2007年VOA标准英语-West Africans Back in Africa after Failing to R

By Nico Colombant
Dakar
27 April 2007

Several groups of West Africans, attempting to cross by boat from Senegal to Spain, were caught this week.  Some of them are now back in Senegal after their boat began to sink and they were rescued at sea.  More than 90 people attempted the crossing and up to a dozen of them may have died at sea.  As Nico Colombant reports from Dakar, many survivors¹ were treated for injuries and then faced police in Senegal. 

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Many Senegalese have died on pirogues because of illegal migration

Several men wearing blue tops and trousers, looking tired, distraught, and weak wait for their turn at Senegal's main hospital.

The senior medic in the emergency unit describes the group he has just received.

"We received 15 patients, between them, we have six from Senegal, two from Nigeria, six from Sierra Leone. Among them, we have two females, and one from Mali," he explained.

He says most of their injuries are due to just sitting in awkward positions or problems with their skin, but that there is one serious leg fracture that needs to be operated on. 

The doctor says it is hard to tell how long some of the victims were at sea.

"Those from Senegal spent one week in the boat, but the others spent longer, because we have one from Nigeria, with a fracture, and it looks like it lasts at least one month," he added.

After they are released from the hospital, the patients are turned over to police.

Migration officials say Senegalese are given money to go back to their villages, while foreigners are taken to their embassies in Senegal.

Police said these victims were from a group of 91 that lost its way at sea on a sinking wooden boat. They were rescued first by a Spanish fishing vessel³, and then by a Spanish hospital ship.

The corpses⁴ of two other migrants who died of hypothermia were also dropped off in Dakar.

Survivors say about a dozen others died during the unsuccessful voyage.

Senegalese police also say they caught 96 would-be migrants and four traffickers in the northern coastal⁵ town of Saint-Louis this week.

Barbara Gonzalez Del Rio, at the Dakar offices of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), says it is still difficult to gauge⁶ the severity of the problem.

Pirogues along the shoreline

"The problem is that we do not have any figures of the boats that leave the Senegalese coast," she said.  "It is illegal immigration so we do not have the information.  We know when a boat sinks in the sea or when there are some problems or when it gets to Spain, but we do not have the figure of the quantity of boats that leave the coast."

New security efforts by a European agency called Frontex have been put in place along the African coast to prevent the dangerous crossings. 

Maritime⁷ officials say about 1,500 migrants reached Spain's Canary Islands during the first three months of 2007, a 60 percent drop compared to the same time period last year.

Reports of the latest failed attempts came as the European Union gave Senegal nearly $2.5 million to help fight the tide of illegal immigrants.

1 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

2 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

3 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

4 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

5 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

6 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

7 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。