2006年VOA标准英语-Asian Governments Seek Safety for Citizens in M

By Barry Newhouse
Hong Kong
17 July 2006

 
Israeli gunners cover their ears as an Israeli artillery¹ piece fires at a target in southern Lebanon, July 17, 2006
  
Asian officials are scrambling² to find refuge for tens of thousands of their citizens stranded³ in Israel and Lebanon. 

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Tens of thousands of Asian nationals are trying to flee violence between Israel's military and Hezbollah militants⁴ in Lebanon. Israeli air strikes on the Lebanese airport and docks have limited evacuation options.

Most are employed as farm laborers⁵ and domestic workers, but there are thousands of aid workers, diplomats⁶, business people, students and people with dual⁷ citizenship⁸. There also are hundreds of Asian tourists in the region.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters Monday that officials are considering two evacuation routes for Australians.

"One is chartering three buses and trying to get up a particular coastal⁹ road into Syria," he said. "Secondly¹⁰ there is the option of chartering a vessel¹¹ [ship] and we have identified a vessel that we could charter."

Officials estimate there could be 25,000 Australians in Lebanon.

New Zealand, Japan and Thailand also are making evacuation plans for their citizens. Some 25 thousand Thais work in Israel - most as farm laborers.

About 30,000 Philippine nationals are known to work in Lebanon, but there could be thousands of undocumented workers. On Monday, the Philippine government began setting up a temporary relocation center.

Foreign Ministry¹² spokesman Gilbert Asuque says the government is preparing for a mass evacuation, possibly chartering a boat to Cyprus or Syria.

"We're now relocating Filipinos to a safe area outside of Beirut and that is one of the Catholic churches that the embassy has designated as a relocation point," said Asuque.

Philippines officials say special Middle East envoy¹³ Roy Cimatu is headed to Lebanon to evaluate the situation.

The Philippines carried out similar evacuations during the 1991 Gulf¹⁴ War, when thousands of Filipinos were stranded in Kuwait.

Migrants rights groups are now lobbying governments to prevent a repeat of that situation. At the Hong Kong office of the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants, the director Ramon Bultron says he fears workers could become trapped in Lebanon if the violence escalates¹⁵.

"With the experience of what happened in the Gulf War in 1991, migrants were in a very difficult situation. Many of them were abandoned by their employers who had the chance and opportunity to leave the country before the actual war and many, especially women, were abused, sexually abused during the occupation," reminded Bultron.

The fighting in Lebanon, which began last week after Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, shook Asian markets Monday as investors¹⁶ worried about high oil prices.

Taipei's main index lost 2.6 percent, while Bombay's Sensex index lost more than 3.5 percent.

The dollar rose slightly against the yen¹⁷, as nervous investors sought a safe currency because of rising oil prices.

1 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

2 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

8 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

9 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。

10 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

11 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

14 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

15 escalates   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的第三人称单数 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates. 面临的挑战越大，越需要团队协同合作。 来自互联网
• I cannot understand why a minor disagreement escalates into a fist-fight. 我真不明白为什么一点意见不合就变成了拳头相见。 来自互联网

16 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

17 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。