VOA标准英语2014--谁是真正的难民?

 

What Determines Who is Really a Refugee? 谁是真正的难民?

UNITED NATIONS —

As thousands of children crowd U.S. detention¹ centers, officials struggle to deal with the situation.

More than 21,000 unaccompanied children arrived last year from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, according to a recent U.N. report.

Nearly 19,000 came from Mexico.

This year the numbers only increased, and the deluge² has given rise to a debate that largely depends on whether they can be classified as refugees.

But what determines who is a refugee?

"The children that are fleeing violence and who would be in harm's way if they returned, those are children who would likely qualify for protection here in the United States," said Anna Greene of the International Rescue Committee. "But not all would."

Accoording to Greene, those seeking to escape poverty are often referred to as "economic migrants."

Unlike refugees, they leave their homes by choice. If someone seeking asylum³ in the United States is determined⁴ not to be a refugee, then he or she can be deported⁵.

Jana Mason of the U.N. Refugee Agency says there are specific justifications⁶ for granting refugee satus.

"There are five grounds, and it has to be linked to persecution⁷ — race, religion, your ethnic⁸ or national background, a political opinion that you hold, or membership in a particular social group," he said.

In extraordinary circumstances the United Nations has classified whole groups of people as refugees, such as those fleeing the war in Syria or conflicts in Africa.

So does a government have a different degree of responsibility to a refugee — especially a child — fleeing poverty than it does to one fleeing war?

Greene of the IRC says no.

“It looks different, but the protection principles are exactly the same.  Including that every child who is unaccompanied, regardless of why they may have left, needs certain types of protection that adults don't,” she said.

In the U.S. border case, Mason said it was important that undocumented migrants be given the chance to tell their story and go through the asylum process.

“International law says that if someone could be a refugee, you basically have to give them the benefit of the doubt and not send them back,” said Mason.

The experts said the key to stemming the flow of unaccompanied children and other asylum-seekers from Central America to the U.S. is to address the underlying⁹ factors that are causing them to make such a dangerous journey in the first place.

1 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

2 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

3 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。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 justifications   

正当的理由，辩解的理由( justification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If he a vulgar person, she does not have justifications for him. 如果他是个低级趣味的人，她早就不会理他了。
• It depends on their effect on competition and possible justifications. 这则取决于它们对于竞争的影响和可能存在的正当抗辩理由。

7 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

8 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。

9 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。