2006年VOA标准英语-UN Warns of Growing Intolerance Against Mi

By Michael Drudge¹
London
19 April 2006

 
Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner² for Refugees launches a new report "The State of the World's Refugees", in London, April, 19, 2006 
  
The U.N. refugee agency says fears of terrorism, tighter asylum³ restrictions⁴ and growing intolerance threaten the world's ability to deal with people displaced by conflict. The findings are contained in the annual report of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

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The U.N. report says the latest estimate of 9.2 million refugees is the lowest number in 25 years, because of fewer armed conflicts and mass repatriations to countries such as Afghanistan and Sierra Leone.

But the report finds that migrants and asylum seekers face higher barriers than ever, given fears about terrorism and stricter border controls following the 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, told a London news conference that racism⁶, xenophobia, violent nationalism, and religious fundamentalists are creating conditions of intolerance against migrants.

"One of the main problems we face in today's world is a growing intolerance, a growing intolerance happening everywhere," he said. "We are now witnessing the rebirth of irrationality⁷. This is creating a difficult environment in which the foreigner, the one that is different, is sometimes hated, sometimes feared. To promote tolerance⁵ is a duty of us all."

And while overall refugee numbers are dropping, the U.N. report highlights a growing problem of internally displaced people, forced to move within a country because of armed conflict.

The situation is especially acute in two African nations - Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo - where the U.N. estimates that 7.5 million people have been driven from their homes.

1 drudge   

n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳

参考例句：

• I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
• I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。

2 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

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 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

5 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

6 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

7 irrationality   

n. 不合理，无理性

参考例句：

• Such stoppages as are observed in practice are thus attributed to mistakes or even irrationality. 在实际情况中看到的这些停工，要归因于失误或甚至是非理性的东西。
• For all its harshness and irrationality, it is the only world we've got. 尽管它严酷而又不合理，它终究是我们具有的唯一的世界。