VOA标准英语2008年-UN Says Conflicts, Hardships Create New Refugee

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
21 May 2008

The U.N. High Commissioner¹ for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, warns extreme poverty, climate change and civil strife² are generating more refugees around the world. He says the growing number of refugees and migrants is leading to more intolerance and xenophobia. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, says refugee numbers were going down until 2005. He says the reason is that peace agreements ended wars in places such as Sudan, Angola, Liberia and Sierra Leone and allowed millions of people to return home.

He says about four million refugees went back to Afghanistan after the overthrow⁴ of the Taliban and now just over two million refugees remain, mainly in Pakistan.

But, in the past few months, he says, there have been many arrivals of new refugees in Eastern Africa. He says people from Chad, Sudan, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia and others are fleeing to escape war at home.

Guterres says an indication of the seriousness of the situation can be seen by how many of the 300-member UNHCR emergency response teams are being called into action.

"Last year, we moved altogether 174 people during the whole year," he said. "Until two weeks ago we have already mobilized 150. So in the beginning of May, we have mobilized almost as much as in the whole of 2007 in having to respond to specific crises here or there. And, this corresponds to a very worrying pattern."

Guterres says displacement⁵ is on the rise everywhere. He attributes this to extreme poverty, aggravated⁶ by soaring food and energy prices, the growing impact of climate change, which is causing spreading drought in Africa, and civil conflict.

He says mass migration⁷ is leading to an erosion of tolerance³ in communities and between communities.

"The recent events in South Africa or the trend in many European countries for pressure for legislation restricting migration or asylum," said Guterres. "It is a global problem in developed and developing world. We are witnessing these factors of tension-security, economy, poverty, but also environmental degradation⁸. These factors contribute to the spread of feelings of intolerance and in some more extreme situations of xenophobia."

Guterres says this, in turn, further endangers peace, social stability and harmony in societies.

Figures from 2006 show the UNHCR cares for almost 10 million refugees worldwide. This is a 14 percent increase from the year before.

1 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。

2 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

3 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

4 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。

5 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。

6 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

7 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。

8 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。