2007年VOA标准英语-Refugees Return to Instability in Eastern Congo

By Malcolm Webb
Nairobi
23 August 2007

The United Nations High Commissioner¹ for Refugees says many of the 10,000 Congolese refugees, who fled to neighboring Uganda Tuesday, have returned to their homes. The exodus² from villages in the North Kivu province of eastern Congo was triggered by brief clashes between locals and U.N. peacekeeping troops. UNHCR says the situation is now calm, but instability in the area still poses a threat to civilians⁴. Malcolm Webb reports from Nairobi.

UNHCR says most of the refugees returned to their villages in the Rutshuru area of North Kivu Wednesday, and about 1,500, mostly women and children, still remain in Uganda. They fled to the border town of Bunagana, in Kisoro district of South-West Uganda, fearing violence after two incidents on Monday and Tuesday involving troops from the U.N. Peacekeeping Mission in Congo, know as MONUC.

UNHCR spokeswoman Millicent Mituli, speaking Nairobi, says the MONUC troops were attacked by villagers.

"A patrol was stoned by people in civilian³ clothes who had some form of arms, on Monday and again on Tuesday, another group of villagers attacked another patrol," Mituli said. "It would seem that the patrol was surrounded by villagers who seemed to be blocking their movement out of the village which forced MONUC to fire in the air. Those incidences may have raised some panic that got people to flee into Uganda."

Ugandan military spokesman, Lieutenant⁵ Tabaro Kiconco, told Reuters news agency that Congolese rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda and his men had organized an anti-U.N. demonstration⁶ and urged locals to riot.

Nkunda, formerly⁷ of the Congolese army, leads a rebel faction⁸ that includes many former army soldiers in the North-Kivu province. The Congolese government issued an international arrest warrant for him in 2005 for war crimes, and he is being investigated by the International Criminal Court.

Spokesman for MONUC Kemal Saiki says the threat from Nkunda's men is not significant. Speaking on the phone from Kinshasa he said people in the area were inclined to flee at the first sign of violence.

"They've been going through such harrowing experiences in the past they do not wait for fighting to break out, they just leave," Saiki said.

North and South Kivu provinces - an area larger than Rwanda and Burundi together - have suffered violent conflicts for the last ten years. Many cases of summary executions, torture, and rape⁹ have been documented by New York based organization Human Rights Watch. UNHCR says they expect clashes and resulting displacements¹⁰ to continue.

1 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

2 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

3 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

4 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。

5 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

6 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

7 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。

8 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

9 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。

10 displacements   

n.取代( displacement的名词复数 )；替代；移位；免职

参考例句：

• The laws of physics are symmetrical for translational displacements. 物理定律对平移是对称的。 来自辞典例句
• We encounter only displacements of the first type. 我们只遇到第一类的驱替。 来自辞典例句