VOA标准英语2009-Report: Thailand, South Africa, Gaza Strip W

A new report says the worst places to be a refugee last year were Thailand, South Africa and the Gaza Strip. In its annual report on worldwide refugees, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants lists Brazil, Ecuador and Costa Rica among the best countries for refugees. The private group lobbies for refugee rights.
　
Karen civilians¹ take shelter on the bank of the Moei river after fleeing the fighting between Burmese soldiers and Karen guerrillas in Tha Song Yang district of Tak province, Thailand, 06 June 2009

The report criticizes Thailand for deporting² thousands of political refugees from Burma back to their homeland. Many have been living and working illegally in Thailand. The Thai government considers them economic migrants. Merrill Smith, editor of the report, says when Burmese refugees in boats tried to land in Thailand, the navy intercepted³ them.

"They towed them back out to sea with disabled engines, inadequate⁴ food and water, at least a thousand of them. Some 400 were rescued in Indonesia or found later and nearly died," Smith said. "Hundreds more were missing and presumed drowned."

The survey says more than two million Palestinian refugees live in the Gaza Strip, the occupied West bank and neighboring Lebanon. It says violent clashes in 2008 between Israel and the Palestinian militant⁵ group Hamas have made the Gaza Strip one of the worst places to be a refugee. Last December, about 1,400 Palestinians were killed during an Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.

The U.S. group has also documented the suffering of immigrants in South Africa. Last year, mobs in South Africa's slums viciously attacked African immigrants from nearby countries who were seeking refuge and jobs. As many as 10,000 fled north to Zambia.
　
A Somali woman and her child sit in front of a makeshift home after they fled fighting in Mogadishu, 09 Jun 2009

The largest number of people who fled their country last year were from Somalia. 60,000 Somalis crossed the border into Kenya. Merrill says Kenya forced hundreds of them back to Somalia, where government forces and opposition⁶ Islamic factions⁷ have been fighting for years.

"There was harassment⁸ and arrests and beatings of refugees as they attempted to enter," Smith said.

He also says African refugees living in Egypt, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, have been shot or arrested trying to cross into Israel, seeking jobs.

The survey criticizes Turkey for deporting hundreds of refugees from Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, all seeking asylum⁹. It says immigration officials in Malaysia are selling Burmese asylum seekers to human traffickers at the Malaysia-Thai border.

The report says Brazil, Ecuador and Costa Rica are among the best countries for refugees who are mostly from Colombia. Costa Rica even gives refugees small loans to start businesses.

"Brazil actually resettled 100 Palestinians from one of the camps on the Iraqi border, who were in a very dire¹⁰ situation and very few other countries will take them," Smith said.

The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants says the number of refugees last year declined slightly to about 13.5 million. Despite the fighting in Afghanistan, Merrill says nearly a quarter million Afghan refugees have returned to their homeland from Pakistan.
　
Displaced children from Pakistan's Swat Valley wait to receive food at Shiekh Yasin camp in Mardan, 03 Jun 2009

"The situation is Pakistan also deteriorated¹¹ last year, including the serious fighting between the authorities and the Taliban in many of the areas where the Afghan refugees continue to dwell in Pakistan," Smith said. "So many of them were fleeing insecurity in Pakistan that they actually found to be even worse than what they feared in Afghanistan."

The report says the flow of refugees from Iraq has dropped significantly but nearly two million people remain out of the country.

1 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

2 deporting   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的现在分词 )；举止

参考例句：

3 intercepted   

拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻

参考例句：

• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave the hotel. 他正要离开旅馆，记者们把他拦截住了。
• Reporters intercepted him as he tried to leave by the rear entrance. 他想从后门溜走，记者把他截住了。

4 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

5 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

6 opposition   

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。

7 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 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。

10 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

11 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。