2006年VOA标准英语-Burma's Karen Rebels Plead for Military to

By Heda Bayron
Hong Kong
17 May 2006

Rebels from the Karen ethnic¹ minority have issued a plea to Burma's military to stop an offensive that has forced thousands of people to flee villages in eastern Burma. This comes a day before a senior United Nations official is to hold talks with Burma's military leaders.

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The Karen National Union issued a statement Wednesday calling on Burma's military junta² - also known as the SPDC - to stop attacking Karen villages in the east, to withdraw troops from the area and to resume peace talks.
 

 
Colonel Ner Dah Mya
  

Colonel Ner Dah Mya, spokesman for the KNU, says the situation in eastern Burma is "intense" and a two-year-old informal cease-fire is no longer working.

"The KNU leadership, they're tired of the so-called gentleman's agreement cease-fire, so I think this [statement] is a kind of a warning to the SPDC," he said.

He accuses the military of burning villages, torturing people and displacing thousands of Karen.

The government says the offensive is in response to the KNU's increased "disruptive acts" - including bombings and planting mines on rail lines.

The international community has already condemned³ Burma's offensive. On Tuesday, several United Nations human rights experts, including human rights envoy⁴ to Burma Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, called on Burma to end the military operations. U.S. lawmakers also denounced the violence.

Thursday, United Nations Undersecretary-General Ibrahim Gambari arrives in Burma, where he will try to convince the ruling military to hasten democratic reforms and national reconciliation⁵.

This is the first high-level visit by a U.N. envoy to Burma in two years. Similar efforts by Asian diplomats⁶, have, however, failed to put pressure on the regime, which continues to detain members of the pro-democracy opposition⁷.

There are some seven million Karen in Burma and they have one of the largest armed insurgencies in the country. The KNU has been fighting for autonomy for nearly six decades. It one of about 20 minority groups that have fought the government since Burma won independence in 1948.

In recent years, the government reached cease-fire agreements with 17 other ethnic minority rebel groups in Burma, but talks with the KNU failed in 2004.

Decades of fighting have forced thousands of Karen to flee to neighboring Thailand. The United States earlier this month waived⁸ provisions of anti-terror laws to allow some 9,000 ethnic Karen who fled Burma to be considered for political asylum⁹.

1 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

2 junta   

n.团体；政务审议会

参考例句：

• The junta reacted violently to the perceived threat to its authority.军政府感到自身权力受威胁而进行了激烈反击。
• A military junta took control of the country.一个军政权控制了国家。

3 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

4 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

5 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

6 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 waived   

v.宣布放弃( waive的过去式和过去分词 )；搁置；推迟；放弃（权利、要求等）

参考例句：

• He has waived all claim to the money. 他放弃了索取这笔钱的权利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I waived the discourse, and began to talk of my business. 我撇开了这个话题，开始讲我的事情。 来自辞典例句

9 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。