03-18-08

國際奧會稱沒有國家政府呼籲抵制奧運 (IOC Says No Governments Call for Olympic Boycott)

國際奧會主席羅格說，沒有任何國家的政府因為中國處理西藏局勢的方式要求抵制北京奧運會。羅格說，他對主要國家政府幾乎一致反對抵制奧運“感到鼓舞”。在此之前，歐洲國家的體育部長和奧會星期一表示反對抵制北京奧運會。歐洲奧會主席希基說，抵制奧運從來沒有起過作用。

他補充說，抵制1976年蒙特利爾奧運會、1980年莫斯科奧運會和1984年洛杉磯奧運會只是懲罰了運動員。親西藏的示威人士宣佈星期二會在瑞士洛桑國際奧運會總部外面舉行抗議活動。他們要求國際奧會阻止北京奧運火炬穿越西藏的計劃。

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge says no governments have called for a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games because of China's handling of the unrest in Tibet. Rogge said he had been "heartened" that major governments were "almost unanimously" against a boycott. His statement came after European sports ministers and Olympic committees came out against any boycott of the Games on Monday. European Olympic Committees head Patrick Hickey said boycotts never worked. 

He added that boycotts of the Montreal Games in 1976, Moscow Olympics in 1980 and at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles only punished the athletes. Pro-Tibet demonstrators announced plans for a protest outside the International Olympic Committee's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland on Tuesday. They will call on the IOC to block plans for the Olympic torch to pass through Tibet. 

聯合國稱伊拉克難民致申請政治庇護人數上升 (U.N. Says Iraq Refugees Fuel Rise in Asylum Seekers)

聯合國負責難民事務的機構說，在工業化國家申請政治庇護的案例連續5年減少的趨勢在2007年出現逆轉，主要原因是由於申請庇護的伊拉克人持續增多。聯合國難民事務高級專員公署星期二發表報告說，2007年，在工業化國家申請政治庇護的人數上升了10%。2006年是20年來申請案例最少的一年。

聯合難民公署報告說，2007年，在申請庇護的人當中最多的是伊拉克人，這已經是連續第二年。他們的人數在2006年已經幾乎翻了一番。去年，有4萬5千多名伊拉克人申請庇護。

聯合國難民公署說，因國內衝突而流離失所的伊拉克人據估計有450萬，在工業化國家尋求庇護的伊拉克人只佔其中的1%。

The U.N. refugee agency says a five-year decline in asylum applications in industrialized nations was reversed in 2007, largely due to a continued rise in Iraqi asylum seekers. In a release issued Tuesday The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reports the number of applications for refugee status in industrialized nations rose ten percent in 2007. 2006 had been the lowest for applications in 20 years.

The agency reports that Iraq asylum seekers top the list for the second year in a row in 2007 - and that number almost doubled from 2006. More than 45 thousand Iraqis applied for asylum last year.

The UNCHR says that Iraqi asylum seekers in industrialized countries make up only one percent of the estimated four-point-five million Iraqis displaced by the conflict in that nation.