Displaced Afghans Cross Borders to Survive

Displaced Afghans Cross Borders to Survive

被迫离乡的阿富汗人越过边境以求生存

【听力音频】

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　　By Hai Do

　　03 January 2024

　　The desert in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan is filled with hundreds of thousands of people. Some live in tents. Others live out in the open after they were forced to leave neighboring Pakistan.

　　More than 40 years of war, violence and poverty have turned 6 million Afghans into refugees. Another 3.5 million people are displaced within the country of 40 million. Many were driven from their homes by war, earthquakes and drought.

　　Afghanistan's economy collapsed after the Taliban returned to power following the withdrawal of the United States and NATO allies in 2021. Now, two-thirds of its population depends on international aid to survive.

　　Displaced Afghans live in camps around the country. They do not have enough food or firewood for heat in the winter. Women and children often turn to begging. Others marry off their young daughters to families willing to pay them money.

　　In May, for example, 15-year-old Shamila was married at a camp for internally displaced people outside Kabul. She stood in a bright-red dress among the women of the family who congratulated her. But the girl was unhappy.

　　"I have no choice. If I don't accept, my family will be hurt," said Shamila, whose father did not give the family's name because he feared the Taliban. The groom's family is giving her father money to pay off debts taken to support his wife and children.

　　"I wanted to study and work, I should have gone to school," Shamila said. "I have to forget all my dreams...so at least I can help my father and my family a little and maybe I can take the burden off their shoulders."

　　Last year, Pakistan decided to deport Afghans who entered the country illegally. Many Afghans lived for years in Pakistan. They were afraid of continuing conflicts at home. When Pakistan's order was announced, hundreds of thousands feared arrest and fled back to Afghanistan. The Afghans said Pakistani officials often prevented them from taking anything with them.

　　Their first stop has been the camp in Torkham, where they might spend days or weeks before Taliban officials send them to another place. With little food and little to protect them from the mountain cold, many in the camp are sick.

　　In a camp at the foot of a mountain, 55-year-old Farooq Sadiq sat with his wife and children on the ground among some of their belongings. Sadiq said he had been living in the Pakistani city of Peshawar for 30 years and owned a home there. Now they had nothing, not even a tent. He said they had been sleeping on the ground for the past eight nights.

　　"I have nothing in Afghanistan, no house, no place to live, not enough money to buy a house," he said. He hopes to settle somewhere in Afghanistan and get a visa to Pakistan so he can go sell his home there to use the money for his family.

　　The deportations from Pakistan have greatly increased the large numbers of Afghans who try to migrate into Iran, hoping to find work.

　　Every month, thousands cross into Iran at the border near Zaranj. At night, with the help of smugglers, they climb over the border wall and jump to the other side.

　　Mostly young men, from age 12 to their 20s, flee Afghanistan this way. They plan to work in Iran and send money home to their families. Many are caught by Iranian border guards and sent back.

　　Others take a longer trip by car through mountains and deserts on Afghanistan's southwestern border through Pakistan to reach Iran. There is no border wall there.

　　Over several months, Associated Press photographer Ebrahim Noroozi traveled across Afghanistan from its eastern border with Pakistan to its western border with Iran to report their stories.

　　I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

　　Ebrahim Noroozi reported this story for the Associated Press. Hai Do adapted it for VOA Learning English.

　　Write to us in the Comments Section or on 51VOA.COM.

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　　作者：Hai Do

　　日期：2024年1月3日

　　阿富汗东部的山区沙漠中，聚集了数十万人。有些人住在帐篷里，有些人在被迫离开邻国巴基斯坦后露宿野外。

　　超过40年的战争、暴力和贫困使600万阿富汗人成为难民。在这个4000万人口的国家里，还有350万人在国内流离失所。许多人是被战争、地震和干旱从家中赶出来的。

　　在美国和北约盟国于2021年撤军后，塔利班重新掌握权力，阿富汗的经济随之崩溃。现在，三分之二的人口依赖国际援助生存。

　　被迫流离失所的阿富汗人在全国各地的营地里生活。他们没有足够的食物或柴火来抵御冬天的寒冷。妇女和儿童常常只能乞讨。其他人则将他们年幼的女儿嫁给愿意付钱的家庭。

　　例如，今年5月，15岁的Shamila在喀布尔郊外的一个内部流离失所人员营地结婚。她穿着鲜红的裙子站在祝贺她的家人中间。但这个女孩并不快乐。

　　"我没有选择。如果我不接受，我的家人会受到伤害，"Shamila说，她的父亲因为害怕塔利班而没有透露家庭的姓名。新郎的家人给了她的父亲钱，以偿还他为支持妻子和孩子而借的债。

　　"我想要学习和工作，我应该去上学，"Shamila说。"我必须放弃所有的梦想...至少我可以帮助我的父亲和我的家人一点，也许我可以减轻他们的负担。"

　　去年，巴基斯坦决定驱逐非法入境的阿富汗人。许多阿富汗人在巴基斯坦生活了多年，他们害怕家乡的持续冲突。当巴基斯坦的驱逐令宣布后，数十万人担心被捕，逃回阿富汗。阿富汗人表示，巴基斯坦官员经常阻止他们带走任何东西。

　　他们的第一站是托尔汗的营地，他们可能在那里待上几天或几周，直到塔利班官员将他们送往其他地方。由于食物少，几乎没有东西可以抵御山区的寒冷，营地里的许多人都生病了。

　　在一座山脚下的营地里，55岁的Farooq Sadiq和他的妻子、孩子们坐在地上，身边是他们的一些物品。Sadiq说他在巴基斯坦的白沙瓦市生活了30年，那里有他的房子。现在他们一无所有，甚至连帐篷都没有。他说他们过去的八个晚上都在地上睡觉。

　　"我在阿富汗一无所有，没有房子，没有住的地方，没有足够的钱买房子，"他说。他希望在阿富汗的某个地方定居，并获得去巴基斯坦的签证，这样他就可以去那里卖掉他的房子，用这笔钱来供养家人。

　　从巴基斯坦的驱逐行动大大增加了试图移民到伊朗的阿富汗人的数量，他们希望在那里找到工作。

　　每个月，成千上万的人在Zaranj附近的边境越过伊朗。在夜晚，借助走私者的帮助，他们爬过边境墙，跳到另一边。

　　主要是年龄在12岁到20多岁的年轻男子，通过这种方式逃离阿富汗。他们计划在伊朗工作，将钱寄回家给他们的家人。许多人被伊朗边防警卫抓住并送回。

　　其他人则通过汽车，经过阿富汗西南边境的山脉和沙漠，穿越巴基斯坦，到达伊朗。那里没有边境墙。

　　在几个月的时间里，美联社摄影师Ebrahim Noroozi从阿富汗与巴基斯坦的东部边境穿越到与伊朗的西部边境，报道他们的故事。

　　我是Mario Ritter Jr.

　　这个故事是由美联社的Ebrahim Noroozi报道的。Hai Do为VOA学习英语改编了这篇报道。

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　　这个故事中的词汇：

　　drought –n. 长时间严重缺乏降雨

　　beg –v.向人们请求金钱或食物

　　groom –n.即将结婚的男子

　　burden off (one's) shoulders –idiom指解决了一个困难的问题或责任

　　deport –v.合法地将非公民从一个国家驱逐出境

　　smuggler –n. 秘密且非法地将货物或人从一个国家运到另一个国家的人