2007年VOA标准英语-Black Mauritanian Refugees Wait for Election Re

By Phuong Tran
Dodel, Senegal
18 March 2007

During the final campaign week in Mauritania's second round of the presidential election, two white Arab candidates are trying to court the sizable black vote in a country long divided by color and ethnicity. Blacks expelled almost two decades ago are watching the new candidates, looking for signs they may safely return. Phuong Tran brings us this report from a Mauritanian refugee camp in Senegal, 20-kilometers from the border.

 
Mauritanian horse carriage 
Camps like this one in Dodel hold thousands of Mauritanians along the Senegal-Mauritania border.

Dotting the 600 kilometer desert landscape are hundreds of communities of straw thatched huts, sparse² vegetation and thousands of blacks pushed out of Mauritania in the early 1990's, when ethnic¹ and regional tensions flared³.

These men closely follow the second round of voting between candidates Sidi Ould Sheik Abdellahi and Ahmed Ould Daddah.

 
Amadou Samba Ba camp chief with son  
But none of these men who heatedly argue politics over mint tea are able to vote. They say when they fled, officials took away their papers and now they have no way of proving their Mauritanian citizenship⁴.

This camp's chief Amadou Samba Ba, a former high-ranking army official, says he wants to go back if the elected president delivers on promises to end slavery and a safe return for refugees, but that otherwise he will accept repatriation⁵ to another country. He says he wants to show his seven children life outside the camp.

Human-rights lobbyists and blacks say racism⁶ is widespread in Mauritania, where slavery is still openly practiced.

 
Moustapha Toure 
Spokesman for the Association of Mauritanian Refugees in Senegal, Moustapha Toure, says most Mauritanian refugees want to return home, but only if officials acknowledge what he says are human-rights abuses against blacks. He adds his community is ready to negotiate its return.

"We are open. We will probably accept to discuss with Mauritanian officials," said Toure. "But we have our conditions. It will be very difficult for us, but I think it is right for Mauritanians to come back to their home."

The group's conditions include the organization of a national commission of truth and reconciliation⁷ and an internationally overseen⁸ repatriation.

 
Mauritanian girl
Displaced Mauritanians also want a guarantee of proper citizenship papers and help with employment and housing.

A U.S. based refugee advocacy organization, Refugees International, says expelled Mauritanians are essentially⁹ stateless. Most do not have refugee status because of the expensive and complicated process in Senegal, where most live.

Mauritania will not accept them if they cannot show Mauritanian papers.

There is not a lot of work for this kora player, like others in Mauritanian border camps.

Some find occasional work in livestock¹⁰ or agriculture, but mostly they simply wait.

On March 25, voters in Mauritania will elect one of the two presidential candidates, the first time a president has not been elected in the first round.

It is also to be the first democratic change in government in a country that has been rocked by repeated coups¹² and coup¹¹ attempts.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 sparse   

adj.稀疏的，稀稀落落的，薄的

参考例句：

• The teacher's house is in the suburb where the houses are sparse.老师的家在郊区，那里稀稀拉拉有几处房子。
• The sparse vegetation will only feed a small population of animals.稀疏的植物只够喂养少量的动物。

3 Flared   

adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The match flared and went out. 火柴闪亮了一下就熄了。
• The fire flared up when we thought it was out. 我们以为火已经熄灭，但它突然又燃烧起来。

4 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

5 repatriation   

n.遣送回国，归国

参考例句：

• The Volrep programme is the preferred means of repatriation. 政府认为自愿遣返计划的遣返方法较为可取。 来自互联网
• Arrange the cargo claiming and maritime affairs,crews repatriation,medical treatment,traveling so on. （六）洽办货物理赔，船舶海事处理，办理船员遣返，就医，旅游等。 来自互联网

6 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

7 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

8 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

11 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

12 coups   

n.意外而成功的行动( coup的名词复数 )；政变；努力办到难办的事

参考例句：

• China has seen many political coups within the ruling class. 中国统治阶级内部发生过很多政变。 来自互联网
• Thailand has had eighteen coups or coup attendance since nineteen thirty-two. 泰国1932年以来有18次政变或参加政变。 来自互联网