VOA标准英语2015--Surge of Rohingya Flee Myanmar for Uncertain Future in Malaysia

 

Surge of Rohingya Flee Myanmar for Uncertain Future in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR—

The United Nations has called the Rohingya Muslims one of the world’s most persecuted¹ minority groups.

Fleeing persecution² in Myanmar, the Rohingya see Malaysia, a Muslim country, as a potential safe haven³.  But Malaysia has not signed the U.N. convention on refugees, so the Rohingya find they cannot work legally, or send their children to school — not even those who were born here.

Activists⁵ estimate at least 18,000 have arrived in recent months.  Most feel they had no option but to flee.

A violent attack left Ayub Khan's arm and neck partially⁶ paralyzed. “I tried to run away from the mob, but they caught up to me and slashed⁷ me on the shoulder,” he said.

Another refugee, Nayeemah, said human traffickers killed her husband as they fled with their children via Thailand to Malaysia.

“In my country, there’s so much killing⁸, torture and violent attacks, so there was no alternative to stay there," she said. "I had to leave the country and head to Thailand.”

Eman Hossein left on a ship with some 400 others.

“When the people died they just threw them in the ocean," he said. "At least 50 to 55 people died.”

About 40,000 Rohingya in Malaysia are registered with the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, giving them some protection from arrest and deportation⁹.  But activists estimate at least that many remain unregistered.

New arrival Nayeemah hopes to leave Malaysia.

“If I stay here, I will not be able to send my kids to school, so I want to be resettled to another country,” she said.

Rohingya activist⁴ Mohammad Sadek estimates that only about 1,000 Rohingya have been resettled to date.

“Many of the refugees are waiting for more than three decades," he said. "They still remain in the same condition without having any hope. So the UNHCR should resettle them as soon as possible.”

There's a slim chance of that happening, perhaps. But life as a refugee living in poverty on the margins¹⁰ of Malaysian society is still a life — something many here say is an improvement from where they came.

1 persecuted   

（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。

2 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。

3 haven   

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。

4 activist   

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。

5 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

7 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 deportation   

n.驱逐，放逐

参考例句：

• The government issued a deportation order against the four men.政府发出了对那4名男子的驱逐令。
• Years ago convicted criminals in England could face deportation to Australia.很多年以前，英国已定罪的犯人可能被驱逐到澳大利亚。

10 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。