VOA常速英语2008年-Egyptian Authorities Kill Sudanese Man at Israe

By Aya Batrawy
Cairo
10 March 2008

Egyptian authorities have shot a Sudanese man trying to cross into Israel, one of several Africans killed this year by Egyptian border patrolmen for trying to enter Israel illegally. Reporter Aya Batrawy has more from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

News reports say Egyptian police killed a 23-year-old Sudanese man trying to enter Israel with eight other African migrants.

This is the seventh killing¹ this year of an African migrant by Egyptian police on the border with Israel, according to the London-based human rights group Amnesty International.

In a separate incident, Egyptian authorities shot at another group of African migrants trying to enter Israel illegally, seriously wounding an Eritrean. Police reportedly arrested seven Eritreans and an Ethiopian.

This follows an incident that took place on Saturday when Egyptian police shot and wounded another Sudanese refugee attempting to cross the border.

The problem has been growing, with more than 7,000 African migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers having illegally entered into Israel in the past year, according to U.N. officials.

Israel has put pressure on Egypt to stem the flow of migrants crossing illegally.

Said Haddadi of Amnesty International said despite Israeli pressure on Egypt, Egyptian security forces must abide² by international law and only shoot when there is no other option or in self-defense. He also said the Egyptian government must investigate these killings³ and send police to the border who have the necessary training to deal with border control.

"There have been shootings from the Israeli side in the past and Amnesty International has called for the Israeli authorities to investigate these shootings," Haddadi said. "What we have at the moment is a continuing increase in the Egyptian authorities' killings of people trying to cross the border into Israel and the problem is that we have not seen any indication of investigations⁴ taking place from the Egyptian authorities into these killings."

Some of the African migrants trying to sneak⁵ into Israel are helped by Egyptian traffickers who are paid thousands of dollars to help them cross the border. The migrants, who are from countries such as Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Ivory Coast, and Guinea have fled their homes or refugee camps in search of a better life in the Jewish state. According to Israel, about 300 people try to illegally cross into Israel every week.

As a result, Israel is considering plans to build a fence along the 250-kilometer border with Egypt.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 abide   

vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受

参考例句：

• You must abide by the results of your mistakes.你必须承担你的错误所造成的后果。
• If you join the club,you have to abide by its rules.如果你参加俱乐部，你就得遵守它的规章。

3 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

4 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

5 sneak   

vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行

参考例句：

• He raised his spear and sneak forward.他提起长矛悄悄地前进。
• I saw him sneak away from us.我看见他悄悄地从我们身边走开。