I’m Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Development Report.
The number of refugees in the world is at its lowest in 25 years. The
United Nations refugee agency estimates the current number at a little more than
nine million.
More than half are people who have been in exile
for at least five years. The agency says no solutions to their cases can be
seen. But it notes progress in efforts to return millions of others to their
home countries.
For example, more than four million have returned to Afghanistan. Hundreds of
thousands of refugees have returned to Angola, Sierra Leone, Burundi and
Liberia.
Antonio Guterres is the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. He says that
although the numbers of refugees are down, their well-being remains a concern. A
report from his office last week says immigrants and asylum-seekers face greater
barriers than ever. These include fears of terrorism, stronger immigration
limits and growing rejection of foreigners.
Mr. Guterres says there is a growing intolerance happening everywhere. In his
words: "This is creating a difficult environment in which the foreigner, the one
that is different, is sometimes hated, sometimes feared.
The high commissioner says the world also faces problems with how it deals
with people displaced by conflict. Refugees are defined as people who flee their
country because of violence, natural events or political disputes. Internally
displaced persons, I.D.P.'s, leave their homes for the same reasons. But the
difference is that they remain within their country.
Today conflicts within nations are more common than conflicts between
nations. As a result, the report says, fewer people are crossing international
borders.
The I.D.P. situation is described as especially bad in Sudan and the
Democratic Republic of Congo. The United Nations estimates that
seven-and-one-half million people in those two countries were forced from their
homes last year.
A 1951 document called the United Nations Refugee Convention defines
what refugees are and demands their protection. There is no similar document for
internally displaced people. Their number is estimated at twenty-five million
worldwide.
Antonio Guterres says I.D.P.’s urgently need help. "Internal displacement",he
says, "is the world's biggest failure in humanitarian action".
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Read
and listen to our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve
Ember.
exile : the condition or a period of living
away from one's native country（流亡期間）
