The forgotten millions

来源: http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21720615-how-improve-prospects-refugees-growing-up-refugee-camp-means-little-education


下载音频

导读:仍然来自经济学人Book and Art专栏。大家应该都听说了2015年的欧洲难民危机,由于本国战争,造成大量难民离开家乡。此后引发了一系列的政治以及经济影响。本篇文章借由两位教授Alexander Betts and Paul Collier的新书“Refuge”,就难民在别国的生存问题提出了新的观点。
他们仅仅通过逃到其他国家,就能够解决问题么?

[1] The European migration crisis of 2015 quickly turned into a morality play. Liberals lined railway platforms to welcome refugees, while their nativist foes warned of chaos and terrorism. Lost in the row were the millions of refugees who stayed in the developing world, unwilling or unable to journey to richer countries. The boats disgorging Syrians and Afghans onto Greek islands delivered one of the most serious emergencies the European Union has ever known. But according to a new book, they were a sideshow.

morality [məˈræləti]
n. 道德; 道德观; 道德准则; 品德高尚的行为;
[例句]Most people believe they conduct their private and public lives in accordance with Christian morality.
大多数人认为他们是依照基督教的道德体系来处理自己的私生活和公共事务的。
liberal [ˈlɪbərəl]
n. 自由主义者; 自由党党员;
adj. 自由的; 开明的; 慷慨的; 不拘泥的;
[例句]She is known to have liberal views on divorce and contraception.
众所周知,她在离婚与避孕方面思想很开明。
refugee [ˌrefjuˈdʒi:]
n. 避难者,难民;
[例句]They stay here a few hours before being sent to refugee camps, which are now almost full
他们在这儿呆了几个小时后被送往难民营,而那里现在几乎已经满员了。
nativist ['neɪtɪvɪst]
n. 先天论者,本土主义者;
[例句]This is the nativist wing of the Republican Party.
这是共和党的本土主义派系。
foe [fəʊ]
n. 敌人,仇敌; 危害物; 反对者;
[例句]With power and to spare we must pursue the tottering foe.
宜将剩勇追穷寇。
chaos [ˈkeɪɒs]
n. 混乱,紊乱; (天地未出现的) 浑沌世界; 〈古〉无底深渊; 一团糟;
[例句]The world's first transatlantic balloon race ended in chaos last night
昨晚世界第一届跨大西洋热气球比赛在一片混乱中收场。
terrorism [ˈterərɪzəm]
n. 恐怖主义,恐怖手段; 威吓,胁迫; 恐怖状态; 恐怖统治;
[例句]What separates terrorism from other acts of violence?
恐怖主义和其他暴力行为的区别是什么?
disgorging [dɪs'gɔ:dʒɪŋ]
n. 被迫交出,吐出(脏物);
v. 呕吐; 退出; 吐出( disgorge的现在分词 ); 倒出(食物、液体等);
[例句]With factories disgorging workers almost daily, some temporary unemployment at least looks unavoidable.
由于工厂几乎每天都在解聘工人,一些人暂时失业似乎无论如何是不可避免的。
Syrian ['sɪrɪən]
adj. 叙利亚的;
n. 叙利亚人;
[例句]The crew-members were Syrians.
乘务员是叙利亚人。
Afghanistan[æf'ɡænɪstæn]
n. 阿富汗;
[例句]Pakistan became a conduit for drugs produced in Afghanistan.
巴基斯坦成了阿富汗毒品的贩运通道。
sideshow [ˈsaɪdʃəʊ]
n. (正戏中的) 穿插表演; 附带游乐项目; 附带事件或活动; 次要问题或事情;
[例句]Sideshows at the championship include highland dancing and a play by The Wanlockhead Players.
锦标赛上的助兴节目包括高地舞蹈和万洛克黑德剧社上演的一部剧。
长难句:
The boats disgorging Syrians and Afghans onto Greek islands delivered one of the most serious emergencies the European Union has ever known.
盯着这个句子,一步一步跟着霞姐的思路我们来梳理架构:
The boats名词放在句首作主语…
主语之后没有直接给谓语动词…
给出的是disgorging Syrians and Afghans onto Greek islands
这是doing现在分词结构,doing紧跟名词之后作其后置定语,所以这里disgorging Syrians and Afghans onto Greek islands是修饰boats > 的,告诉我们是怎样的船呢?离开叙利亚和阿富汗开往希腊岛的船…
主语和其修饰语梳理清楚之后继续往后,不要忘记寻找句子的谓语动词…
紧接着看到了delivered,这个动作是boats可以发出的,所以这是句子的谓语。
谓语之后去找宾语,发现宾语是one of the most serious emergencies这样一个结构。
Emergencies后面跟的是它自己的修饰语
一个定语从句the European Union has ever known,
这个定语从句只是因为引导词that在从句内部充当宾语,省略了而已。
大意:一个逃离叙利亚和阿富汗开往希腊岛的船运来了欧盟经历过的最严重的紧急情况之一。

