VOA常速英语2007-UNHCR Sees Military Build-up in Eastern Congo

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
07 October 2007

The United Nations refugee agency says there are worrying signs that fighting could erupt again among government forces, renegade troops and rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

UN refugee agency spokesman Andrej Matecic says the warring factions¹ in the Democratic Republic of Congo's North Kivu province appear to be taking advantage of a lull² in the fighting to build up their forces and military supplies.

 He says a renewal³ of violence could worsen the humanitarian⁴ crisis in the province.

"We fear that the new clashes will just lead to new thousands of displaced and will push the province into even worse humanitarian disaster. It is already extremely difficult with 370,000 IDPs [Internally Displaced Persons] in the province since December 2006,"  said Matecic.

Matecic says there are reports that child soldiers are being recruited by armed men across North Kivu and this is creating a major problem of protection.

The United Nations reports gross and systematic⁵ violations⁶ of human rights are widespread throughout the province. It says villages are attacked, looted and pillaged⁷. People are tortured and killed. It says tens of thousands of women are savagely⁸ raped⁹ and no one is prosecuted¹⁰ for crimes.

Matecic says these abuses have led to the worst displacement¹¹ situation over the past three years. He says the total number of internally displaced in the Mugunga area, west of Goma, has now surpassed 80,000.

The UNHCR spokesman says that because so many people are fleeing the violence, existing camps are filling up fast and cannot accept new arrivals.

"We have sent an emergency team which arrived this week to Goma and to the area. And our team is preparing a new nearby site, which is called Buhimba. It is an area of about 28 acres [11 hectares] with a capacity to receive another 10,000 persons," he said. "We plan also to relocate there and to other camps where there is room, the people who are in the makeshift sites around Lac Vert and Ndosho."

Matecic says conditions at the makeshift sites are dire¹² and getting worse as more fleeing Congolese arrive. He says the overcrowded and squalid conditions are causing tensions to rise among the displaced.

He says tensions were so bad a few days ago, that aid workers could not visit these sites because they feared for their safety.

Violent clashes erupted last month in North Kivu between government troops and the rebel forces loyal to Tutsi leader and former army general Laurent Nkunda.

Nkunda says he is fighting to protect the Tutsi minority against attacks by Rwandan Hutu rebels in the area. The Congolese government has struggled to regain¹³ control of the eastern part of the country since the end of a five-year civil war in 2003.

1 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

2 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

3 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

4 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

5 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

7 pillaged   

v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are to be pillaged and terrorised in Hitler's fury and revenge. 在希特勒的狂怒和报复下，他们还遭到掠夺和恐怖统治。 来自辞典例句
• They villages were pillaged and their crops destroyed. 他们的村子被抢，他们的庄稼被毁。 来自辞典例句

8 savagely   

adv. 野蛮地，残酷地

参考例句：

• The roses had been pruned back savagely. 玫瑰被狠狠地修剪了一番。
• He snarled savagely at her. 他向她狂吼起来。

9 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

10 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

11 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

12 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

13 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。