VOA标准英语2013--国籍歧视法给一些家庭带来的伤害

 

国籍歧视法给一些家庭带来的伤害

Around the world, some 12 million people are stateless. They are not recognized as citizens by any government and have no protection, no rights.

Too frequently, this situation results from gender¹ discrimination in nationality laws, which prevent women from acquiring, changing, retaining or passing on their nationality to their children. Thus, if a woman has legal standing² but her husband is stateless, or if she is a foreigner and the husband had died before he could register his children, the children are stateless from birth.

These families face severe consequences. Stateless people often lack access to official documentation, formal employment, public healthcare and education. They usually cannot own or rent property and stateless children are often barred from school. These discriminatory nationality laws perpetuate³ statelessness for generations.

Speaking at a recent panel discussion, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration⁴, Kelly Clements, said that the United States is “committed to addressing the global problem of statelessness as part of our commitment to champion human rights and dignity.”

Nearly two years ago, the United States launched the Women’s Nationality Initiative, which seeks to address this type of discrimination against women. As part of the Initiative, the United States introduced a resolution on the right to a nationality with a focus on women and children at the 20th session of the UN Human Rights Council in 2012. The Resolution garnered⁵ 49 co-sponsors and was adopted by consensus⁶.

It was an important step, but the effort is on-going. Nearly 30 countries, most of them in Africa and the Middle East, maintain gender-discriminatory nationality laws.

“At this time, we are particularly concerned about potential statelessness as a result of the conflict in Syria,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary Clements. “We are mindful that gender discrimination in some host country nationality laws could prevent the registration⁷ of children as Syrian nationals, and that preexisting statelessness among thousands of Syrian Kurds may exacerbate⁸ the already dire⁹ situation facing some Syrian refugee families throughout the region,” she said.

“For its part, the United States will continue to champion equal nationality rights for women, and we will continue to use our diplomacy¹⁰ and humanitarian¹¹ assistance to support solutions to statelessness in all its forms.”

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

3 perpetuate   

v.使永存，使永记不忘

参考例句：

• This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
• We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。

4 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。

5 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

6 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

7 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

8 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

11 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。