PBS高端访谈:联合国首次举办难民问题峰会
时间:2019-03-09 作者:英语课 分类:PBS访谈社会系列
英语课
JUDY WOODRUFF: But first: At the United Nations General Assembly today, a first-of-its kind summit on refugees and migrants was held, led by the secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon.
Tomorrow, President Obama will lead a second meeting on the crisis.
William Brangham has more.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: An estimated 65 million people worldwide are now considered refugees and migrants. That's an increase of five million people over last year alone, making this the largest refugee crisis since World War II.
To discuss the plight 1 of these people, and the current global response, I'm joined now by Filippo Grandi. He's the United Nations High Commissioner 2 for Refugees.
Mr. High Commissioner, thank you very much for being here.
I understand today you reached a big agreement at the United Nations. Can you tell us a little bit about what was agreed to?
FILIPPO GRANDI, UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Yes.
The General Assembly, meaning all the states in the world, have issued a declaration which actually will be known as the New York Declaration, committing themselves to protecting, assisting refugees, but also finding new ways the organize better the response to refugee crisis.
And, you know, for a long time, we have struggled with the resources. We have been able to give the basics to refugees, like blankets, medicine, some food, but what refugees want also is a future, is education, is jobs. And it is an effort to try to expand our support to them that this declaration will help us carry out.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Obviously, a global agreement of this kind is important, but this agreement is not binding 3 on any of the nations that put their name on the line. So, how confident are you that this will really have a meaningful impact?
FILIPPO GRANDI: Well, first of all, it's the first time in history that the General Assembly issues such a declaration, so there is a lot of political weight behind that.
And then I think that, also, everybody has realized — especially when refugees in the last couple of years started arriving in Europe, started moving on from places where they have arrived first, I think there is a realization 4 this is not a problem of one or another country. This is a global problem.
Just like — think of epidemics 5 or think of climate change. I think there is a growing realization that these are global issues, global problems that affect the whole of humanity, and only working together we can address the root causes, we can address what pushes people to move on.
So I think that there is a necessity and not just a moral commitment to do that.
联合国首次举办难民问题峰会
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I want to ask you a little bit about some of the headwinds that are facing the U.N. and all the nations who are grappling with this.
We saw in Germany a very big welcome mat thrown out, and now we have seen the rise of a far-right nationalistic party in response. Here in the U.S., we have also seen a very strong anti-immigrant sentiment, driven mostly out of fears of terrorism.
I'm curious. When you're talking to leaders of world nations, what do you tell them about those sentiments? How do we counter those, and where do those feelings lead?
FILIPPO GRANDI: I think there are always two sentiments in every society. There is solidarity 6. And we have seen it very much in Europe when refugees arrive.
But there is also a feeling of apprehension 7 and rejection 8. And what people are, I think, worried about is when they see that the response to these flows is not orderly, is not organized, is not structured.
This is why this declaration also invites everybody, all the states, together with the United Nations organization, to work on these responses, to make them more predictable, more cooperative. If Europe had reacted in that manner back last year, when people started arriving in large numbers, I'm persuaded that there wouldn't have been such a negative reaction growing with the passage of time, that people would have accepted that it was important, necessary, principled, but also possible to receive refugees, to give them asylum 9, people fleeing from war and persecution 10.
But we need to organize that response better. And this is what — this is the value of this declaration. It will help us work towards that organization. It will give us the resources hopefully to do that.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The issue of resettlement is obviously a crucial one, finding a more permanent home for these people, so they're not living in camps in perpetuity.
But the agreement today that was — the original draft of that agreement asks for a 10 percent annual rate of resettlement of the refugees, but that was scrapped 11 because of resistance from many of the donor 12 nations.
So, if 10 percent per year resettlement is considered too much, what does that tell you about the future?
FILIPPO GRANDI: This is a United Nations document.
To issue this document, member states have to agree, all of them, 193. This is very difficult. So, there couldn't be an agreement on a percentage of refugees to be resettled.
But resettlement as a key solution, especially for the most vulnerable people, is in the declaration as one of the things that we need to work on. So, the declaration is the preamble 13 to a global compact that we hope we will be able to issue in two years' time.
And during this time, we will work. We will work on these concrete commitments. I don't know if we will come up with a figure, but I think that what we must do is increase the present very low percentage. We are talking about 10 percent. Right now, it's less than 1 percent of the refugees that are resettled. So we need to improve on that.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Just very quickly, I'm curious about the financial status of your organization.
We saw requests go out last year for $20 billion, and only half of that was returned. How able are you financially to deal with this crisis going forward this year and into the years into the future?
FILIPPO GRANDI: This has been a chronic 14 problem for us humanitarian 15 organizations.
UNHCR, my organization, has a budget of $7 billion, in fact, annually 16, and we receive about 50, 55 percent of this money. Once again, this is another important element of what was decided 17 in New York today.
It was decided that the response to refugee flows shouldn't simply be humanitarian, should involve big development actors, like the World Bank, who made very strong commitments today. And that will bring new, fresh resources, different resources to the table. And I hope that that will also be a big progress.
WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Filippo Grandi, U.N. high commissioner for refugees, thanks very much for being here.
FILIPPO GRANDI: Thank you.
n.困境,境况,誓约,艰难;vt.宣誓,保证,约定
- The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
- She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。
n.(政府厅、局、处等部门)专员,长官,委员
- The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
- He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。
有约束力的,有效的,应遵守的
- The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
- Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。
n.实现;认识到,深刻了解
- We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
- He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。
n.流行病
- Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间,又会引入歧途。
- The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。
n.团结;休戚相关
- They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
- The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。
n.理解,领悟;逮捕,拘捕;忧虑
- There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑,于是她越来越担心。
- She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。
n.拒绝,被拒,抛弃,被弃
- He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
- The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。
n.避难所,庇护所,避难
- 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。
n. 迫害,烦扰
- 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。
废弃(scrap的过去式与过去分词); 打架
- This machine is so old that it will soon have to be scrapped. 这架机器太旧,快报废了。
- It had been thought that passport controls would be scrapped. 人们曾认为会放开护照管制。
n.捐献者;赠送人;(组织、器官等的)供体
- In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下,接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
- The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。
n.前言;序文
- He spoke without preamble.他没有开场白地讲起来。
- The controversy has arisen over the text of the preamble to the unification treaty.针对统一条约的序文出现了争论。
adj.(疾病)长期未愈的,慢性的;极坏的
- Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
- Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。
n.人道主义者,博爱者,基督凡人论者
- She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业,并作了很大的贡献。
- The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。
adv.一年一次,每年
- Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
- They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。