美国国家公共电台 NPR Long-Persecuted Rohingya Find Refuge, But Not Acceptance, In Bangladesh

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Let's return to the story of the Rohingya. They're a Muslim minority group in Buddhist¹ majority Myanmar. And they have been persecuted² by that country's government for decades, so much so that many flee for something better somewhere else. Sometimes they go by boat south toward Malaysia or they go across the border into neighboring Bangladesh.

By some estimates, there are now more than 500,000 Rohingya stranded³ in Bangladesh which has grudgingly⁴ offered them refuge but not acceptance. As Michael Sullivan reports from southern Bangladesh, local patience is wearing thin.

MICHAEL SULLIVAN, BYLINE⁵: I'm walking down what will soon be the new highway that will link this place, Teknaf, with its beautiful beaches on the Bay of Bengal, with Cox's Bazar 50 miles up the road. And the developers have already staked out their claims alongside the road from when this road gets finished. And that's what the Bangladeshi government is hoping for. They're hoping that this will be the new beach tourist destination.

(SOUNDBITE OF WAVES)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: How much?

SULLIVAN: Until then, Cox's Bazar will have to do, and it has its charms.

(SOUNDBITE OF JET SKIS)

SULLIVAN: A terrifying Jet Ski ride, for instance, on what's billed as the world's longest beach. And there's parasailing and pony⁷ rides, too.

(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLES HONKING)

SULLIVAN: But it's still very much a work in progress. Getting to the beachside hotels can be a challenge on roads packed with rickshaws, motorbikes and really big buses on really narrow streets - but they're working on it. And Lieutenant⁸ Colonel Anwar Ul Islam, who heads the Cox's Bazar Development Authority, has big plans - starting with a new airport.

ANWAR UL ISLAM: We look for the tourists from all over the world. We have a goal to attract them. Yeah, that's why the airport is going to be the international airport.

SULLIVAN: So you're building a newer, bigger airport to accommodate more flights and bigger planes?

UL ISLAM: Yeah. Yes, big airplanes. Yeah.

SULLIVAN: And if that happens, he says, he's confident the foreign tourists will come, that Cox's Bazar will give Thailand and the Philippines a run for their money and bring badly needed jobs and investment in a country of more than 150 million that hasn't enough of either.

UL ISLAM: Yes, definitely, definitely.

SULLIVAN: But there's a problem. Almost all of those Rohingya refugees, they live in and around here, not a big selling point for a go-to tourist destination. And the colonel knows it.

UL ISLAM: It is an issue. It is an issue. Actually, the government has decided⁹ if we can relocate these Rohingya to another places, it will be better.

SULLIVAN: Better for the Rohingya if they get to a third country - like they want - and better for Bangladesh, too. Until then, they're stuck here, not allowed to move or even work - not legally, anyway. This is a brick factory a short drive from Cox's Bazar.

The brickmaking here labor¹⁰ intensive, the workers shaping, drying then baking the bricks that help fuel the construction boom in Cox's Bazar. The factory manager, Shah Jahan, says he hires Rohingya for the nastiest jobs - hauling the coal to bake the bricks.

SHAH JAHAN: (Through interpreter) We don't recruit them. If they come looking for work and we need people, we give them a job.

SULLIVAN: He's even given one Rohingya a permanent job as a mechanic to keep the ovens cooking. Hassan - we're only using his first name because he's not supposed to be working here - is 30 years old and fled here two years ago fearing arrest in Myanmar. And this job, he says, is the best he's had since he came here.

HASSAN: (Through interpreter) The last job I had, the boss tried to cheat me and didn't give me my full salary. He told me if I complained, he'd have someone hurt me. So I left and came here.

SULLIVAN: Hassan says he sends about half the hundred dollars a month he earns back to his family still living in Myanmar. But many locals think he shouldn't even have a job as a refugee. At a nearby construction site we meet two - Habibur Rahaman and Ala-uddin.

HABIBUR RAHAMAN: (Through interpreter) We compete for the same jobs. The more of them that come, the less opportunities we have to work and to make money. They'll also work for half the wages we get.

SULLIVAN: Ala-uddin is more blunt.

ALA-UDDIN: (Through interpreter) It's already poor. We don't need any more Rohingya coming here and making it worse. Not all Rohingya are bad, some are good, but they still take our jobs. And some are involved in the illegal drugs trade, too.

SULLIVAN: And not just the drug trade, some analysts¹¹ worry a newly-formed Rohingya insurgent¹² group could start recruiting in the camps here and use them as a staging area for attacks into Myanmar.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Foreign language spoken).

SULLIVAN: In this video uploaded to YouTube, one of the group's alleged¹³ leader's calls for a Rohingya uprising against the Myanmar military. If that happens, it could prompt another furious response from the military and another wave of refugees.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: (Foreign language spoken).

SULLIVAN: This might help explain the Bangladeshi government's announcement in January it was going ahead with plans to relocate the Rohingya refugees to a remote island some three hours away by boat. That announcement caused alarm in the international aid community and fear among the Rohingya.

ABUL KASHEM: (Through interpreter) They don't want to go to the island of Thengar Char⁶.

SULLIVAN: Abul Kashem is an unlikely advocate for the Rohingya, a Bangladeshi human rights activist¹⁴ who runs the NGO Help Cox's Bazar.

KASHEM: (Through interpreter) Who would want to be sent to an island where the water swells¹⁵ up and people cannot live? None of them are willing to go to Thengar Char.

SULLIVAN: He's sympathetic to his countrymen's complaints about competition for scarce resources but he's more sympathetic to the Rohingya's plight¹⁶.

KASHEM: (Through interpreter) They neither get support in their country, nor can they feel at home here in this country. They are really vulnerable. They're deprived of all the rights of education, country, religion and language. They're deprived of everything.

SULLIVAN: The Rohingya have no good options, he says - stay in squalid camps here barely surviving or risk returning home to Myanmar and retribution from the military. Of the 70,000 who fled since October, only a handful have chosen to go back. For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

(SOUNDBITE OF MESSAGE TO BEARS' "HOPE")

GREENE: And our series on the Rohingya this week was produced by Ashley Westerman. You can find more of that reporting on the Rohingya and photos from their trip to southern Bangladesh at npr.org.

(SOUNDBITE OF MESSAGE TO BEARS' "HOPE")

1 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

2 persecuted   

（尤指宗教或政治信仰的）迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 )； 烦扰，困扰或骚扰某人

参考例句：

• Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
• Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。

3 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

4 grudgingly   

参考例句：

• He grudgingly acknowledged having made a mistake. 他勉强承认他做错了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Their parents unwillingly [grudgingly] consented to the marriage. 他们的父母无可奈何地应允了这门亲事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 char   

v.烧焦；使...燃烧成焦炭

参考例句：

• Without a drenching rain,the forest fire will char everything.如果没有一场透地雨，森林大火将烧尽一切。
• The immediate batch will require deodorization to char the protein material to facilitate removal in bleaching.脱臭烧焦的蛋白质原料易在脱色中去除。

7 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

8 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

13 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

14 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

15 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

16 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。