2007年VOA标准英语-West African Officials: Communication Key to St

By Kari Barber
Dakar
13 April 2007

Security experts from 12 West African countries, as well as the United States and United Nations, met in Dakar this week to discuss how guarding borders against drug and human trafficking could also help prevent terrorism.  For VOA, Kari Barber has a report from Dakar on the meeting.

A Chad police official, Colonel Mahatma Habib Djamaladine, told the conference that his country is hindered in its efforts to stop drug trafficking, because of its long borders and problems in communicating with its neighbors. 

"We have got a lot of difficulties in doing this, because we do not have information exchange with the countries bordering us, so it is really not easy for us to catch those criminals," he said.

Djamaladine says he has to rely on local populations to turn those entering the country illegally or smuggling¹ drugs into police.

He says terrorist groups have also used the sparsely² patroled borders to enter Chad.

United States Navy Captain David Iglesias helped organize the Dakar conference.  He says drug and human trafficking in Africa provides a quick and easy way for terrorist groups and other criminal organizations to make money to conduct their operations.

"What happens after the drugs are sold, it is the money.  What do these organizations do with the money?  That is what we have dealt with," he noted³.  "They cannot keep millions of pounds or francs or dollars in their homes, they have to somehow legitimize it and that is how they use the banking⁴ system to wash the money to try to hide profits."

Iglesias says he was surprised to learn the extent of the problem of illegal migration⁵ from lesser⁶ developed African nations to more developed ones or to Spain.

A Spanish investigator⁷ at the conference who asked not to be named says in addition to dealing⁸ with the thousands of West African illegal migrants who travel by boat each year to Spain's Canary Islands, he also deals with drugs coming from the region.  He says getting cooperation from those governments is often a struggle.

Even in the small nation of The Gambia, which is surrounded by Senegal, police Captain Kuluteh Manneh says smuggling is a problem.

"Whether they will use vehicles or use donkey carts or horse carts, they will find a way they can evade⁹ security patrols," he explained.

Manneh says the government does not know where money made from smuggling is going.

He says it is up to each West African nation to secure its own borders from smuggling and to communicate with border patrols in the neighboring nations.

"It should be the responsibility of all security personnel to come together to try to surpress things like terrorism, money laundering¹⁰, human trafficking and drug trafficking, otherwise the development that we are anticipating will not be met at the target," he added.

Border officials say West Africa is not a source of drugs or a final destination, but a transit¹¹ region on the way to Europe.  It has long been a concern that West African nations with large porous¹² borders and little security could be safe havens¹³ for terrorist groups from inside and outside the continent.

1 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

2 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

5 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

6 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

7 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

10 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

12 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

13 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网