VOA标准英语10月-UN: 32 Million Refugees in Need of Protection and

The U.N. refugee agency's annual conference opens in Geneva on Monday. Representatives from the UNHCR's 76-nation governing body will attend the week-long meeting to set the work agenda for the coming year. They will focus on the needs and actions to be taken on behalf of some 32 million refugees, internally displaced, and stateless people that come under the care and protection of the UNHCR. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.
　

A displaced family sits in a camp in the vicinity of the eastern Chadian European Union peacekeepers' base in Farchanaon, 12 May 2008

The conference will be asked to approve a budget of $1.8 billion for the coming year. This large amount of money reflects the growing needs of tens of millions of people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution¹.

U.N. refugee spokesman, Ron Redmond, tells VOA, refugee and asylum² issues have become more complex in today's world.

"You have got environmental degradation³ which is forcing people to go on the move," he said. "You have got increasing competition for scarce resources, which can result in conflicts which then in displacement⁴. In Darfur, Chad would be an example of that among other things.

The UNHCR now cares for some 11 million refugees as well as 14 million internally displaced people. They, unlike refugees have not crossed international borders, but remain uprooted⁵ in their own countries.

Redmond says there are a number of protracted⁶ refugee situations that are of great concern. He says millions of uprooted people have been living in camps for decades with no prospect⁷ of going home.

He says U.N. High Commissioner⁸, Antonio Guterres, has launched a special initiative, which he will discuss during the upcoming conference, aimed at finding solutions for five protracted refugee situations.
　

People queue for food at a refugee camp set up for displaced villagers, in Charsadda near Peshawar, 19 Sep 2008

These include Eritrean refugees in eastern Sudan, Burundian refugees in Tanzania, Croatian and Bosnian refugees in Serbia, Rohinga refugees in Bangladesh and Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan.

He says the UNHCR also is concerned about overall migration⁹ patterns in the world. He says refugees often are denied asylum because they are confused with migrants who go to other countries for economic reasons.

"One of the major migration patterns we see, of course, is from Africa across the Mediterranean¹⁰ toward Europe as well as using other routes," Redmond said. "Every week, we hear about people from sub-Saharan Africa, for example, getting in boats and going toward the Canary Islands. Just about every week now, we also hear about Africans dying in the Gulf¹¹ of Aden, Africans fleeing the Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia."

While major concerns persist, UNHCR spokesman Redmond says there also are many successes.

Last year, he notes more than 700,000 refugees and two million internally displaced people went home, many from the Great Lake Region of Africa.

Since the overthrow¹² of the Taliban in 2002, he notes more than four million Afghans have returned home from Pakistan and Iran.

1 persecution   

n. 迫害,烦扰

参考例句：

• He had fled from France at the time of the persecution. 他在大迫害时期逃离了法国。
• Their persecution only serves to arouse the opposition of the people. 他们的迫害只激起人民对他们的反抗。

2 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。

3 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

4 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

5 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 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。

9 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。

10 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

11 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。

12 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。