2006年VOA标准英语-Asian Governments Seek Safety for Citizens in M

（单词翻译）

By Barry Newhouse
Hong Kong
17 July 2006

 
Israeli gunners cover their ears as an Israeli artillery¹ piece fires at a target in southern Lebanon, July 17, 2006
  
Asian officials are scrambling² to find refuge for tens of thousands of their citizens stranded³ in Israel and Lebanon. 

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Tens of thousands of Asian nationals are trying to flee violence between Israel's military and Hezbollah militants⁴ in Lebanon. Israeli air strikes on the Lebanese airport and docks have limited evacuation options.

Most are employed as farm laborers⁵ and domestic workers, but there are thousands of aid workers, diplomats⁶, business people, students and people with dual⁷ citizenship⁸. There also are hundreds of Asian tourists in the region.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters Monday that officials are considering two evacuation routes for Australians.

"One is chartering three buses and trying to get up a particular coastal⁹ road into Syria," he said. "Secondly¹⁰ there is the option of chartering a vessel¹¹ [ship] and we have identified a vessel that we could charter."

Officials estimate there could be 25,000 Australians in Lebanon.

New Zealand, Japan and Thailand also are making evacuation plans for their citizens. Some 25 thousand Thais work in Israel - most as farm laborers.

About 30,000 Philippine nationals are known to work in Lebanon, but there could be thousands of undocumented workers. On Monday, the Philippine government began setting up a temporary relocation center.

Foreign Ministry¹² spokesman Gilbert Asuque says the government is preparing for a mass evacuation, possibly chartering a boat to Cyprus or Syria.

"We're now relocating Filipinos to a safe area outside of Beirut and that is one of the Catholic churches that the embassy has designated as a relocation point," said Asuque.

Philippines officials say special Middle East envoy¹³ Roy Cimatu is headed to Lebanon to evaluate the situation.

The Philippines carried out similar evacuations during the 1991 Gulf¹⁴ War, when thousands of Filipinos were stranded in Kuwait.

Migrants rights groups are now lobbying governments to prevent a repeat of that situation. At the Hong Kong office of the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants, the director Ramon Bultron says he fears workers could become trapped in Lebanon if the violence escalates¹⁵.

"With the experience of what happened in the Gulf War in 1991, migrants were in a very difficult situation. Many of them were abandoned by their employers who had the chance and opportunity to leave the country before the actual war and many, especially women, were abused, sexually abused during the occupation," reminded Bultron.

The fighting in Lebanon, which began last week after Hezbollah militants kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, shook Asian markets Monday as investors¹⁶ worried about high oil prices.

Taipei's main index lost 2.6 percent, while Bombay's Sensex index lost more than 3.5 percent.

The dollar rose slightly against the yen¹⁷, as nervous investors sought a safe currency because of rising oil prices.