VOA标准英语2008年-Zimbabwe Exiles Pray, March for Right to Work i

The British government says it will not force Zimbabweans who have been refused asylum¹ to return home, but they will not be allowed to work in Britain. Hundreds of Zimbabwean exiles marched in central London Friday to protest that restriction², as Tenda Maphosa reports.
　
Hundreds of Zimbabwean exiles gathered at Parliament Square in London calling for the government to let them work during their period of claiming asylum, 11 July 2008

Zimbabwean exiles gathered at Westminster Abbey for a special church service, joined by British supporters and the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, who has taken a strong stand against the government of Robert Mugabe. In a televised appearance last year, he cut up his clerical collar and vowed³ not to resume wearing it until President Mugabe is out of office.

After Friday's service, the Archbishop applauded the decision to allow failed asylum seekers to stay in Britain, but appealed to the British government to do more.

"Now the next stage of it is, if they are not going to be repatriated⁴, and they are going to remain until there's peace back in Zimbabwe, we are saying, isn't it better, when you [have] got very well educated Zimbabweans in this country, to work and give them some conditional⁵ leave to remain, because I am sure they are better off working than going onto handouts," he said.

Zimbabwean exile Jean Munyuki was as the church service and the subsequent march. She says she fled persecution⁶ in Zimbabwe six years ago but, like many of her compatriots, has not yet been granted asylum.

"I am appealing to the British government that they can help us with papers, so we can work and support our families back home," she said.

Munyuki says she finds it contradictory⁷ that the British government has taken a hard line against a government it labels as criminal and illegitimate, and yet it denies Zimbabweans in Britain a living.

The demonstrators then marched off toward the Home Office to present Home Office Secretary Jacqui Smith with a petition for a change in government policy.

　

 

1 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。

2 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

3 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。

4 repatriated   

v.把（某人）遣送回国，遣返( repatriate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The refugees were forcibly repatriated. 难民被强制遣送回国。
• Ancient artworks were repatriated from the US to Greece. 古代艺术品从美国遣送回希腊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 conditional   

adj.条件的，带有条件的

参考例句：

• My agreement is conditional on your help.你肯帮助我才同意。
• There are two forms of most-favored-nation treatment:conditional and unconditional.最惠国待遇有两种形式:有条件的和无条件的。

6 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。

7 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。