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VOA常速英语2008年-Britain Grapples with Migration from Developing

时间:2008-04-11 05:49来源:互联网 提供网友:lijiangwei.1984   字体: [ ]
    (单词翻译:双击或拖选)
By Tendai Maphosa
London
04 April 2008

Britain has long been a haven1 for immigrants, from highly skilled workers from Europe and the United States to those coming from developing countries to escape political persecution2 or find a better life.  Many of those immigrants come from former British colonies in Africa and Asia, and some find their welcome is not what they expected.  Tendai Maphosa reports from London.

In 2006 Britain had a net influx3 of close to 200,000 immigrants.  Some found ready-made jobs in the financial sector4, in hospitals, schools, on farms or in construction.  For other immigrants, however, the transition is not so easy. Some live in constant fear they'll be deported5 back to their home countries where they may face political persecution or, at the very least, the loss of the economic opportunities they had hoped to achieve for themselves and their families.

Recent news reports have highlighted the plight6 of those who have not been welcomed with open arms and who have instead ended up in detention7 camps set up around the UK to house immigration offenders8 and unsuccessful asylum9 seekers.

Angela, who will only give her first name, is one of those. She came to the UK from her native Uganda in 2001, at the age of 15. She says her father an opposition10 activist11 and the family was persecuted12 for his role. She says at one point she was even raped13 by unknown assailants in front of her father. After that, she says, she fled the country. On getting to the UK, she applied14 for asylum.

"When I made the application I was given exceptional leave to remain, because I was a minor15.  My exceptional leave was to expire a day before my 18th birthday," she said.

The Home Office turned down her request for refugee status to stay in Britain indefinitely.  By this time she was a mother.  She appealed the ruling and was told by an immigration officer that she would receive an invitation for an interview.

"Three days after she told me she was going to write me a letter for an interview, she turned up on my door with about six other men with a big van and I was put in handcuffs," she said.  "I was told because my medical report said I was suicidal, so they were putting handcuffs on me just in case I tried to kill myself."

Angela was taken to Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Center.  The bleak16 detention facility for failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders is surrounded by a heavy metal fence and under around-the-clock supervision17 by guards.

VOA talked to detainees, but was not allowed to record or film the interviews at the center, which holds 400 failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders. 

Angela spoke18 to VOA after her release. 

"Your rights as a mother are stripped away," she added.  "You are told when to feed the child, you are told how to carry your child.  A child cannot have a second helping19 if they ever ask for one, because you are following detention rules."

Angela was released after eight days.  She now has two children and is still fighting to remain in the United Kingdom.

Alistair Burt is the member of parliament for West Bedfordshire, where the detention center is located.  He says centers are needed to deal with immigration.

"Those who have tried to gain entry to the UK and take up residence here when they are told that they have to return may not want to, so they simply disappear," he said.  "In a country like the UK, it is quite easy to disappear into immigrant communities in our major cities."

Amanda Shah is deputy director of Bail20 for Immigration Detainees, a non-governmental organization that works with asylum seekers and detained migrants.  She says one of the disturbing features of detention is that it is open ended.

"Immigration detention centers are not set out for people to be held for long periods of time, and we are seeing many, many people who are held for periods of over a year," she said.  "They are held indefinitely and the conditions that they are held in are not appropriate for somebody to be held in for that period of time."

Shah says by being held indefinitely, immigration detainees are worse off than terrorism suspects who, under British law, can only be held for 28 days.

Alistair Burt says while long detentions21 are unfortunate, it is not the government's fault.  He says in some cases the detainee has appealed against removal or the government of the country where the person must be sent does not want to take her or him.

Burt expressed concern about the treatment of families.

"There are some cases where you do query22 the actions of the Borders and Immigration Agency in arriving very early in the morning and collecting quite a number of children, with their parents, and taking them from where they have been living for some years to countries where they have not been to for a long time, if at all, and there are profound worries about that aspect of the policy," he explained.

Burt says the government has to be seen as acting23 against people who think they can just come to Britain to start new lives.  He said it is difficult to separate genuine asylum seekers from economic migrants or those brought into the country by traffickers.

"If the UK simply had a policy that, because there are human rights abuses in a whole variety of countries, nobody could ever be returned there, then frankly24 the UK would continue to be a magnet for everyone who wants to leave and come to start a different life somewhere else," he added.  "You either have an open-border policy or you do not.  The UK does not, and the UK should not have an open border policy.  That means somebody has to take some difficult decisions.  Occasionally, some people have to be returned."

