VOA标准英语2009年-Number of Boat People Trying to Reach Aust

The number of boat people trying to reach Australia continues to surge, with a new boat recently found. Most are fleeing conflicts in South Asia.
　
Department of Home Affairs image shows two launches, right, from HMAS Launceston, not seen, intercepting¹ boat, believed to be carrying 72 suspected asylum² seekers, 29 Apr 2009

So far this year, about 900 illegal migrants have been found at sea near Australia - four times the number for all of 2008. The surge has authorities worried.

In the latest case, about 73 asylum seekers are being taken to the Australian territory of Christmas Island in the middle of the Indian Ocean for processing.

Most of the migrants trying to reach Australia this year are escaping fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Most travel to Malaysia or Indonesia where people smugglers have established the logistics, however dangerous, to ferry people in search of safety and a better life into Australian waters.

Pamela Curr is a campaign strategist for the Asylum Resource Center in Melbourne. She says more needs to be done to help those seeking to flee troubled homelands.

"The fact of life is there is [are] no formal or thoughtful mechanisms⁴ for someone facing death in Afghanistan or Iraq to get out," Curr said. "They go to the United Nations High Commissioner⁵ for Refugees in Jakarta, they get turned away and told to go to the Australian embassy. They go to the Australian embassy, same thing. This is what they tell me, four to five times they go backward and forward and then where do they go? They go to the people smuggler³ who offers them a trip on a boat."

The increased numbers has resulted in much closer cooperation among customs agents and police in Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia where Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd recently visited and asked for help in shutting down people smuggling⁶.

However, Curr says this will not be enough to stop the current wave of boat people despite the perils⁷ of barely seaworthy vessels⁸.

"We can give advice from our perspective and that is 'Don't get on a boat, you stand a good chance of drowning because the boats that are used are boats that are disposable,'" Curr said. "The fishermen who rent them out and bring them across know they are going to be burnt at the other end. So they are not boats that are fit for a return journey."

Curr says despite those warnings, until life in Central Asia and the Middle East improves, and governments in transit⁹ countries like Indonesia and Malaysia firmly grasp the issue, the flow into Australia is unlikely to abate¹⁰.

Members of the conservative opposition¹¹ blame Prime Minister Rudd for the increased flow, because he eased rules on indefinitely detaining suspected illegal migrants and other policies on boat people. The opposition argues that Mr. Rudd's new policies encourage people to sneak¹² into the country.

Australia accepts more than 10,000 refugees a year, after they have been screened through official programs run by the United Nations and other organizations.

 

1 intercepting   

截取（技术），截接

参考例句：

• The police had been intercepting my mail, ie reading it before it was delivered. 警方一直截查我的邮件。
• We've been intercepting radio transmissions from Moscow. 我们已从莫斯科拦截到无线电信号。

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 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。

4 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 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。

7 perils   

极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境）

参考例句：

• The commander bade his men be undaunted in the face of perils. 指挥员命令他的战士要临危不惧。
• With how many more perils and disasters would he load himself? 他还要再冒多少风险和遭受多少灾难？

8 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 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。

10 abate   

vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退

参考例句：

• We must abate the noise pollution in our city.我们必须消除我们城里的噪音污染。
• The doctor gave him some medicine to abate the powerful pain.医生给了他一些药，以减弱那剧烈的疼痛。

11 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。

12 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。