以色列批准遏制非洲移民涌入計劃
Israel is taking steps to curb the influx of migrant workers arriving from Africa.
以色列正在採取措施以遏制來自非洲的移民工涌入以色列。
With about 2,000 African migrants illegally entering Israel each month, the Cabinet approved a program to deal with what it sees as a growing threat.
由於每個月有將近2千名非洲移民非法進入以色列，以色列內閣通過了一個處理這個問題的計劃。以色列把非法移民涌入看作是越來越嚴重的威脅。
The $167-million plan calls for speeding up construction of a security fence on the porous border with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, from where the migrants are smuggled into Israel. Detention facilities will be constructed and expanded to hold the migrants, and employers who hire them will be fined.
這項耗資1億6千7百萬美元的計劃要求加速在與埃及的西奈半島交界地區建造一座安全圍籬，移民是從這個漏洞百出的邊界被走私進入以色列的。此外，還將擴大興建拘留設施以拘押這些移民，僱用非法移民的僱主將被處以罰金。
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel must take decisive action before it is too late.
以色列總理內塔尼亞胡說，以色列必須採取果斷行動，以免爲時太晚。
“This is a national epidemic,” Netanyahu told the Cabinet. He said it poses a threat to Israel economically, socially and from the standpoint of security.
內塔尼亞胡對內閣說：“這種情況在全國到處氾濫。”他說，這給以色列的經濟、社會和安全都帶來威脅。
Officials say more than 40,000 illegal African migrants have entered Israel since 2006, most of them from war-torn Sudan and Eritrea. That has raised alarm in a small Jewish state already facing a growing demographic threat from the Palestinians.
以色列官員說，自2006年以來，已經有4萬多名非法的非洲移民進入以色列，他們大部分來自飽受戰爭蹂躪的蘇丹和厄立特里亞。這種情況讓這個猶太小國感到警覺，而以色列已經面臨着來自巴勒斯坦人越來大的人口威脅。
Netanyahu warned that if the trend is not stopped, the number of Africans entering Israel could rise to 100,000 a year.
內塔尼亞胡警告說，如果這個趨勢不停止，進入以色列的非洲人數目可能上升到每年10萬人。“We have no obligation to receive illegal migrants,” he said, adding that if Israel does not stop the flood, the nation will be swept away by it.
內塔尼亞胡說，以色列沒有義務接收非法移民。他補充說，如果以色列沒有制止移民涌入，那麼這個國家就會被移民淹沒掉。
The issue poses a moral dilemma for Israel because during the Holocaust, Jewish refugees fleeing from the Nazis were turned away from Western countries.
這個問題給以色列帶來了一個道德困境，因爲大屠殺期間，逃離納粹的猶太難民不被西方國家所接受。
Reut Michaeli, who heads Israel’s Hotline for Migrant Workers, says the government’s response is wrong.
以色列的移民工熱線負責人羅伊特.米夏埃利認爲，政府的反應是錯誤的。
Michaeli told Israel Radio that Israel is a nation of refugees that was established by refugees, and therefore it has an obligation to open its doors to Africans who have fled from war and persecution.
米夏埃利對以色列廣播電臺說，以色列是個難民國家，是由難民建立的，因此以色列有義務爲逃離戰亂和迫害的非洲人敞開大門。
But the government says the vast majority of Africans arriving here are economic migrants and not refugees.
但是政府表示，來到以色列的非洲人中絕大部分是經濟移民，而不是難民。
Prime Minister Netanyahu plans to travel to several African nations soon to discuss repatriating the migrants.
以色列總理內塔尼亞胡計劃最近到幾個非洲國家訪問，討論遣返移民的問題。
