VOA标准英语2008年-UN Says People Smuggling Across Gulf of Aden Do

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
11 May 2008

The U.N. refugee agency reports the number of people arriving on the coast of Yemen after being smuggled¹ across the treacherous² Gulf³ of Aden from the Horn of Africa has more than doubled this year. At the same time, the UNHCR says the number of deaths has gone down by half. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

The United Nations High Commissioner⁴ for Refugees says that by the latter part of April, more than 15,300 people reportedly arrived in Yemen. About 360 were reported killed or missing during the hazardous⁵ voyage.

UN refugee agency spokeswoman Jennifer Pagonis says records show that during the same period last year more than 7,000 people had arrived in Yemen and about the same number had perished.

"Any reduction in the death toll⁶ is incredibly welcome. We do not really know whether this is a new phenomena⁷ that is going to continue or not. But, some new arrivals have mentioned receiving water and food during the crossing, which is quite new. And, the boats seem to be less crowded than in previous years," said Pagonis.

The UNHCR says the surge in arrivals early this year was largely due to the continuing conflict in Somalia and the use of new smuggling⁸ routes from Somalia to Yemen and across the Red Sea from Djibouti. Many of the asylum⁹ seekers also said they were forced to leave because of crop losses due to drought.

For years, the death toll has been mounting among Somalis and Ethiopians crossing the Gulf of Aden in rickety smugglers boats. People pay smugglers up to $150 to make the treacherous journey, which usually ends up being a nightmare and often fatal.

Pagonis says survivors¹⁰ tell horrific tales of brutality¹¹, about passengers being beaten, stabbed, and raped¹². She says many people have drowned after smugglers have forced them to jump into the sea before arriving on the coast of Yemen.

"What we have been trying to point out to people are the dangers of crossing. When you have refugees who are fleeing, it is one of these tricky¹³ situations," added Pagonis. "You cannot say we do not encourage you to leave your own country because the risks are really great. People who are fleeing for their lives are going to take whatever means they can to get out of there. But, we just need to point out the risk to them that they may well lose their lives."

Pagonis says the UNHCR has been calling for increased action to save lives in the Gulf of Aden and other waters. She says the agency is stepping up an information campaign to inform refugees of the dangers of traveling in smugglers' boats.

And, she says, the UNHCR is expanding its work in Yemen to provide additional shelter and assistance, as well as protection for refugees and internally displaced people.

1 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

2 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 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。

5 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

6 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

7 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

8 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

9 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。

10 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

11 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

12 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

13 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。