[2] The starting point of “Refuge” by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier, a refugee expert and a development economist, is the plight of the 86% of refugees who live in poor countries. The outlook for most is grim. Although the number of people dis-placed by conflict or persecution (including those forced to flee inside their own countries) is at a post-war high of 65m, more salient is the length of their exile: about half the world’s refugees have endured their status for more than five years.

refuge [ˈrefju:dʒ]
n. 避难; 避难所; 庇护者; [医] 救急疗法;
vt. 给予…庇护; 接纳…避难;
vi. 避难; 躲避;
[例句]They took refuge in a bomb shelter
他们在防空洞中避难。
plight [plaɪt]
n. 境况,困境; 誓约;
vt. 保证,约定;
[例句]Last year Collins wrote a moving ballad which highlighted the plight of the homeless
去年,柯林斯写了一首动人的抒情歌曲,突出描绘了无家可归者的苦境。
persecution [ˌpə:sɪˈkjuʃən]
n. 迫害或受迫害,烦扰; 苛求,困扰;
[例句]We had to leave the country because of the persecutions.
由于受到迫害,我们不得不离开这个国家。
salient [ˈseɪliənt]
adj. 显著的,突出的; 重要的,主要的; 跳跃的; (指角) 凸出的;
n. 凸角,[建]突出部; <军>进攻或防卫阵地的突出部分;
[例句]He read the salient facts quickly
他快速浏览了重要的事实。
exile [ˈeksaɪl]
vt. 放逐,流放; 使背井离乡;
n. 流放,放逐,流亡; 长期离家[出国]; 被流放者,背井离乡者;
[例句]He is now living in exile in Egypt
他目前流亡埃及。

长难句:
The starting point of “Refuge” by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier, a refugee expert and a development economist, is the plight of the 86% of refugees who live in poor countries.
The starting point名词放在句首作主语,
主语之后没有直接给出谓语动词,而是给出了of “Refuge”介词短语修饰它
refuge又跟了by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier修饰它,告诉我们它的作者是谁…
Alexander Betts and Paul Collier这两个人是谁呢?两个逗号中间给出了同位语a refugee expert and a development economist进一步说明这两个人的牛逼身份。
一堆的层层修饰语剥离之后,我们看到了我们的谓语动词is,一个系动词。
系动词之后的内容被叫做表语the plight。
The plight之后跟上介词短语of the 86% of refugees作其后置定语,这个介词短语结构中86% of是一个百分比数字,修饰refugees,删掉看更加清楚。
who live in poor countries这个定语从句修饰名词refugees。
大意:Alexander Betts和Paul Collier,一个难民专家和发展经济学家,他们的书《避难》的出发点是那些生活在贫穷国家的86%难民的困境。

[3] Take Syria’s civil war, six years old with no end in sight. Most of the 4m Syrian refugees languishing in neighboring Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon cannot return home. But they struggle to find decent work or educate their children in the towns and cities to which most have flocked (the small numbers in camps have even fewer options). Any visitor to places like the Bekaa valley in Lebanon will quickly see the hopelessness that sets in when refugees are denied a stake in their own future.

