2007年VOA标准英语-Humanitarian Group Says Tens of Thousands Displ

By Noel King
Kigali
08 September 2007

Humanitarian¹ aid groups are sounding the alarm as fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo forces tens of thousands of civilians² from their homes in North Kivu Province. Noel King has more in this report from Kigali.

People flee from fighting near the town of Mugunga, Democratic Republic of Congo, 06 Sep 2007

The Norwegian Refugee Council says heavy fighting between the Congolese army and rebel former General, Laurent Nkunda has caused many civilians to flee their homes with little more than the clothes on their backs.

The NRC and other aid groups have called upon the Congolese government and rebel factions³ to provide humanitarian access to civilians, and estimates that there are some 650,000 displaced in north Kivu province alone.

Simona Pari, a Protection and Advocacy Advisor⁴ with the NRC, spoke to VOA by phone from Goma.

"Since the beginning of the fighting one week ago, we are having tens of thousands of people who are fleeing their homes due to the increasingly tense conflict we are experience here in north Kivu," said Pari.

Eastern Congo is a region already shattered by decades of low-level clashes that boiled over into war from 1999-2003.

Rival rebel factions and rag-tag armed militias⁵ allied⁶ along ethic⁷ lines have fought for control of resource-rich eastern Congo for decades.

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Renegade ex-general Laurent Nkunda, Mar 2007

Nkunda, who is at the center of the recent violence, says he is trying to protect ethnic⁹ Tutsis in the region from the onslaught of ethnic Hutu militias.

These same militias include many of those responsible for Rwanda's 1994 genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed by Hutu militias.

But while Nkunda says he wants peace, the fighting in eastern Congo has caused some 200,000 people in the region to flee their homes this year alone.

The Norwegian Refugee Council's Pari says aid groups are now concerned about a shortage of resources for the displaced, many of whom are refusing to return to their villages.

The humanitarian crisis threatens to affect neighboring countries, as refugees stream over the Congolese border into Burundi, Uganda and Rwanda.

In an interview with VOA, Rwanda's top envoy¹¹ to the Great Lakes region, expressed concern about a spreading humanitarian crisis. Ambassador Richard Sezibera said Rwanda is concerned bout¹⁰ the destabilizing effect of a flood of refugees from Congo.

"It is of concern to us because of the possibility of large-scale population displacement," said Sezibera. "We are concerned that they might cross the border into Rwanda.

U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes was in north Kivu on Saturday and called for an end to violence there, following a visit with some of those who fled their homes this week.

On Friday, Nkunda claimed the Congolese army violated a U.N.-brokered ceasefire.

Simona Pari of the NRC says, despite the ceasefire, civilians in the region will likely remain frightened to return home for a long time.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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

4 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

5 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

6 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

7 ethic   

n.道德标准，行为准则

参考例句：

• They instilled the work ethic into their children.他们在孩子们的心中注入了职业道德的理念。
• The connotation of education ethic is rooted in human nature's mobility.教育伦理的内涵根源于人本性的变动性。

8 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

9 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。

10 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

11 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。