2006年VOA标准英语-Rwandan Refugees Says Burundi Rejects 95 P

By Cathy Majtenyi
Musasa Transit¹ Center, Burundi
26 April 2006

About 18,000 Rwandans in northern Burundi are applying to stay in Burundi as refugees, claiming that their lives are in danger. But about 95 percent of the applications have so far been rejected and the Rwandans are to be sent home. Human rights groups accuse Rwanda of pressuring Burundi to return the asylum² seekers, a charge both governments deny.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Rwandan asylum seekers gather in front of the shelter at Musasa transit center in Burundi  
  

It is raining heavily at the Musasa transit center in northern Burundi's Ngozi province.

People scramble³ into rows and rows of long, narrow, warehouse-type structures made of tin roofs and walls of plastic sheets displaying the U.N. refugee agency's logo.

Inside, Juma Ndahiroho wraps himself up with a jacket to ward⁴ of the cold dampness. He is sitting in a partitioned-off cubicle⁵ that he shares with his wife and two children.

Ndahiroho, not his real name, came to Musasa camp last March after fleeing neighboring Rwanda. He say he was a campaigner for Rwandan opposition⁶ politician Faustin Twagiramungu during Rwanda's 2003 elections and was, as a result, harassed⁷ by members of the ruling Rwandese Patriotic⁸ Front, or RPF.

He says he and his family were followed by cars with tinted⁹ windows that he suspects were police. He claims that the Rwandan government does not tolerate different opinions, and is afraid that he and his family will be killed if they have to return to Rwanda.

Ndahiroho is one of about 18,000 Rwandan asylum seekers who live in dismal¹⁰ conditions at Musasa and nearby Songore center, waiting for their cases to be heard.

 
Children pose for a picture at Musasa transit center in northern Burundi's Ngozi province
  
Rwandan asylum seekers began trickling¹¹ into Burundi last March shortly after the start in Rwanda of traditional trials known as "gacaca." These trials deal at the grassroots level with perpetrators of Rwanda's 1994 genocide in which Hutu extremists killed up to 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Many asylum seekers claim that the gacaca trials were unfair, they were being persecuted¹² by the system, and they heard rumors¹³ of possible upcoming genocide revenge attacks. Others, such as Ndahiroho, said they fled because they were afraid of reprisals¹⁴ for opposing the government.

Last December, a commission of representatives from the U.N. refugee agency and the governments of Rwanda and Burundi began hearing the asylum seekers' cases.

Of the 1,249 applications examined, the commission accepted only 52 people, or a little less than five percent, as refugees. Earlier this month, Burundi's interior minister said his government would expel all Rwandans rejected by the commission.

Tony Garcia, a senior protection officer with the U.N. refugee agency in northern Burundi, explains why the commission turned down most of the applications.

"The stories were confusing, contradictory¹⁵, when you ask the head of the family and then you ask the wife the same questions, they will tell you something else," he said. "So it was just bad credibility or poor stories; probably inventions. People knew if they are refugees they will get assistance, so they were perhaps forcing themselves to say something because otherwise they would be sent back and maybe they left because they needed food. Who knows?"

A section of the Musasa transit center, where some 18,000 Rwandans are applying for refugee status in Burundi  
  
But there have been international concerns about how Rwanda's 2003 elections were conducted, the fall-out from those elections, and the way the gacaca trials are being conducted.

The London-based human rights group Amnesty International says in the run-up to the elections, the ruling party RPF detained opposition supporters, forced people to join the RPF, and issued death threats to those supporting the opposition. The group also says Rwandan authorities stifle¹⁶ criticisms of the Rwandan government, especially concerning the gacaca trials.

In a statement released last year, the American group Refugees International accused Rwanda of pressuring Burundi to send back the asylum seekers, primarily as a way of showing that the gacaca system is fair and just. 
 
 
Didace Nzikoruriho
  
Retired¹⁷ Colonel Didace Nzikoruriho, a refugee advisor¹⁸ for the Ministry¹⁹ of Home Affairs in Burundi, says the Rwandan government is justified²⁰ in taking measures that may seem repressive but are necessary to get the country back on its feet after the horrific genocide.

He denies that the Rwandan government is putting pressure on Burundi to expel the asylum seekers, saying that both governments are following U.N. procedures.

Rwandan presidential advisor Richard Sezibera tells VOA people are free to support any one of Rwanda's nine political parties without being persecuted, and that those claiming to flee the gacaca system are doing so because they want to avoid justice, not because they are being persecuted by the system.

Sezibera says it is a Rwandan government policy to encourage all Rwandans to return to their country.

"The Rwandan government has no apologies to make for wanting her citizens back. In fact, if all governments acted like Rwanda does, than maybe the refugee problem would be solved. That we vigorously invite all refugees to return is a policy of government," he said.

He also denies that the Rwandan government is pressuring Burundi to expel the Rwandan asylum seekers, but said the two governments are working closely together to make sure that these asylum seekers can return to Rwanda.

1 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

2 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。

3 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

4 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

5 cubicle   

n.大房间中隔出的小室

参考例句：

• She studies in a cubicle in the school library.她在学校图书馆的小自习室里学习。
• A technical sergeant hunches in a cubicle.一位技术军士在一间小屋里弯腰坐着。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

8 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

9 tinted   

adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• a pair of glasses with tinted lenses 一副有色镜片眼镜
• a rose-tinted vision of the world 对世界的理想化看法

10 dismal   

adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的

参考例句：

• That is a rather dismal melody.那是一支相当忧郁的歌曲。
• My prospects of returning to a suitable job are dismal.我重新找到一个合适的工作岗位的希望很渺茫。

11 trickling   

n.油画底色含油太多而成泡沫状突起v.滴( trickle的现在分词 )；淌；使)慢慢走；缓慢移动

参考例句：

• Tears were trickling down her cheeks. 眼泪顺着她的面颊流了下来。
• The engine was trickling oil. 发动机在滴油。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

13 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 reprisals   

n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They did not want to give evidence for fear of reprisals. 他们因为害怕报复而不想作证。
• They took bloody reprisals against the leaders. 他们对领导进行了血腥的报复。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

16 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。

17 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

18 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

19 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

20 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。