The immigration debate shows no signs of abating25.  A committee in Britain's upper house of parliament, the House of Lords, has just released a report, saying that contrary to widespread assertions that immigration benefits Britain's economy, there is no firm proof that immigration contributes significantly to the economic wellbeing of the nation.

The findings were quickly rejected a day later by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, but the controversy26 continues.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 haven 8dhzp     
n.安全的地方,避难所,庇护所
参考例句:
  • It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后,这真是一个安乐窝。
  • The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。
2 persecution PAnyA     
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。
3 influx c7lxL     
n.流入,注入
参考例句:
  • The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
  • Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施,因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。
4 sector yjczYn     
n.部门,部分;防御地段,防区;扇形
参考例句:
  • The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
  • The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。
5 deported 97686e795f0449007421091b03c3297e     
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 plight 820zI     
n.困境,境况,誓约,艰难;vt.宣誓,保证,约定
参考例句:
  • The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
  • She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。
7 detention 1vhxk     
n.滞留,停留;拘留,扣留;(教育)留下
参考例句:
  • He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
  • He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。
8 offenders dee5aee0bcfb96f370137cdbb4b5cc8d     
n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 );犯规者;罪犯;妨害…的人(或事物)
参考例句:
  • Long prison sentences can be a very effective deterrent for offenders. 判处长期徒刑可对违法者起到强有力的威慑作用。
  • Purposeful work is an important part of the regime for young offenders. 使从事有意义的劳动是管理少年犯的重要方法。
9 asylum DobyD     
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。
10 opposition eIUxU     
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。
11 activist gyAzO     
n.活动分子,积极分子
参考例句:
  • He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
  • He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。
12 persecuted 2daa49e8c0ac1d04bf9c3650a3d486f3     
(尤指宗教或政治信仰的)迫害(~sb. for sth.)( persecute的过去式和过去分词 ); 烦扰,困扰或骚扰某人
参考例句:
  • Throughout history, people have been persecuted for their religious beliefs. 人们因宗教信仰而受迫害的情况贯穿了整个历史。
  • Members of these sects are ruthlessly persecuted and suppressed. 这些教派的成员遭到了残酷的迫害和镇压。
13 raped 7a6e3e7dd30eb1e3b61716af0e54d4a2     
v.以暴力夺取,强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 );强奸
参考例句:
  • A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
  • We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致,不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句
14 applied Tz2zXA     
adj.应用的;v.应用,适用
参考例句:
  • She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
  • This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。
15 minor e7fzR     
adj.较小(少)的,较次要的;n.辅修学科;vi.辅修
参考例句:
  • The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
  • I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。
16 bleak gtWz5     
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的
参考例句:
  • They showed me into a bleak waiting room.他们引我来到一间阴冷的会客室。
  • The company's prospects look pretty bleak.这家公司的前景异常暗淡。
17 supervision hr6wv     
n.监督,管理
参考例句:
  • The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
  • The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。
18 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
19 helping 2rGzDc     
n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的,辅助的
参考例句:
  • The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
  • By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
20 bail Aupz4     
v.舀(水),保释;n.保证金,保释,保释人
参考例句:
  • One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
  • She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。
21 detentions 2d4769435811f286b7e2f522d8538716     
拘留( detention的名词复数 ); 扣押; 监禁; 放学后留校
参考例句:
  • Teachers may assign detention tasks as they wish and some detentions have been actually dangerous. 老师可能随心所欲指派关禁闭的形式,有些禁闭事实上很危险。
  • Intimidation, beatings and administrative detentions are often enough to prevent them from trying again. 恐吓,拷打和行政拘留足以阻止请愿者二次进京的脚步。
22 query iS4xJ     
n.疑问,问号,质问;vt.询问,表示怀疑
参考例句:
  • I query very much whether it is wise to act so hastily.我真怀疑如此操之过急地行动是否明智。
  • They raised a query on his sincerity.他们对他是否真诚提出质疑。
23 acting czRzoc     
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的
参考例句:
  • Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她,她只是假装的。
  • During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代,她的表演生涯黯然失色。
24 frankly fsXzcf     
adv.坦白地,直率地;坦率地说
参考例句:
  • To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说,我一点也不赞成这个主意。
  • Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说,我不反对改革。
25 abating d296d395529c334a0e6c76dbb3c2a6b2     
减少( abate的现在分词 ); 减去; 降价; 撤消(诉讼)
参考例句:
  • The storm showed no signs of abating. 暴风雨没有减弱的迹象。
  • The recent public anxiety about this issue may now be abating. 近来公众对这个问题的焦虑心情现在也许正在缓和下来。
26 controversy 6Z9y0     
n.争论,辩论,争吵
参考例句:
  • That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
  • We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。
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