languishing ['læŋgwɪʃɪŋ]
adj. 日趋衰弱的,苦思的,渴望的;
v. 长期受苦( languish的现在分词 ); 受折磨; 变得(越来越)衰弱; 因渴望而变得憔悴或闷闷不乐;
[例句]He is languishing for home.
他苦思家乡。
Jordan and Lebanon
约旦和黎巴嫩
flock [flɒk]
n. 兽群,鸟群; 群众; 棉束; 大堆,大量;
vi. 群集,成群结队而行;
vt. 用棉束填;
[例句]They kept a small flock of sheep
他们养了一小群羊。
Bekaa
[词典] 贝卡(黎巴嫩中部一谷地);
[例句]Israeli jets Friday struck several areas in southern Lebanon, near Beirut and the eastern Bekaa Valley.
以色列的喷气式飞机星期五攻击了黎巴嫩南部靠近贝鲁特和贝卡谷地的几个地区。
hopelessness ['həʊpləsnəs]
[词典] 绝望;
[例句]There is an almost palpable feeling of hopelessness.
几乎明显有种无望的感觉。
stake [steɪk]
n. 股份; 桩; 刑柱; (在公司、计划等中的) 重大利益;
vt. 用桩支撑; 以…下注[打赌]; 用桩区分,界分;
[例句]The tension was naturally high for a game with so much at stake
对于一场成败攸关的比赛来说气氛自然非常紧张。

长难句:
Any visitor to places like the Bekaa valley in Lebanon will quickly see the hopelessness that sets in when refugees are denied a stake in their own future.
Any visitor名词放在句首作主语。
主语之后介词短语to places作主语的后置定语。
places之后又跟介词短语like the Bekaa valley in Lebanon作places的后置定语。
各种修饰语梳理清楚之后看到我们的谓语动词will quickly see。
宾语是the hopelessness
that引导的定语从句that sets in修饰hopelessness。
When引导的从句when refugees are denied a stake in their own future.
是条件状语从句。套在that引导的定语从句内部。
大意:任何来到像黎巴嫩的Bekaa河谷这样地方的游客将很快看到难民被剥夺了他们未来赌注之后出现的绝望。

[4] The UN’s refugee body (UNHCR) has a legal mandate to help, but it is chronically underfunded and increasingly irrelevant. Under the prevailing “care and maintenance” model, the UNHCR and its partner agencies act as surrogate states, keeping refugees in limbo for years. That suits rich countries, which pay to keep refugees away, and allays the economic and security fears of their hosts. But it creates lost generations—the third generation of Somali refugees in the vast Dadaab agglomeration in Kenya (pictured) now numbers 10,000— and does nothing for the refugees who are not in camps. The big argument of “Refuge” is that refugees should be given jobs rather than coddled as victims, and that governments should harness the forces of globalisation and capitalism to help.

UNHCR 英[ˌju: en ˌeɪtʃ si: ˈɑ:(r)]
abbr. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 联合国难民事务高级专员(办事处);
[例句]A spokesman for UNHCR said he was surprised and disappointed by the decision.
联合国难民署的一位发言人说他对这一决定既震惊又失望。
mandate [ˈmændeɪt]
n. 授权; 命令; 委任; 任期;
vt. 托管; 批准;
vi. 强制执行; 委托办理;
[例句]The President and his supporters are almost certain to read this vote as a mandate for continued economic reform
总统及其支持者几乎肯定地认为这次投票是对继续进行经济改革的授权。
chronically ['krɒnɪklɪ]
adv. 慢性地,习惯性地,长期地;
[例句]It is required by law to shut down banks which it regards as chronically short of capital
法律规定资金长期短缺的银行必须关闭。
prevailing [prɪˈveɪlɪŋ]
adj. 盛行的; 普遍的; 占优势的; 主要的;
v. 盛行; 获胜( prevail的现在分词 ); 说服; ( 思想、观点等) 被接受;
[例句]The direction of the prevailing winds should be taken into account.
应该将盛行风的方向考虑在内。
surrogate [ˈsɜ:rəgət]
n. 代理,代表; 代用品,代替,代孕者,[心]代用人物; 〈美〉遗嘱检验法庭[法官];
adj. 代理的; 代理的;
v. 代理,替代;
[例句]Martin had become Howard Cosell's surrogate son
马丁代为当起了霍华德·科塞尔的儿子。
allay [əˈleɪ]
vt. 减轻,缓和; 使冷静,使平静; 止渴; 消痛;
[例句]He did what he could to allay his wife's fears.
他竭尽所能来消除妻子的各种恐惧。
Somali [sə'ma:lɪ]
n. (东非国家) 索马里族(人)索马里语;
[例句]He is currently writing a dissertation on the Somali civil war.
他目前正在写一篇关于索马里内战的论文。
Dadaab
网络 达达阿布; 达达阿比;
agglomeration [əˌglɑ:məˈreɪʃn]
n. 成团,结块;
[例句]The towns are on the way to becoming agglomerations of desperately poor people
这些城市正逐渐变为极度贫穷之人的聚居地。
Kenya ['kenjə]
n. 肯尼亚;
[例句]She was off again. Last year she had been to Kenya. This year it was Goa
她又走了,去年去了肯尼亚,今年则是果阿。
coddle [ˈkɒdl]
vt. 悉心照料,娇惯;
[例句]She coddled her youngest son madly
她对小儿子过于溺爱。
harness [ˈhɑ:nɪs]
n. 背带; 马具,挽具; 系带;
vt. 利用; 给(马等)套轭具; 控制;
[例句]Turkey plans to harness the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for big hydro-electric power projects.
土耳其计划利用底格里斯河和幼发拉底河的河水开发大型水电项目。
capitalism [ˈkæpɪtlˌɪzəm]
n. 资本主义(制度); 资本(或财富)的拥有; 资本(私人占有和生产盈利)的支配地位;
[例句]The expansion of Western capitalism incorporated the Third World into an exploitative world system.
西方资本主义的扩张将第三世界并入了剥削性的世界体系中。

