世界难民日：背井离乡，他们只希望“活着”

6月20日是世界难民日。

June 20 marks the 19th World Refugee Day. The annual commemoration was initiated by the United Nations to raise public awareness of the situation that refugees are facing around the world. This year, the central theme is "#StepWithRefugees – Take a Step on World Refugee Day". 

今年4月底，一部以“难民”为第一视角的电影《何以为家》，让无数人心碎，许多人第一次被世界的另一面震撼并刺痛。

Capernaum by Lebanese director Nadine Labaki, which premiered in China in April, moved moviegoers to tears as it gave them a concentrated dose of the bitter reality of refugees in the Lebanese capital Beirut, their daily struggles and the dire conditions they live in.

12岁的主人公赞恩，生活在距离中国不过十个小时航程的地方——黎巴嫩。作为叙利亚难民，他的童年没有零食，没有课外活动，他只有一个最基本的愿望：活着。

而他不过是无数难民中的一个。

Refugee vs. Migrant 难民 vs. 移民

According to the UN, refugees are people who are outside their country of origin because of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or other circumstances that seriously disturb public order. As a result, they require international protection.

根据联合国定义，难民是指“因有正当理由畏惧由于种族、宗教、国籍、属于某一社会团体或具有某种政治见解的原因受到迫害而留在其本国之外，并且由于此项畏惧而不能或不愿受该国保护的人。”

While there is no formal legal definition of an international migrant, most experts agree that an international migrant is someone who changes their country of usual residence, irrespective of the reason for migration or legal status.

Syrian refugee crisis 叙利亚难民危机

Among the countries where refugees come from, Syria witnesses the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time, said Filippo Grandi, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) high commissioner, with over 6.7 million people having fled the war-torn country since 2011. 

在所有难民输出国当中，叙利亚代表着这个时代最大的人道主义灾难和难民危机，联合国难民署(UNHCR)的现任高级专员菲利普·格兰迪(Filippo Grandi)表示。自2011年以来，已有超过670万人逃离这个饱受战争蹂躏的国家。

A boat carrying migrants stranded in the Strait of Gibraltar, September 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

The long way 漫漫长路

Refugees leaving their countries often take long journeys by car, truck, boat or even on foot to reach safety. Oftentimes these journeys are dangerous and some people don't make it to their final destination.

移民对难民来说，往往意味着一段漫长的旅程。汽车、卡车、轮船都是难民常用的交通工具，而在极端情况下，他们甚至只能徒步逃亡。这段旅程无疑是危险的，许多难民终其一生也无法到达他们的目的地。

Even if they reach their destination, refugees seeking asylum may face further racial discrimination and similar problems caused by lack of acceptance. On the other hand, the increasing pressure caused by the influx of refugees has contributed to growing hostility in their host countries.

Examples from European countries are numerous, including anti-refugee protests, measures and attacks on asylum seekers that have made international headlines. In Syria's neighboring countries, the steady stream of millions of refugees in recent years has exerted pressure on public services and infrastructure, amid a lack of national policies to deal with the situation.

Such is the case in Lebanon, where some estimates put the number of Syrian refugees over 1.5 million.

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam said at the 2015 UN Sustainable Development Summit that huge crowds of refugees had had a "devastating impact" on his country's development.

"This has had a devastating impact on development, economic activity, social progress and the environment – over stretching the capacity of our national institutions in health care, education, energy, water, sanitation and security."

Cuban migrants wait outside the Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance in Tapachula, Mexico, June 14, 2019. /VCG Photo

Fate of refugees 难民的命运

The number of refugees worldwide has risen to 25.9 million, surpassing last year's 25.4 million, and some countries are rolling out measures to welcome more refugees.

虽然目前世界范围内的难民数量已经激增至2590万，远超去年的2540万，但世界各国并没有放弃努力。

The UK will resettle 5,000 more refugees as the government has extended its scheme beyond 2020 to countries outside the Middle East and North Africa, the European Union (EU) admitted 32,700 refugees through resettlement programs, and the World Bank made the decision to create a two-billion-U.S.-dollar financing window to support low income countries hosting large numbers of refugees.

电影的最后，赞恩露出了他12年以来的第一个微笑。

但电影没有给出我们关于赞恩的结局。

"Smile, Zain. 

This is for your ID card, not your death certificate."

At the end of the movie, Zain smiled, 

but the audience cried.