2007年VOA标准英语-France Tightens Immigration Requirements

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
20 September 2007

The French National Assembly has adopted legislation tightening¹ immigration requirements. The senate has not yet examined the bill, which includes a controversial provision for voluntary DNA² testing. But, from Paris, Lisa Bryant reports the measure reflects a choosier France - and Europe - when it comes to immigration policy.

France is hardly a fortress³, but it is getting harder to enter the country as a legal immigrant - and easier for illegal aliens to be deported⁵. The bill adopted by the National Assembly would require French language tests for visa candidates and parents seeking to join family members to sign immigration contracts. It would also authorize⁶ voluntary genetic⁷ tests to prove family ties. If passed by both houses, it would be the third French law in five years tightening immigration policy.

The legislation - particularly the controversial DNA provision - has sparked widespread opposition⁸. Leftist politicians, human rights groups, the Vatican and even French police and government ministers have voiced concerns.

Tuesday, several hundred people gathered in front of the National Assembly in Paris, to protest the bill being debated by lawmakers. They included 31-year-old Majid Messoudene, a Socialist⁹ party official from the Seine Saint-Denis region outside Paris. Messoudene's parents immigrated¹⁰ to France from Algeria, in the 1960s.

Messoudene said France has a tradition of immigration. He calls it part of the country's wealth. He says, whether the government likes it or not, France will remain a country of immigration.

Nearby, Moussa Bakhaga, from Mali, said he believes Africans like himself - from countries once colonized¹¹ by France - should be allowed to come here and work.

Bakhaga, who is jobless and has been living in France for the past seven years, says he no longer recognized the country. He says the new immigration policy is extremist.

The new legislation makes good campaign promises by President Nicolas Sarkozy, the son of a Hungarian immigrant. The French president wants what he calls a "chosen immigration" policy, targeting skilled workers who can fill critical labor¹² gaps. Mr. Sarkozy cracked down on immigration as the country's interior minister. This year, he has also vowed¹³ to enforce quotas¹⁴ to deport⁴ illegal aliens. The target is set for 25,000, compared to 15,000 in 2004. Mr. Sarkozy's immigration minister recently chastised¹⁵ French officials who failed to meet their quotas.

The government's tough stance has outraged¹⁶ immigration rights activists¹⁷ like Mouloud Aounit, head of the Movement Against Racism¹⁸ and for Friendship Between Peoples, a Paris-based anti-discrimination group. Aounit calls France's center-right government "xenophobic."

Although Aounit supports a national - and a even Europe-wide - debate on immigration, he says immigrants' rights should be respected. He says France cannot have immigration legislation that threatens fundamental liberties.

But a poll published in the Le Figaro newspaper, this week, found the majority of French people support immigration quotas. Most also favor French language requirements for would-be immigrants and oppose blanket regularization of illegal aliens.

France is not alone in adopting a choosier approach to immigration.

"We're beginning to have a more sophisticated debate about: okay we accept immigration as a reality and will be a reality going forward," says Hugo Brady, a research fellow at the Center for European Reform, in London. "Now, member states and the European commission are discussing - basically the big issue is how do you get the right kind of immigrant? That is the big issue." .

According to European Union Justice Commissioner¹⁹ Franco Frattini, Europe only draws about five percent of the skilled foreign labor force - compared to the 55 percent who head for the United States.

Frattini has vowed to introduce so-called "blue cards" next month -- Europe's answer to American-style "green cards" for qualified²⁰ foreign workers. The document would allow holders²¹ to stay in a European country for a two-year period. They may eventually be qualified for a longer-term residency and to work in other EU countries.

But immigration specialists, like Catherine de Wenden, say that, as more and more Europeans head toward retirement²², the region will need all kinds of immigrants to fill labor shortages - including unskilled ones. Ms. de Wenden is an analyst²³ at the National Center for Scientific Research, in Paris.

Moreover, Wenden says, tougher immigration legislation is not always effective. She says people who leave their country have lost hope to stay and that hey want things to change. She says the desire to go to Europe is very strong.

1 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

2 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

3 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

4 deport   

vt.驱逐出境

参考例句：

• We deport aliens who slip across our borders.我们把偷渡入境的外国人驱逐出境。
• More than 240 England football fans are being deported from Italy following riots last night.昨晚的骚乱发生后有240多名英格兰球迷被驱逐出意大利。

5 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

7 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

8 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

9 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

10 immigrated   

v.移入( immigrate的过去式和过去分词 )；移民

参考例句：

• He immigrated from Ulster in 1848. 他1848年从阿尔斯特移民到这里。 来自辞典例句
• Many Pakistanis have immigrated to Britain. 许多巴基斯坦人移居到了英国。 来自辞典例句

11 colonized   

开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地( colonize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The area was colonized by the Vikings. 这一地区曾沦为维京人的殖民地。
• The British and French colonized the Americas. 英国人和法国人共同在美洲建立殖民地。

12 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

13 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

14 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

15 chastised   

v.严惩（某人）（尤指责打）( chastise的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He chastised the team for their lack of commitment. 他指责队伍未竭尽全力。
• The Securities Commission chastised the firm but imposed no fine. 证券委员会严厉批评了那家公司，不过没有处以罚款。 来自辞典例句

16 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

17 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 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。

19 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。

20 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

21 holders   

支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物

参考例句：

• Slaves were mercilessly ground down by slave holders. 奴隶受奴隶主的残酷压迫。
• It is recognition of compassion's part that leads the up-holders of capital punishment to accuse the abolitionists of sentimentality in being more sorry for the murderer than for his victim. 正是对怜悯的作用有了认识，才使得死刑的提倡者指控主张废除死刑的人感情用事，同情谋杀犯胜过同情受害者。

22 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

23 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。