长难句:
Under the prevailing “care and maintenance” model, the UNHCR and its partner agencies act as surrogate states, keeping refugees in limbo for years.
Under the prevailing “care and maintenance” model介词短语放在句首作修饰语。
the UNHCR and its partner agencies两个并列的名词作句子主语。
act as surrogate states谓语动词和谓语的搭配。
keeping refugees in limbo for years这个doing是主语的伴随状语。
大意:在普遍的“关心与维护”模式下,联合国难民署及其伙伴机构充当代理国,使难民们多年处于不稳定状态。

[5] The authors’ Eureka moment came in Jordan in 2015, when they were shown a low-tax “special economic zone” (of the sort popular in parts of Asia) near Zaatari, a refugee camp. The camp “reeked of lives on hold ”, while the zone needed workers. The answer seemed obvious: alongside nationals, refugees should be put to work. Done well, the authors argue hopefully, this approach can align the interests of refugees, donors and host countries. To test their ideas Messrs Betts and Collier have helped establish a pilot scheme in Jordan, with help from Western governments(the EU has offered trade concessions) and companies like Asda, a British super-market, which uses suppliers that hire refugees in the zone. Results so far are mixed, although it is early days. Different solutions can be found for other countries. In some parts of Africa, for example, refugees can be given arable land to farm; Uganda has found success with this approach. When peace returns at home, refugees can return. If it doesn’t, after a set period they should be allowed to naturalise.

eureka [jʊ'ri:kə]
int. (因找到某物,尤指问题的答案而高兴) 我发现了,我找到了;
[例句]'Eureka! I've got it!'
“找到了!我找到了!”
reek[ri:k]
n. 恶臭; 水蒸汽; 雾; 烟;
vi. 冒烟; 发出浓烈的臭气; 散发臭气;
vt. 散发; 用烟熏; 发出…的气息;
[例句]Your breath reeks of stale cigar smoke
你满嘴都是难闻的雪茄味。
align[əˈlaɪn]
vt. 使成一线,使结盟; 排整齐;
vi. 排列; 成一条线;
[例句]There are signs that the prime minister is aligning himself with the liberals
有迹象表明首相正在与自由党人结盟。

长难句:
To test their ideas Messrs Betts and Collier have helped establish a pilot scheme in Jordan, with help from Western governments (the EU has offered trade concessions) and companies like Asda, a British super-market, which uses suppliers that hire refugees in the zone.
To test their ideas:不定式放在句首作目的状语,目的是句子的主语Messrs Betts and Collier。
主语之后直接给出了谓语动词have helped establish,这里是help do的搭配使用。
宾语是a pilot scheme in Jordan,
句子结束之后还给出了介词短语with help做修饰语。
from Western governments and companies这个介词短语修饰help,强调help的提供者。
like Asda, 介词短语修饰companies,
a British super-market,是Asda的同位语。
which uses suppliers that hire refugees in the zone定语从句修饰Asda。
大意:为了验证他们的观点,Messrs Betts和 Collier在约旦帮忙建立了一个飞行员项目,借助了西方政府(欧盟提供了交易特许经营权)和像Asda这样公司的帮助,Asda是一家英国超市,它使用雇佣难民的供应商。

