VOA标准英语2010-Fighting in Congo Displaces 100,000 Civil

What began as dispute over local fishing rights is now humanitarian¹ crisis for government in Brazzaville, security concern for government in Kinshasa.

Scott Stearns | Dakar 20 April 2010

Fighting in western provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo has displaced more than 100,000 people.  Some are seeking refuge across the border in Congo-Brazzaville where relief officials say they have only enough supplies to feed one-third of the refugees.

 

Nearly 15,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo live in the Congolese Republic town of Betou along the Oubangui River that separates the countries.

Immigration officer Jean Zoda says he and his family were caught in the crossfire² between government troops and ethnic³ Enyele militiamen who have been fighting across parts of the Dongo region for the past four months.

Zoda says the rebels attacked about seven kilometers from their village, so he and his family fled the following morning.  They took all their possessions to the river, but then soldiers arrived and started attacking, so they dropped everything and fled into the forest.  He says they stayed in the forest until midnight before they found a boat to cross the river.  Zola says they left everything behind.

Relief officials say refugees are spread across more than 80 sites along 500 kilometers of the river.  And there has been little humanitarian assistance, with only about one-third of the refugees receiving food rations⁴ during the past four months.

Refugee Micheline Alemba used to work as a cook in Dongo. She says her family has been hungry since they arrived in the Congo Republic.  There are so many people here, she says they can not find anything to eat.  They go into the forest to look for food, but Alemba says there is not much.

"One-hundred-thousand people is really quite a large number of people and the situation is really bad, but of course in times when there are 200,000 dead people in Haiti and looming⁵ wars elsewhere and a volcano erupting, there is certain competition between victims, which is unfortunate, which we do not want to foster, but which is a reality of our work and we have to respond to that," explained Corinna Kreidler, who works with the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Office.

What began as a dispute over local fishing rights is now a humanitarian crisis for the government in Brazzaville and a security concern for the government in Kinshasa.

Earlier this month, Enyele militiamen launched their boldest attack, landing boats in the capital of Equateur Province and briefly⁶ taking control of the governor's office and the airport in Mbandaka.

They were eventually driven back in a joint⁷ counter-attack by government troops and U.N. peacekeepers.  But the speed with which this rebellion has grown has renewed concerns about the strength of Kinshasa's army with U.N. peacekeepers set to begin withdrawing from western areas in June.

Congolese Information Minister Lambert Mende says government troops are slowly regaining⁸ the ability to take responsibility for defending their own country and will be ready by the time U.N. troops complete their gradual withdrawal⁹ next year.

The head of Congo's peacekeeping force, Alan Doss, told the Security Council that discipline in the government army is likely to remain a constant concern so long as, what he calls, structural¹⁰ problems in the military remain unresolved.  Doss says there are persistent¹¹ delays in the payment of salaries and low levels of training for many troops, especially those who have been integrated from various armed groups.

 

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 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

3 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。

4 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

5 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 regaining   

复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• She was regaining consciousness now, but the fear was coming with her. 现在她正在恢发她的知觉，但是恐怖也就伴随着来了。
• She said briefly, regaining her will with a click. 她干脆地答道，又马上重新振作起精神来。

9 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

10 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

11 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。