2006年VOA标准英语-Report: Number of Internally Displaced Peo

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
22 March 2006

A new report by the Norwegian Refugee Council says the number of people internally displaced within their own countries by conflict decreased slightly during 2005, but the crisis remains¹ at an alarming level.  The report says there are twice as many IDPs in the world as refugees.  The report warns the problem of internally displaced people can trigger regional instability.

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Latest figures show some 23.7 million people were internally displaced at the end of 2005.  This is down from 25.3 million in the previous year. 

U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian² Affairs, Jan Egeland, says more than half of all people who have been displaced by conflict are in Africa.

"As a generation, we are failing more in Africa than any other place on earth," he said. "And, it is sad to see how we make progress on all other continents, but we fail so much in Africa that we are not making much progress at all." 

Internally displaced people are particularly vulnerable.  Since they have not crossed an international border, IDPs are not entitled to the same assistance and protection as refugees.

The report says displaced people are one of the most neglected groups in the world.  It says many of those who flee from conflict are victims of arbitrary killings³, rape⁴, maiming, and torture.  It says their houses often are destroyed and their possessions are looted.  They have little access to food, shelter, health care, schools and jobs.

Egeland says IDPs live on the brink⁵ of an abyss.

"Fourteen million of those live in constant fear…of being killed, this night or tomorrow.  And,…75-80 percent of those are women and children," he said. "Six million of these 14 million have zero protection from their own government, zero assistance from their own government." 

The report finds Sudan, with over five million IDPs, remains at the top of the list of countries with the largest internal displacement⁶, followed by Colombia, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq. 

Egeland says the huge problem of internally displaced people represents a present and growing danger for regional stability.

"People have fled, more than 200,000 have fled from Darfur to Chad.  Recently, people have fled from Chad to Darfur," he said. "Imagine how bad it is in Chad when people flee to Darfur.  At the same time, people have fled internally in Central African Republic and from Central African Republic to Chad which again sends people to Darfur."

Egeland faults the international community for not applying more political pressure on governments to assist and protect IDPs.  But, he puts the main blame on local leaders for causing the wars and massacres⁷ which have created the IDP crisis.  He says African leadership has been horrendous⁸ in this last generation.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 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。

3 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

4 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。

5 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

6 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。

7 massacres   

大屠杀( massacre的名词复数 )； 惨败

参考例句：

• The time is past for guns and killings and massacres. 动不动就用枪、动不动就杀、大规模屠杀的时代已经过去了。 来自教父部分
• Numberless recent massacres were still vivid in their recollection. 近来那些不可胜数的屠杀，在他们的头脑中记忆犹新。

8 horrendous   

adj.可怕的，令人惊惧的

参考例句：

• He described it as the most horrendous experience of his life.他形容这是自己一生中最可怕的经历。
• The mining industry in China has a horrendous safety record.中国的煤矿工业具有令人不安的安全记录。