[6] Where does the West fit in? The authors slam Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, for triggering huge movements of refugees and migrants to Europe by relaxing entry rules for Syrians in August 2015. The charge is unfair. Mrs Merkel’s decision was as much consequence as cause: the exodus was well under way by the summer. A striking claim that Germany’s decisions “may have” intensified the violence in Syria is presented without evidence.

slam[slæm]
vt. 砰地关上(门或窗); 猛烈抨击; 使劲一推; 猛劲一摔;
vi. 砰然关上; 猛力打击,碰撞; 撞到了一辆卡车上;
n. 猛击; 猛然关闭的声音;
[例句]She slammed the door and locked it behind her
她砰的一下关上门,随手锁上了。
Chancellor [ˈtʃænsəlɚ, -slɚ]
n. 大臣; (某些美国大学的) 校长; (德国或奥地利的) 总理; (英国大学的) 名誉校长;
[例句]They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday
他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
exodus [ˈɛksədəs]
n. 离去,退出; 古代以色列人出埃及;
[例句]Lieutenant Malcolm said she saw no sign that the exodus from Haiti was abating
马尔科姆海军上尉说她没有发现人们大批逃离海地有减缓的迹象。

长难句:
A striking claim that Germany’s decisions “may have” intensified the violence in Syria is presented without evidence.
A striking claim一个名词放在句首作主语,这里 claim是抽象名词。
紧接着that从句修饰claim,进入that Germany’s decisions “may have” intensified the violence in Syria内部,发现that在从句中不充当任何成分,这是一个名词性从句,that引导的名词性从句跟在抽象名词claim后面说明claim的内容。
(此处注意学习同位语从句,也注意辨识同位语从句和定语从句的不同)
Claim和自己的同位语从句梳理清楚之后出现了谓语动词is presented,without evidence修饰动词is presented.
大意:德国的决策可能加剧了叙利亚暴力事件的这个惊人说法是毫无根据的。

[7] The authors are on steadier ground when they note the high price of European generosity. Sweden, for example, has diverted half its foreign-aid budget to pay for refugees at home; thus the world’s poorest are in effect subsidizing their more fortunate brethren in Sweden’s expensive asylum system. The drain has lost Syria its brightest, crimping its chances of post-conflict recovery. Rather than argue for rich countries to take in evermore refugees, the authors urge them to offer political and economic help to “havens” like Jordan and Kenya, including financial incentives for firms to invest.

generosity [ˌdʒenəˈrɑ:səti]
n. 慷慨,大方; 宽容或慷慨的行为; 丰富;
[例句]There are stories about his generosity, the massive amounts of money he gave to charities.
有传闻说他向慈善机构慷慨解囊,捐献巨款。
brethren [ˈbrɛðrən]
n. <旧>兄弟们,同胞; 〈旧〉同党,会友;
[例句]We must help our brethren, it is our duty
我们必须帮助我们的教友,这是我们的责任。
asylum [əˈsaɪləm]
n. 庇护; 避难所; 政治避难; 精神病院;
[例句]He applied for asylum in 1987 after fleeing the police back home.
1987年他在本国逃脱警察追捕后,就申请了政治庇护。

[8] This will unsettle those who despair at Europe’s inability to handle a refugee in-flux of1m when its poorer neighbours cope with far higher numbers. Perhaps a bigger problem is that ”Refuge” provides no guide on how to handle today’s mixed flows of economic migrants and refugees. Unlike many advocacy groups, the authors are careful (and right) to distinguish the two. But the people smugglers in Libya who haul Eritreans onto boats together with Nigerians and Bangladeshis do not, creating headaches for European governments.

despair [dɪˈspeə(r)]
n. 绝望; 使人绝望的人(或事物);
vi. 绝望;
[例句]I looked at my wife in despair
我绝望地看着妻子。
influx [ˈɪnˌflʌks]
n. 流入,注入; 汇集〔指人或物〕,充斥; 注入口,河口;
[例句]The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.
这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
smuggler [ˈsmʌglə(r)]
n. 走私者; 走私船;
[例句]The bombings were masterminded by a known drugs smuggler.
爆炸是由一个臭名昭著的毒品走私分子操纵的。
Eritreans
[词典] 厄立特里亚的;
Bangladeshi [ˌbæŋɡlə'deʃɪ]
n. 孟加拉国人,孟加拉国居民;
adj. (有关) 孟加拉国的,(有关)孟加拉人的;
[例句]Many Bangladeshis were employed in the construction or fishing industries.
许多孟加拉国人都从事建筑业或渔业。

