2022年12月11日 VOA慢速英语：黎巴嫩的新穷人面临长期的经济不安全感

 

Lebanon is a former middle-income country, one that is neither rich nor poor. But its financial system collapsed in 2019.
黎巴嫩曾经是一个中等收入国家，既不富裕也不贫穷。但其金融体系在 2019 年崩溃。
 
The collapse led to a great drop in the value of the Lebanese pound. And the United Nations says that event has led four out of five Lebanese people to become poor.
崩溃导致黎巴嫩镑大幅贬值。联合国表示，该事件已导致五分之四的黎巴嫩人陷入贫困。
 
State services have broken down. Financial support to reduce the costs of goods has been removed. And tens of thousands of Lebanese have left the country seeking jobs in other countries. It is the biggest emigration wave since the 1975-1990 civil war.
国家服务已经崩溃。取消了降低商品成本的财政支持。数以万计的黎巴嫩人离开该国到其他国家寻找工作。这是自 1975-1990 年内战以来最大的移民潮。
 
Lebanese political leaders admitted that the crisis was the result of many years of wasteful spending and corruption. And the World Bank called the crisis a "deliberate depression" created by those with political and financial power.
黎巴嫩政治领导人承认，这场危机是多年浪费开支和腐败的结果。世界银行称这场危机是那些拥有政治和金融权力的人制造的“蓄意萧条”。
 
Now, economists say it will deepen if politicians delay passing reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund (or IMF) in April. The passing of these reforms is required to unlock billions of dollars in aid.
现在，经济学家表示，如果政客们推迟通过与国际货币基金组织（或 IMF）商定的改革，危机将会加深） 在四月份。要获得数十亿美元的援助，必须通过这些改革。
 
However, public pressure for reform has largely passed. The pressure was at its highest during the 2019 protests and after the August 2020 Beirut explosion. The political parties that have ruled for much of recent history still won the greatest number of seats in May's parliamentary elections.
然而，公众要求改革的压力已基本过去。在 2019 年抗议活动期间和 2020 年 8 月贝鲁特爆炸之后，压力达到最高。在近代历史的大部分时间里执政的政党仍然在 5 月的议会选举中赢得了最多的席位。
 
Mohammad Chamseddine is a policy expert at Beirut-based Information International. He said, "The Lebanese people accept and become used to all the economic, political and security conditions."
Mohammad Chamseddine 是位于贝鲁特的 Information International 的政策专家。他说，“黎巴嫩人民接受并习惯了所有的经济、政治和安全条件。”
He noted that many now live on aid and the few hundred dollars their relatives working in other countries send back home each month, called remittances. The flow has increased as some 200,000 people have emigrated since 2019, he said.
他指出，许多人现在靠援助和他们在其他国家工作的亲戚寄来的几百美元生活每个月回老家，叫汇款。他说，自 2019 年以来，约有 20 万人移居国外，人口流动有所增加。
 
Meanwhile, basic state functions are increasingly supported by international aid sent to prevent total state failure. The World Food Program alone supports a third of the country's 6 million people with food and money aid. Hospitals, schooling, and even security services are increasingly financially supported by international aid.
与此同时，国际援助越来越多地支持基本的国家职能，以防止国家全面失败。仅世界粮食计划署就为该国 600 万人口中的三分之一提供粮食和资金援助。医院、学校甚至安全服务越来越多地得到国际援助的财政支持。
 
The economy has become a two-tier system. Those with money are known as the "fresh dollar class." They eat at restaurants or send their children to the best schools. And those who earn in the local Lebanese pound only have enough for simple needs.
经济已成为一个两层系统。那些有钱的人被称为“新鲜美元阶层”。他们在餐馆吃饭或把孩子送到最好的学校。而那些靠当地黎巴嫩镑挣钱的人只能满足简单的需求。
 
One such Lebanese is Hussein Hamadeh. The 51-year-old is unemployed and unable to support his family of four. His two daughters studied in the light that came through a window at their unlit one-bedroom home.
侯赛因·哈马德就是这样一位黎巴嫩人。这位 51 岁的老人失业了，无法养活一家四口。他的两个女儿在他们没有照明的单卧室住宅的窗户里学习。
 
Hamadeh said, "I have a very pessimistic view of the future. I take each day as it comes, there is no future for me."
Hamadeh 说：“我对未来持非常悲观的看法。我接受每一天，我没有未来。”
 
A study by Gallup released last December found that some 63 percent of Lebanese said they would leave the country if they could.
盖洛普去年 12 月发布的一项研究发现，大约 63% 的黎巴嫩人表示，如果可以的话，他们会离开这个国家。