VOA慢速英语：约旦是中东比较大的难民营

The United Nations refugee agency says hundreds of thousands of Syrians who fled to Jordanto escape the war in Syria face a difficult future. Tens of thousands of these Syrians live in the Zaatari refugee camp. The camp was set up three years ago in just nine days. It has grown as the Syrian conflict has worsened. It is now the largest refugee camp in the Middle East.

联合国难民署称，成千上万的叙利亚人为了躲避战争逃离到约旦，他们面对未来，困难重重。数以万计的叙利亚人居住在Zaatari难民营。该难民营于三年前建立起来，仅用九天时间建成。随着叙利亚冲突的加剧，它已经扩展。现在，它是中东地区最大的难民营。

The fighting in Syriastarted more than four years ago, with a series of protests against the government. The United Nations estimates that since March of 2011,about 200,000 people have been killed in the fighting.

叙利亚战争于四年多前开始，并发动一系列的反政府抗议活动。据联合国估计，自2011年3月，约20万人已在战争中丧生。

Syrian refugees travel on the main street of Al Zaatari refugee camp in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria, Jan. 15, 2015.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says more than four million Syrians have fled the country. U.N. officials believe about 7.6 million others have fled their homes, but remain in Syria.

联合国难民事务高级专员表示，四百多万叙利亚人已经逃离该国。联合国官员认为，大约有760万其他人逃离他们的家园，但仍留在叙利亚。

Ariane Rummery works for the refugee agency. She says that more than half of the 81,000 Syrians in the Zaatari camp are children. She says educating them is a difficult job.

Ariane Rummery 在难民机构工作。她说在Zaatari 难民营，81000名叙利亚人中，一半以上都是儿童。她还表示，教育他们是一项困难的工作。

 “One in every three childreninside Zaatri camp is outside offormal or informal schooling. There's also about nine and a half thousand (9,500) young people between 19 and 24 who need skills training and lack other ways to make a living. About five percent of these young people were at university in Syria, but had to drop out because of the conflict, and only 1.6 percent of those had managed to graduate.”

在Zaatri难民营中，三分之一的孩子没有接受过是正式或非正式教育。还有9500位19-24的年轻人需要技能培训，而且他们缺乏其他的谋生方式。他们中有5%的人在叙利亚读大学，但因冲突而被迫辍学，并且只有1.6%的人成功地毕业。

 “As difficult as life is in the camp, conditions are worse for the more than500,000 Syrian refugees who are trying to survive in Jordanian cities. A recent study shows about 86 percent of them earn less than $95 a month.

在难民营里，生活本来就是非常艰难的。对于那些试图在约旦城市生存的50多万难民而言，生存条件更加糟糕。最近的研究表明他们当中有86%的人月收入低于95美元。

Ms. Rummery says these urban refugees are getting aid from the U.N. refugee agency, the World Food Program and other agencies. But, she says, it is not enough, and they are forced to make difficult decisions.

Rummery女士说，这些难民可以从联合国难民署、世界粮食计划署及其他机构获得援助。然而，她表示，这是远远不够的，并且，他们要被迫做出艰难的决定。

 “Things like pulling children out of school. It means begging, it means child labor. It is easier for children to work under the radar in Jordan, for example, and so families often are having to rely on their children to work because of their very difficult economic situation.”

比如像开始让孩子辍学这样的事情。这意味着乞讨，意味着童工。如在约旦，让儿童在不被人关注的情况下工作是非常容易的。因此由于他们经济状况非常困难，家庭们不得不依靠让自己的孩子去工作。

Ms. Rummery says only about 45 people a day now enter Jordanfrom Syria. She says that is because Jordanian officials are limiting the number of refugees. She says a growing number of refugees are returning to Syria because it is too difficult to survive in Jordan.

Rummery女士表示，现在，每天大约只有45人从叙利亚进入约旦。因为约旦官员正在限制难民人数。由于在约旦难以生存，越来越多的叙利亚难民返回家乡。

I’m Christopher Jones-Cruise.

VOA correspondent Lisa Schlein reported this story from Geneva. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

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Words in This Story

formal– adj. received in a school

informal – adj. not formal

drop out – v. phrasal verb. to leave school before completing classes

beg – v. to ask people for money or food

under the radar– idiomatic phrase. not detected or noticed; not following rules