长难句:
The people smugglers in Libya who haul Eritreans onto boats together with Nigerians and Bangladeshis do not, creating headaches for European governments.
The people smugglers in Libya名词放在句首作主语。
定语从句who haul Eritreans onto boats together with Nigerians and Bangladeshis修饰主语。定语从句内部的主语是引导词who充当,haul Eritreans onto boats是动作,together with Nigerians and Bangladeshis介词短语作主语。
do not 是句子的谓语,但是这里谓语出现了省略,结合倩文,这里do not=do not distinguish the two,这里的the two= economic migrants and refugees经济移民和难民
creating headaches for European governments结果状语,前面整件事发生导致的结果。
大意:那些把厄立特里亚人和尼日利亚人,孟加拉人都拉上船的利比亚人口贩子并不能区分经济移民和难民,这让欧洲政府非常头疼。

[9] ”Refuge” suffers from poor editing; it is wearyingly repetitive and dotted with errors (Mrs Merkel has not, for example, imposed a cap on refugees). A few eyebrows will also be raised at the claim that Europe’s refugee flows were responsible for Britain’s vote to leave the EU. But this should not detract from the humanity of a book that places the long-term needs of the world’s refugees at its heart. ”Refuge” is the first comprehensive attempt in years to re-think from first principles a system hide-bound by old thinking and hand-wringing. Its ideas demand a hearing.

weary [ˈwɪəri]
adj. 疲倦的; 困乏的; 令人厌倦[生厌,发腻]的; 感到厌倦的;
vt. (使) 疲乏,(使)厌烦;
v. 疲倦,疲乏; 厌倦,厌烦; 渴望,切望;
[例句]Rachel looked pale and weary.
雷切尔看起来脸色苍白,疲惫不堪。
repetitive [rɪˈpetətɪv]
adj. 重复的,啰嗦的; 复唱的;
[例句]Suddenly music that seemed dull and repetitive comes alive.
突然间,似乎索然无味且反反复复的音乐生动了起来。
hidebound [ˈhaɪdbaʊnd]
adj. 对新的思想、方法等格格不入的,守旧的,思想偏狭的;
[例句]The men are hidebound and reactionary
那些人顽固且反动。
wringing [rɪŋɪŋ]
adj. 淋湿的,湿透的;
v. 绞( wring的现在分词 ); 握紧(尤指别人的手); 把(湿衣服)拧干; 绞掉(水);
[例句]He was wringing wet after working in the field in the hot sun.
烈日下在田里干活使他汗流满面。

长难句:
A few eyebrows will also be raised at the claim that Europe’s refugee flows were responsible for Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
句子主干A few eyebrows will also be raised at the claim
句子主干内部主语是A few eyebrows,谓语动词是will also be raised,介词短语at the claim是raised的对象。
同位语从句:that Europe’s refugee flows were responsible for Britain’s vote to leave the EU
此处同位语从句说明claim的内容。同位语从句内部的主语是Europe’s refugee flows,谓语动词是were responsible for,宾语Britain’s vote to leave the EU
大意:对于欧洲难民流是英国脱欧的原因这个说法,很多人是表示不同意的。

下载PDF版

来源: http://www.economist.com/news/books-and-arts/21720615-how-improve-prospects-refugees-growing-up-refugee-camp-means-little-education


下载音频

导读:仍然来自经济学人Book and Art专栏。大家应该都听说了2015年的欧洲难民危机,由于本国战争,造成大量难民离开家乡。此后引发了一系列的政治以及经济影响。本篇文章借由两位教授Alexander Betts and Paul Collier的新书“Refuge”,就难民在别国的生存问题提出了新的观点。
他们仅仅通过逃到其他国家,就能够解决问题么?

[1] The European migration crisis of 2015 quickly turned into a morality play. Liberals lined railway platforms to welcome refugees, while their nativist foes warned of chaos and terrorism. Lost in the row were the millions of refugees who stayed in the developing world, unwilling or unable to journey to richer countries. The boats disgorging Syrians and Afghans onto Greek islands delivered one of the most serious emergencies the European Union has ever known. But according to a new book, they were a sideshow.

