VOA标准英语2009-Aid Group Deplores Conditions at Kenya Camp for

The international medical organization Doctors Without Borders is warning that conditions at the main camp for Somali refugees in Kenya have gotten so bad that many refugees are contemplating¹ returning to Somalia, even as renewed fighting there causes a fresh wave of displacement².
　
UN High Commissioner³ for Refugees Antonio Guterres talking to newly arrived Somali refugees at Kenya's sprawling⁴ Dadaab refugee camp in 2008 (file photo)

Doctors Without Borders, which operates a health clinic at one of three refugee camps in Dadaab, in northern Kenya, is the latest organization to warn of the deteriorating⁵ situation in the camps.

Refugees have been crossing the border from Somalia to Kenya since civil war broke out in 1991. But Doctors Without Borders head of mission in Kenya, Joke Van Peteghem, says the three camps, which were built to hold 30,000 people each, have far exceeded their capacity.

"Where initially⁶ 90,000 people were settled in these camps now we are talking of 270,000 people. Water is very scarce. There is not enough space to accommodate all the people. At the moment if you arrive in Dadaab as a new refugee, you are registered and after you receive some nonfood items, you are told to find your own way," Van Peteghem said.

According to the U.N. refugee agency, Dadaab is the largest refugee camp in the world. As many as 10,000 people arrive every month.

With Somalia experiencing its heaviest fighting in months, as well as its worst drought in the past decade, the flow of refugees is expected to continue. UNHCR has requested additional funds to supplement its annual budget.

Following a survey it conducted at Dadaab's Dagahaley camp, Doctors Without Borders found that nearly a quarter of the population faced "acute malnutrition⁷." Other agencies have warned that the supply of water is threatened by the camps' aging infrastructure⁸, which could lead to outbreaks of cholera⁹ and other disease.
　
Newly arrived Somali refugees at a registration¹⁰ center at the Dadaab camp, northeastern Kenya (file photo)

While refugees continue to arrive, few are resettled. Less than 10,000 are expected be moved to new countries this year and the continuing conflict in Somalia has prevented refugees from returning home.

Van Peteghem says that some refugees have been driven to consider returning to Somalia by the poor conditions in the camps.

"So adding all these issues up, for some people, they feel that they would rather go back home even if the situation there security-wise is not improving, on the contrary, than staying in these refugee camps where basic services are just not provided," Van Peteghem said.

Kenya's border has been officially closed since the latest round of Somalia's conflict began in early 2007. According to aid agencies, this has not slowed the pace of new arrivals, but it has meant that new refugees are not registered properly, and do not receive medical screenings.

Doctors Without Borders is calling for additional support from international donors¹¹ and for the Kenyan government to move ahead with plans to build a new camp. A new site has been identified, but progress has been slow.

There has been growing tension and competition for resources between the local Kenyan community and residents of the camps. A new camp is eventually expected to hold about 120,000 refugees, but no more than 30,000 are expected to be there by the end of the year.

In addition to the refugees who have crossed the border, UNHCR says there are 1.3 million people displaced from their homes within Somalia. In the past 10 days, 42,000 people have fled their homes in Mogadishu, according to the agency.

1 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

2 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。

3 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。

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 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

6 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

7 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

8 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

9 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

10 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

11 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》