VOA慢速英语2015 避难者在柬埔寨接受秘密交易

AS IT IS 2015-06-08 Asylum¹ Seekers Land in Cambodia under Secret Deal 避难者在柬埔寨接受秘密交易

Four asylum seekers arrived in Cambodia on Wednesday. They are the first asylum seekers from an Australian-operated camp on the Pacific island of Nauru. The island nation has been holding them for the Australian government. The refugees were denied permission to settle in Australia. Under a secretive deal, Australia agreed to pay Cambodia $32 million for accepting the refugees.

The details of the deal were kept in secret. Even the arrival of the four asylum seekers in Phnom Penh was kept out of sight of reporters. The four individuals left the city’s airport in a vehicle whose windows were covered up.

The refugees are an Iranian man and his wife, a second man, also from Iran, and an ethnic² Rohingya man from Myanmar. They were taken to a house in Phnom Penh, where they will live for the next year.

Under the deal, Australia will pay all resettlement costs for a year. Those refugees who accept will receive thousands of dollars in payments, language and skills training, and health care.

The deal has been strongly criticized, both in Australia and overseas.

Phil Robertson is the deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division. He says Cambodia is a poor choice for refugee resettlement because of its recent treatment of refugees from Vietnam and China.

“Cambodia clearly has no will or capacity to integrate refugees permanently³ into Cambodian society. These four refugees are essentially⁴ human guinea pigs in an Australian experiment that ignores the fact that Cambodia has not integrated other refugees and has already sent Montagnards and Uighur asylum-seekers back into harm’s way in Vietnam and China.”

He warns that the deal between Australia and Cambodia will likely harm refugee rights across Southeast Asia.

An Australian Immigration Department press officer who travelled to Cambodia with the four individuals refused to speak to reporters in Phnom Penh.

The Australian government is paying the International Organization for Migration⁵, the IOM, to look after the refugees. Given the sensitive issue, is the IOM concerned about its image? Joe Lowry works for the group.

“We’re involved in this because we genuinely believe – and there was a long debate in IOM, we sent experts here to look at the various factors at play – and we genuinely believe that this is the best option for these people at the moment. They’re not going to get to Australia, so the only choice they have is stay on Nauru or come to Cambodia.”

Joe Lowry says all four refugees volunteered to leave Nauru for Cambodia. He says they requested not to speak with reporters for fear that identifying them might put their families at risk.

For its part, Australia hopes their experience will persuade some of the hundreds still on Nauru to consider giving up on their dream of living in Australia.

In a video in April, Australia’s Immigration Minister Peter Dutton told the detainees their choices were limited to remaining on Nauru for another 10 years or moving to Cambodia.

“I want to make it very clear to all refugees and transferees in Nauru that you will not under any circumstances be settling in Australia. This is not an option that the Australian government will ever present to you. Cambodia provides you with a chance to start afresh, a chance to begin a new life. This is your only long-term settlement option.”

More than 600 refugees and asylum-seekers are thought to be living on Nauru. Hundreds more are in detention⁶ on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island under an agreement with Australia. Most are believed to be from South Asia or the Middle East.

The proposed resettlement deal was the subject of months of secret negotiations⁷. It has received criticism from rights organizations, religious groups and opposition⁸ politicians in both countries.

Rights groups say Mr. Dutton’s description of Cambodia as a land of safety, security and opportunity is untrue. His comments conflict with the Australian government’s own advice to Australians thinking of visiting the country.

Some Cambodians also are unhappy. Their homeland has high levels of corruption⁹, poor education and health care systems, and no social programs to help the very poor. The Cambodians cannot understand why foreign nationals will get money and help that are unavailable to them and other citizens.

Words in This Story

resettlement – adj. helping¹⁰ refugees get settled in a place other than their home; n. – the process of setting up a new home

capability¹¹ – n. the ability to do something

integrate – v. to combine two or more things to form something; to make a part of something larger

guinea pig(s) – n. a small animal that is used for testing

factor – n., something that helps influence or produce a result

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 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

3 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 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。

6 detention   

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。

7 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

8 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。

9 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

10 helping   

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。

11 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。