VOA常速英语2007-Recruitment of Children into Militias Skyrockets

By Noel King
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo
17 October 2007

Prospects¹ for children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are darkening, as fighting continues between forces loyal to dissident General Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese army. Protection workers say forced recruitment of children into armed groups has skyrocketed. Noel King has more in this report from Goma.

 

For children in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the misery² of life in a camp for the displaced is often not as bad as the other option - being forced into service with an armed militia³ group.

 

James Mapendo, who recently turned 18, managed to escape soldiers loyal to renegade General Laurent Nkunda when they attacked his hometown of Masisi in August.

 

"They kill people and they take the young to go into the military formation," he said. "They asked me to go in the military but I refused."

James was so worried that he would be forced into Nkunda's army, he fled Masisi without his family. He now lives alone in a sprawling⁴ camp for the displaced called Bulengo.

 

"I come here myself," said James. "My mother and my sisters stayed there. Until now I do not know where is my parents. I wait for them here. Perhaps if God wants, by the will of God, I will see my parents."

 

The threat of forced recruitment has terrorized children across eastern Congo since the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

 

Routed by the ethnic⁵ Tutsi Rwandan Patriotic⁶ Front, Hutu militias⁷ that perpetrated the genocide poured into neighboring Congo. Amid a climate of political instability and chronic⁸ violence other armed militia groups sprung up along community and ethnic lines.

 

Now, a rebellion by dissident General Laurent Nkunda has again placed children at risk of recruitment. Child protection workers say rates of recruitment have risen since renewed fighting erupted in August.

 

Pernille Ironside is a protection officer with the U.N. Children's Fund in Goma. She spoke⁹ to VOA about an emerging tactic¹⁰ of eastern Congo's three main milita groups.

 

"They are targeting schools, which is a particularly alarming trend," said Ironside. "We have had numerous reports of secondary schools and technical schools being targeted, and children generally over the age of 15 being at greatest risk of being recruited."

 

While the focus is often on boys who are recruited into militias, the situation is equally grim for young girls.

 

Abducted¹¹ from their homes, girls are forced to "marry" militia commanders. Protection officers say they are relegated¹² to the role of sex slaves.

 

"I think it is always been a grave issue," UNICEF's Ironside explains. "The difficulty is that girls who are kidnapped in some cases develop a tacit acceptance of their situation. They know that were they to go back to their home village or community they would be stigmatized¹³ as a result of the fact that they have been raped¹⁵ and borne children by an opposing group."

 

There are three armed groups accused of recruiting children in eastern Congo.

 

All three militias are known for their brutality¹⁶, and members are accused of rape¹⁴, murder, forced displacement¹⁷ of civilians¹⁸, and looting.

 

The FDLR are Hutu militias with links to the perpetrators of Rwanda's genocide. The FDLR storm villages, scoop¹⁹ up children and march them into the bush, UNICEF's Ironside told VOA.

 

Community-based Mai Mai militias prey²⁰ on children by telling them it is their duty to fight to protect their villages. UNICEF says children that do not volunteer are often "volunteered" by their parents.

 

General Nkunda denies recruiting children, but protection workers say he is filling his ranks with youngsters as he continues his campaign against the Congolese army.

UNICEF says there is no evidence the army is recruiting children.

 

Gusanga, 13, is displaced at Lac Vert, formerly²¹ a school, now a camp for about 10,000 displaced Congolese.

 

He fled the risk of recruitment by the FDLR in the town of Kitchanga.

 

He says the FDLR kill and loot. He says they force anyone who is 15 or older into the army and then make them serve until age 45.

 

Most children in Congo's camps for the displaced say they want to return to their homes and their schools. As a complex war rages around them, none of the children know when that will be possible.

1 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

2 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

3 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

4 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

5 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。

6 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

7 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

8 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 tactic   

n.战略，策略；adj.战术的，有策略的

参考例句：

• Reducing prices is a common sales tactic.降价是常用的销售策略。
• She had often used the tactic of threatening to resign.她惯用以辞职相威胁的手法。

11 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

12 relegated   

v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类

参考例句：

• She was then relegated to the role of assistant. 随后她被降级做助手了。
• I think that should be relegated to the garbage can of history. 我认为应该把它扔进历史的垃圾箱。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 stigmatized   

v.使受耻辱，指责，污辱( stigmatize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was stigmatized as an ex-convict. 他遭人污辱，说他给判过刑。 来自辞典例句
• Such a view has been stigmatized as mechanical jurisprudence. 蔑称这种观点为机械法学。 来自辞典例句

14 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

15 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

16 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

17 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。

18 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

19 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

20 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

21 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。