美国国家公共电台 NPR Israel Gives African Asylum-Seekers A Choice: Deportation Or Jail

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

While the debate over immigration rages here in the U.S., there's a similar debate happening in Israel. Tens of thousands of East African migrants have gone to Israel in the past decade, and now Israel is handing out deportation¹ notices and threatening jail. NPR's Daniel Estrin begins this report outside an immigration office near Tel Aviv.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE²: So we're here in a parking lot. People from Eritrea and Sudan showed up very early in the morning. A couple guys in line said they got here by 4:00 in the morning. And, one by one, some people are coming out with papers they got from the immigration authorities saying they can take $3,500 dollars and leave to a different country, or else they'll be sent to jail.

MEHRETAB SEYIM: (Foreign language spoken).

ESTRIN: This is Mehretab Seyim from Eritrea. He's 28. He says he came here fleeing an oppressive mandatory³ military service in Eritrea. Israel doesn't consider that a reason for asylum⁴, but Israel acknowledges it's dangerous to send Eritreans and Sudanese back home. So Israel has made deals with two African countries, apparently⁵ Rwanda and Uganda, to take in migrants. Seyim was given a document saying he'd be sent somewhere safe. He has until the beginning of April to decide whether to take the plane ticket and the money or face jail.

SEYIM: (Foreign language spoken).

ESTRIN: He doesn't believe he'll be treated well in Rwanda or Uganda. He'd rather go to jail. He's losing sleep over it, and so is someone else I meet here outside the immigration office.

ANAT REISMAN-LEVY: (Speaking Hebrew).

ESTRIN: That's Israeli volunteer Anat Reisman-Levy.

What are you doing here today?

REISMAN-LEVY: Doing whatever I can do to sleep well at night. The big picture is to prevent the deportation.

ESTRIN: She came to help migrants fill out their asylum requests properly. She says she's reminded of her parents, Holocaust⁶ survivors⁷.

REISMAN-LEVY: It's not Auschwitz, but the issue of being a refugee and being in danger, and asking for refuge and others' countries do not accept it. We've been there.

ESTRIN: The new policy has prompted a fierce public debate in Israel. Does the country have a historical or moral obligation to shelter African migrants?

(SOUNDBITE OF UNIDENTIFIED RADIO SHOW)

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Foreign language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: (Foreign language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: (Foreign language spoken).

ESTRIN: These conservative talk show hosts are arguing with a liberal lawmaker on the radio. They say it's insulting to compare this to the Holocaust. They say the migrants are a burden on society. They're not the only ones.

YOSSI COHEN: (Foreign language spoken).

ESTRIN: This cab driver, Yossi Cohen, tells me the problem is that the African migrants are not Jewish. He says the fear is that tomorrow, the next day, they'll become citizens and take over the country.

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Foreign language spoken).

ESTRIN: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is defending the deportation plan. He points out Israel is not deporting⁸ women and families and letting others stay while their asylum requests are pending⁹. But opposition¹⁰ is growing. Groups of physicians and filmmakers have taken up the cause, and some flight attendants and pilots are calling on airlines not to fly people to Africa. And there's some concern among Jews in the U.S. An American Jewish community leader, Malcolm Hoenlein, said on a visit to Israel that he and heads of several Jewish organizations are studying the issue.

MALCOLM HOENLEIN: We have this debate raging in the United States right now. And there's no way that you can make it look nice when people are leaving a country, but at the same time, we recognize that every country has to set standards.

ESTRIN: Just this week, Israel jailed the first few Eritreans who refused deportation. But prison officials say they might not even have the space to jail everyone who won't leave. Pressure is building on the government to come up with another solution. Daniel Estrin, NPR News.

1 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

2 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。

3 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

4 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。

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

7 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

8 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

9 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

10 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。