PBS高端访谈:渔民踏上拯救地中海落水移民之路

 　　LISA DESAI: It's just after sunrise in the coastal¹ town of Zarzis in Southern Tunisia. Tourism and fishing are the staple² of the local economy. And the fishermen sell their catches of dorado and tuna, in the early hours of the morning.

　　Here on the Mediterranean³ Sea a problem plagues Europe and many African countries. And it's been growing since the civil war began four years ago in neighboring Libya.

　　A mass exodus⁴ of migrants and refugees from the Middle East and Africa have been drawn⁵ to Libya, where a lack of central government authority allows human smugglers to operate freely.

　　The migrants make the dangerous journey on the Mediterranean with one goal in mind: Landing on European shores.

　　Wooden boats and inflatable plastic rafts, often overflowing⁶ with migrants, have been sinking one after another, claiming thousands of lives.

　　And these men have found themselves on the front lines of a humanitarian⁷ crisis.

　　"We're on a Tunisian fishing boat in the Mediterranean Sea. The fishermen here say that over the last six months alone they have rescued more than 500 migrants on the verge⁸ of drowning."

　　SLAHEDDIN: One time we rescued 10 migrants. When they got on the boat two of them started praying. It gave me chills, all over my body.We are fisherman. We are here to make a living. We are not here to rescue people, but we have a feeling of humanity. So if I find someone on the sea I will save him.

　　LISA DESAI: But even without the right equipment, the fishermen say they can't turn away from migrants lost at sea. They stop their work to bring them to safety on the Tunisian shores and pay for extra fuel to get them there.

　　Sometimes these untrained fisherman risk their own lives pulling people out of the water and spend all night waiting for help from the Tunisian Coast Guard.

　　SLAHEDDIN: It's a powerful feeling to see someone helpless, hungry and being burned by the sun. It's very hard, you are in front of someone who is calling for help.

　　LISA DESAI: Mongi Slim, is the head of the Zarzis office of the Tunisian Red Crescent – the Red Cross in Muslim countries.

　　At the local fishing association he coordinates⁹ rescues in Zarzis and other nearby port cities like Ben Gardane.

　　MONGI SLIM: Those people are fighting, each one wants to go first.

　　LISA DESAI: And I see some pictures here of the bodies washed up.

　　MONGI SLIM: Yes, this, this here is in Ben Gardane. These are Syrian people. Here is in Il Kitif, the port of Ben Gardane. We received this day 54 bodies from Syria.

　　LISA DESAI: Photo after photo shows overcrowded boats men and women fighting to stay alive, and migrants desperately¹⁰ flagging ships for help.

　　When the fishermen find the sinking boats, if they are close enough to European waters, they call the Italian authorities, but sometimes, the Italians don't show up.

　　MONGI SLIM: He had to rescue them himself, because nobody come. And he waits a long time and nobody come, and people are crying in the sea, and he must help them.

　　LISA DESAI: The lucky ones who make it to Zarzis alive get help from the Red Crescent.

　　Mongi earns his living as a pharmacist, and has made it his volunteer mission to provide the migrants with shelter, food, and support to survive.

　　Can you tell me how many people live here?

　　MONGI SLIM: In this house, we have four.

　　LISA DESAI: 18-year-old Tuba – on the right — is from Senegal. How did you end up here in Tunisia?

　　TUBA: We were trying to go Italy. We left Zwara to go to Lampedusa.

　　LISA DESAI: Do you remember the day that you were rescued? What happened?

　　TUBA: We saw lots of boats. We were trying to call them, but they didn't respond.

　　LISA DESAI: There are now several hundred migrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East living in the area around Zarzis.

　　Many fled war, poverty, or persecution¹¹ in their home countries.

　　Some stay only a few weeks, before walking 80 miles across the border to Libya to board boats bound for Europe one more time.

　　Ousman Kebbeh is from Gambia. He journeyed by sea to Europe three times. The first two times, he didn't get far…he was rescued and returned to Libya. During his final attempt, he was saved by Tunisian fishermen.

　　OUSMAN KEBBEH: We just waiting for our deaths, no options. You just inside the boat waiting for our time to die.

　　LISA DESAI: The fishermen sent us this cell phone footage that shows Ousman's rescue. He was on board a plastic raft, crammed¹² with 90 other people heading to Italy. Eventually, the boat sprung a leak and slowly began to fill with water.

　　OUSMAN: The water is entering inside, and the waves is coming again, the water is coming up. So the water is coming different directions. You don't know where exactly water is entering the boat. So it's a terrible situation.

　　Some people are vomiting¹³, some people are crying, some people are fighting because you become crazy on the sea. You become different man. So I was just thinking two things, that I will survive, or I will die. This is it.

　　LISA DESAI: Like most migrants, Ousman had put his fate in the hands of human smugglers, who typically leave the migrants to drive the boats themselves.

　　The journey can take more than 24 hours, They have few tools to navigate¹⁴, sometimes relying on just a compass to find their way to Europe.

　　In Zarzis it was common knowledge that one of the ways that smugglers lure¹⁵ migrants is by advertising¹⁶ on social media with posts like these , featuring pictures of cruise ships– they promise a safe journey, with children riding free.

　　This post, which was recently taken down, lists the price per adult: a thousand dollars to be ferried from Libya to Italy.

　　Ousman is one of thousands of migrants who have flocked to the war-torn country based on the promise of making it to Europe. But once they arrive in Libya, they are caught in violence and lawlessness and have no choice but to risk their lives on the Mediterranean.

　　OUSMAN: You cannot live in Libya. People in Libya they just keep on harassing¹⁷ Black people, keep on beating them, keep on lock them.

　　Some of them kidnap you in your houses, lock you. You have to pay money for them otherwise they'll kill. So the only thing you have to go, you have to cross to Italy. This is a problem. Libyan situation is worse, because there is no government, nobody is control.

　　LISA DESAI: Last year, the Tunisian Red Crescent took in 700 migrants, and so far this year the number has already doubled.

　　Mongi Slim is worried about how to handle the growing number of migrants ending up in the port city of Zarzis.

　　MONGI SLIM: Nobody now is helping¹⁸ enough this people. Our government also, we don't have any shelter here to this people. When they arrive, we have a big problem to resolve the shelter.

　　MAN: The dream is to make a better life than they have in there country, and they want to support their family, but I think that they cannot get it.

　　LISA DESAI: The fisherman say they will continue rescuing migrants.

　　SLAHEDDIN: It is risky¹⁹ for us, because there's bacteria, disease and people are afraid. But it is a humanitarian duty, and we do it willingly.

　　LISA DESAI: The fisherman on this boat helped save Ousman from drowning.

　　OUSMAN: They are good people, they love the sea, so they can't just see people die and leave them like that. They save many lives in the sea. Not only us, but many people. And I hope they are still doing it.

1 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

2 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

3 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

4 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

5 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

6 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

7 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。

8 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

9 coordinates   

n.相配之衣物；坐标( coordinate的名词复数 )；（颜色协调的）配套服装；[复数]女套服；同等重要的人（或物）v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的第三人称单数 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• The town coordinates on this map are 695037. 该镇在这幅地图上的坐标是695037。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

11 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。

12 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

13 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

14 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。

15 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

16 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

17 harassing   

v.侵扰，骚扰( harass的现在分词 )；不断攻击（敌人）

参考例句：

• The court ordered him to stop harassing his ex-wife. 法庭命令他不得再骚扰前妻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was too close to be merely harassing fire. 打得这么近，不能完全是扰乱射击。 来自辞典例句

18 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

19 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。