VOA常速英语2014--伊拉克库尔德摄影师帮助移民工人和难民

Iraqi Kurdish Photographers Reach Out to Immigrant Workers, Refugees 伊拉克库尔德摄影师帮助移民工人和难民

NORTHERN IRAQ — The recent economic boom in northern Iraq has attracted thousands of migrant workers from South Asia and Africa as well as hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. A group of Iraqi Kurdish photographers, moved by their own history as refugees and emigrants 1, has created a photography outreach project for the Syrian refugees and foreign laborers 3 who have recently arrived.

伊拉克北部最近的经济繁荣吸引了来自南亚和非洲成千上万的移民工人以及叙利亚的难民。一群伊拉克的库尔德摄影师，被那些难民和外国移民的历史和经历给感动了，为最近才到达目的地的叙利亚难民外国劳工设立了一个照片外展服务项目。

On a Friday afternoon in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah, Kurdish photographer Kamaran Najm is at work on a new project.

周五下午，在伊拉克北部的苏莱曼尼亚，库尔德摄影师Kamaran Najm正在为一个新工程而奔波着。

He and his colleagues are offering portraits to immigrant laborers.

他和他的同事正为移民劳工们拍照。

The Kurdish region of Iraq has seen an extraordinary economic boom since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, and this has led to high levels of labor 2 immigration.

伊拉克的库尔德地区自从2003年美国入侵以来，经济就非常的景气，而这就导致了劳务移民大大增加。

The government estimates there are about 48,000 foreign workers in the Kurdish region, most of whom do poorly paid, unskilled work.

政府估计在库尔德地区大约有48000外国工人，大多数都是干些低收入、对技能要求不太高的工作。

Kurds remembered

Kurds记得当时的情况。

But Kurdistan was not always like this. The violence and ensuing poverty of the 1980s and 90s drove many Kurds abroad, and it's those memories that drive this project.

但是库尔德斯坦不总是像现在这样的。上世纪八九十年代发生的暴力和接踵而至的贫穷迫使很多库尔德人往国外跑，而这些不堪回首的往事驱使这次的项目实施。

“There was a time during the 1990s and early 2000 where every single Kurdish family, if not one, several members of the family was abroad mostly for working and education, so it is a part of almost every single Kurdish family they had this feeling that one of them were out," said Kamaran Najm.

“在上世纪九十年代和二十一世纪较早年间，每个库尔德家庭，不只是一个甚至还一个家里好几个都在国外，大多数是工作和求学，所以这几乎是每个库尔德家庭都有这么一种感觉，就是他们当中有一人在外。”Kamaran Najm如是说。

For many Kurdish workers sending photographs home was a way of showing that they were alive and well, and those photographs preserve treasured memories.

对于许多库尔德工人来说，把照片寄回家是显示他们还活着并且还不错的一种方式，而那些照片保留了珍贵的回忆。

Bnar Sardar, another photographer working on the project, was a refugee in Iran, like many Kurds in the 1990s.

Bnar Sardar是另一名在这个项目上工作的摄影师，他是伊朗的一名难民，跟上世纪九十年代的许多库尔德人一样。

At that time, photographs were a luxury her family couldn't afford, something she deeply regrets.

在那时，照片对于她的家庭来说是一种奢侈品，根本花不起这个钱，这是她深深后悔的事。

“When I am in Iran I have not photographs for there. I have no photograph when I was a child there. Until now I wish I had one photo when I was there," said Sardar.

“当我在伊朗的时候我没有拍到那里的照片。我没有我儿时在那里生活的照片。直到现在我都很希望我可以有一张当时的照片。”Sardar如是说。

Due to a decade of relative political stability, Iraqi Kurdistan is now a sanctuary 4 for refugees and currently hosts over 200,000 displaced Syrians.

因为十年来政治局势相对稳定，伊拉克的库尔德目前是难民的避难所，目前容纳了而是多万无家可归的叙利亚人。

Refugee portraits

难民肖像

Earlier this year, Kamaran and his group of photographers went to the Arbat refugee camp to make portraits for the families living there.

今年较早时候，Kamaran 和他这一组的摄影师去到阿尔巴特难民营，帮那些住在那里的家庭拍照。

“We offered them a nice, clean happy family portrait. And we printed right there and we put the date in the photograph and put it in an album and gave it to them," said Najm.

“我们为他们拍了一张美好、爽朗愉快的全家福。我们还在当地就把照片给洗出来了，并且在照片上署上日期，然后放在相册里送给他们。”Najm如是说。

The success of the project encouraged the group to do it again with the foreign workers, many of whom are pleased with the results.

这个项目的成功鼓励了这个小组再次为外来务工人员这么做，许多人看到结果都很高兴。

"This is a friend of mine who doesn't live with us anymore. He's now working in another place, but with this photo I'll be able to see him every morning and evening," said Bangladeshi worker Islam.

“这是一个不再跟我们一起生活的朋友。他现在在另一个地方工作，但是有了这张照片我就可以每天早上和晚上都看到他了。”来自孟加拉国的工人Islam如是说。

"This is a photo all of my Nepali friends. When I go back and show this to my family, I'll be able to show them who my friends were from my time in Iraq," said Nepali worker Sushma.

“这是一张我跟我所有的尼泊尔朋友一起拍的照片。当我回到家并且把这照片给我的家人看时，我就可以让他们知道我现在在伊拉克的朋友。”尼泊尔工人Sushma如是说。

Although the photographers and their subjects are divided by culture and ethnicity, they are unified 5 by a common experience.

尽管这些摄影师和他们的项目受到了文化和种族的隔阂，但是他们的共同经历使他们联系在一起了。

Drawing on their very personal and painful past, this group of Iraqi photographers is attempting to give something back as their region becomes a home for those less fortunate.

想到过去他们的个人痛苦心酸的经历，这一组伊拉克摄影师们正试图想让什么东西回到他们的地区，让这里可以成为那些不幸的人们的一个家。