[2] The starting point of “Refuge” by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier, a refugee expert and a development economist, is the plight of the 86% of refugees who live in poor countries. The outlook for most is grim. Although the number of people dis-placed by conflict or persecution (including those forced to flee inside their own countries) is at a post-war high of 65m, more salient is the length of their exile: about half the world’s refugees have endured their status for more than five years.

[3] Take Syria’s civil war, six years old with no end in sight. Most of the 4m Syrian refugees languishing in neighboring Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon cannot return home. But they struggle to find decent work or educate their children in the towns and cities to which most have flocked (the small numbers in camps have even fewer options). Any visitor to places like the Bekaa valley in Lebanon will quickly see the hopelessness that sets in when refugees are denied a stake in their own future.

[4] The UN’s refugee body (UNHCR) has a legal mandate to help, but it is chronically underfunded and increasingly irrelevant. Under the prevailing “care and maintenance” model, the UNHCR and its partner agencies act as surrogate states, keeping refugees in limbo for years. That suits rich countries, which pay to keep refugees away, and allays the economic and security fears of their hosts. But it creates lost generations—the third generation of Somali refugees in the vast Dadaab agglomeration in Kenya (pictured) now numbers 10,000— and does nothing for the refugees who are not in camps. The big argument of “Refuge” is that refugees should be given jobs rather than coddled as victims, and that governments should harness the forces of globalisation and capitalism to help.

[5] The authors’ Eureka moment came in Jordan in 2015, when they were shown a low-tax “special economic zone” (of the sort popular in parts of Asia) near Zaatari, a refugee camp. The camp “reeked of lives on hold ”, while the zone needed workers. The answer seemed obvious: alongside nationals, refugees should be put to work. Done well, the authors argue hopefully, this approach can align the interests of refugees, donors and host countries. To test their ideas Messrs Betts and Collier have helped establish a pilot scheme in Jordan, with help from Western governments(the EU has offered trade concessions) and companies like Asda, a British super-market, which uses suppliers that hire refugees in the zone. Results so far are mixed, although it is early days. Different solutions can be found for other countries. In some parts of Africa, for example, refugees can be given arable land to farm; Uganda has found success with this approach. When peace returns at home, refugees can return. If it doesn’t, after a set period they should be allowed to naturalise.

[6] Where does the West fit in? The authors slam Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, for triggering huge movements of refugees and migrants to Europe by relaxing entry rules for Syrians in August 2015. The charge is unfair. Mrs Merkel’s decision was as much consequence as cause: the exodus was well under way by the summer. A striking claim that Germany’s decisions “may have” intensified the violence in Syria is presented without evidence.

[7] The authors are on steadier ground when they note the high price of European generosity. Sweden, for example, has diverted half its foreign-aid budget to pay for refugees at home; thus the world’s poorest are in effect subsidizing their more fortunate brethren in Sweden’s expensive asylum system. The drain has lost Syria its brightest, crimping its chances of post-conflict recovery. Rather than argue for rich countries to take in evermore refugees, the authors urge them to offer political and economic help to “havens” like Jordan and Kenya, including financial incentives for firms to invest.

[8] This will unsettle those who despair at Europe’s inability to handle a refugee in-flux of1m when its poorer neighbours cope with far higher numbers. Perhaps a bigger problem is that ”Refuge” provides no guide on how to handle today’s mixed flows of economic migrants and refugees. Unlike many advocacy groups, the authors are careful (and right) to distinguish the two. But the people smugglers in Libya who haul Eritreans onto boats together with Nigerians and Bangladeshis do not, creating headaches for European governments.

[9] ”Refuge” suffers from poor editing; it is wearyingly repetitive and dotted with errors (Mrs Merkel has not, for example, imposed a cap on refugees). A few eyebrows will also be raised at the claim that Europe’s refugee flows were responsible for Britain’s vote to leave the EU. But this should not detract from the humanity of a book that places the long-term needs of the world’s refugees at its heart. ”Refuge” is the first comprehensive attempt in years to re-think from first principles a system hide-bound by old thinking and hand-wringing. Its ideas demand a hearing.

下载PDF版