VOA慢速英语2015 美国军队在东南亚搜救船民

AS IT IS 2015-05-27 US Military Searching for Boat People in Southeast Asia 美国军队在东南亚搜救船民

The United States embassy¹ in Bangkok says the U.S. military is using aircraft to collect information off the west coast of Malaysia. It says the flights are part of efforts to find thousands of migrants. They are believed to be stranded³ at sea on unsafe wooden boats.

The U.S. operation began on May 24 after American officials informed governments in Southeast Asia. An American embassy official said the U.S. has offered to help the governments “improve their understanding of the situation in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.”

Embassy officials said they did not have information about the number of search flights or the aircraft involved.

Earlier this month, Thailand launched a campaign against way stations for migrants along the border with Malaysia. Human traffickers operate such stations to move migrants out of the area, often by boat.           

Some smugglers abandoned the boats and their passengers at sea. The boats are made of wood, and often overcrowded or unsafe. People on them have little or no food and water.

Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand earlier had turned away the overcrowded boats. That led to international criticism of the three countries. Last week, Indonesia and Malaysia announced they would temporarily permit the boat people to land so they could be returned home or settled somewhere else.                                            

The passengers are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladesh. Myanmar is a mostly Buddhist⁵ country. It does not, for the most part, recognize the Rohingya as citizens.

About 140,000 Rohingya have been displaced⁶ since the middle of 2012 because of unrest in Rakhine state.

Already this month, several thousand migrants have been rescued from waters near Indonesia and Malaysia or swum to land. Rights groups believe thousands more could still be at sea.

Officials from the United States, Thailand, Malaysia and other countries will meet in Bangkok on Friday to discuss the crisis⁷.

On Tuesday, crews in Malaysia were recovering bodies from 139 burial areas in the northern part of the country.

Malaysian officials say 28 camps for migrants were found between May 11 and 23 in hard-to-reach mountainous jungle areas. They say the largest camp was able to hold up to 300 people.

Officials in Thailand found similar traffickers' camps and mass graves two weeks ago.

Rights groups have accused Malaysia and Thai officials of ignoring the problem. The groups also say there was evidence of involvement by corrupt⁸ officials.

"Clearly, this area has been an enclave for these ransom-for-release camps," said Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch's deputy⁹ Asia director. He added, "I don't believe for a second that that could take place without connivance¹⁰, at some level, by the authorities."

Words in This Story

strand² – v. to leave (a person or animal) in a place without a way of leaving it

abandon – v. to leave and never return to

smuggler⁴ – n. someone who moves or tries to move (someone or something) from one country to another illegally and secretly

connivance – n. to secretly permit or be involved in wrongdoing

1 embassy   

n.大使馆，大使及其随员

参考例句：

• Large crowd demonstrated outside the British Embassy.很多群众在英国大使馆外面示威。
• He's a U.S. diplomat assigned to the embassy in London.他是美国驻伦敦大使馆的一名外交官。

2 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

3 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

4 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

5 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

6 displaced   

移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 )； 替换； 移走； 撤职

参考例句：

• Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
• He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。

7 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

8 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

9 deputy   

n.代理人，代表，副职；adj.代理的，副的

参考例句：

• John will act as a deputy for me during my absence.我离开期间，约翰将代理我的职务。
• She is the deputy headmistress of the school.她是那所学校的代理校长。

10 connivance   

n.纵容；默许

参考例句：

• The criminals could not have escaped without your connivance.囚犯没有你的默契配合，是逃不掉的。
• He tried to bribe the police into connivance.他企图收买警察放他一马。