VOA慢速英语2021--抵达欧洲的叙利亚难民面临着寒冷和危险

Syrian Migrants Face Cold, Danger to Reach Europe

Twenty-nine-year-old Bushra started her trip to Europe from Erbil, Iraq in late September.

The Syrian and ethnic¹ Kurd was a student at the university in Deir el-Zour when the civil war started in her country in 2011.

She moved to another university in Syria when Islamic State fighters took control of areas near her. She still did not feel safe. During one two-year period, she did not leave home often.

She got work with an international aid group. During that time, she saved all her money so she would be able to leave and go to Europe.

Ten years after the war started in her country, she began her trip.

Why she left

Bushra left because the economy was not good in Syria. For example, her father's job paid about $100 a month at the start of the war. Today, the same amount of money is only worth about $15. The minimum wage in Syria can only buy about 2.3 kilograms of meat a month. Some months, people cannot get that much because it is not available.

She left because she feared Islamic State fighters who recently carried out eight kidnappings in a town close to where she lived.

And she left because she reported on local officials in a corruption² case. She worried the people she reported on might hurt her.

Her parents worried about a woman in her 20s making a long trip by herself. But in the end, they agreed she should leave and try to find a better life in Europe. Bushra said she had no future in Syria.

She recently spoke³ with the Associated Press. She said she worried security forces would target her for the rest of her life. For that reason, she did not give her last name.

A difficult trip

She wanted to get to safety in Germany. So, she started the trip. The last part included a long walk through the Eastern European country of Belarus to the Polish border.

One time she made it to the border but was chased away by Polish guards. At that time, a friend got so scared she fainted. The group she was with tried to hide in ditches and behind trees so they would not get caught. But the guards found the migrants and took them back to Belarus.

But Bushra tried a second time.

Along the way, she hurt her leg.

She slept outside with other travelers on cold nights. One night it was so cold that a friend broke a tooth because her teeth were chattering⁵ so much.

At last, she reached a village in Poland where people took them to Germany in a car.

"I put up with unbearable⁶ pain," Bushra said. She added, "Running away from something is sometimes the easiest thing."

Almost 80,000 Syrians applied⁷ for asylum⁸ in Europe in 2021. That is 70 percent more than last year. Of the 500,000 migrants who came to Europe in 2021, Syrians are the second largest group behind Afghans.

About 90 percent of people in Syria are very poor. Twenty percent more people need help this year, a total of 13 million. The Syrian government cannot help them. Inside of Syria, almost 7 million people are considered internally displaced⁹, which means they are no longer living in their homes.

"I will go to where I can live."

Syrian people are going to Europe although many countries in Eastern Europe do not want them. Among those who tried to make it to Europe through Belarus, 15 people died.

Bushra said she is surprised that she was able to "put up with" the whole trip.

But it was worth it, she said.

"When you lose hope, you follow a path more dangerous than where you started."

She said she is trying to live a free life. "I am done with restrictions¹⁰."

Bushra said if she does not get permission to stay in Germany, she will try somewhere else.

She said, "If I can't get to where I want to go, I will go to where I can live."

Words in This Story

minimum – adj. as little as possible or the lowest that is permitted

faint – v. to suddenly become unconscious

ditch – n. a long, narrow hole often along a road that carries water away

unbearable – adj. too bad or difficult to be accepted or suffered

chatter⁴ –v. to make a noise from two things knocking together (such as teeth when a person is cold)

desperate – adj. very sad and upset because of having little or no hope

1 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。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 chatter   

vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战

参考例句：

• Her continuous chatter vexes me.她的喋喋不休使我烦透了。
• I've had enough of their continual chatter.我已厌烦了他们喋喋不休的闲谈。

5 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。

6 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

7 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

8 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。

9 displaced   

移动( displace的过去式和过去分词 )； 替换； 移走； 撤职

参考例句：

• Gradually factory workers have been displaced by machines. 工厂的工人已逐渐被机器取代。
• He was displaced by another young man. 他已被另一个年轻人顶替。

10 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制