with people displaced by conflict. Refugees are defined as people who flee their country because of violence, natural events or political disputes. Internally displaced persons, I.D.P.'s, leave their homes for the same reasons. But the difference is that they remain within their country.

Today conflicts within nations are more common than conflicts between nations. As a result, the report says, fewer people are crossing international borders.

The I.D.P. situation is described as especially bad in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The United Nations estimates that seven-and-one-half million people in those two countries were forced from their homes last year.

A nineteen fifty-one document called the United Nations Refugee Convention defines what refugees are and demands their protection. There is no similar document for internally displaced people. Their number is estimated at twenty-five million worldwide.

Antonio Guterres says I.D.P.'s urgently need help. Internal displacement⁶, he says, is the world's biggest failure in humanitarian⁷ action.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

3 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

4 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。

5 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

6 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

7 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。