2006年VOA标准英语-Somali Refugees' Hopes Dwindle for Return to Wa

By Nico Gnecchi
Dadaab, Kenya
14 September 2006

The recent takeover of much of southern Somalia by the Islamic courts has cast a shadow on some Somali refugees heading home. New arrivals keep surging across the border, and more than 21,000 so far this year have crossed into Kenya. Nico Gnecchi reports from Dadaab, near the Somali border in northeastern Kenya.

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Somali refugees ride in a truck convoy¹ near Liboi, Kenya towards Somalia  after they spent the past couple years in refugee camps in eastern Kenya, August 21, 2006 
  
Liboi is a dusty and desolate² frontier town where 323 Somalis, mainly women, children and young men, wait expressionless and exhausted³ to board United Nations trucks. Beneath the few shady trees outside Liboi's solitary⁴ police office, the group looks wearily at the officer calling out their names. They are waiting to be assigned to one of three refugee camps here. They have few possessions, primarily jerry cans for collecting water and bundles of cloth used to carry their meager⁵ belongings⁶.

Mr. Rutto, the man in charge of immigration at Liboi's police station, says he has not faced such numbers since the civil war erupted in the early 90's.

"In the last two months we have witnessed refugees come in more numbers than before," he said. "We are feeling the brunt of the influx⁷, we are putting all our resources into them."

Refugee family waits for the UN convoy outside Liboi police station on border with Somalia  
  
All of the refugees are being taken to Dadaab, 80 kilometers from the border with Somalia, which is home to about 140,000 registered refugees.

Care International, the lead agency in Dadaab, say a combination of increasing instability in Somalia and the drought in the region has brought an average of 150 refugees per day.

Much of the recent influx of refugees began in March, when the Islamic courts and the existing warlords fought to establish control over Somalia's largest city, Mogadishu. The fighting since spread outside Mogadishu, increasing the incidents of violence between the Islamic courts, the weak interim⁸ government based in Baidoa and the remaining militias¹⁰ in the south. The Islamists control eight of Somalia's 18 provinces.

Although the Islamic courts are holding power-sharing talks with the interim government, there still remains¹¹ the task of integrating some 20,000 former volunteer soldiers. In the past, they depended on ransom¹² for survival. Now, they have to look for an alternative source of income. The Islamic courts have started rehabilitation¹³ camps, but lack the resources to absorb all the former militias and stop the sporadic¹⁴ violence around the country. 

A Somali family gets onto a UN truck in  border town of Liboi   
  
The refugees bring stories of recent clashes between local militias in Kismaayo, a coastal¹⁵ town south of Mogadishu. A single mother, Fartun Abdullahi Abdirahman, says she was on the road for two weeks, to escape the increasing tensions.

"I traveled a bit by foot, a bit by public transport where I could. I was with the minorities who are defenseless. Before there was a war, which was happening back then, now there is a bigger war - an al-Qaida war. The way in Somalia now is the way of the gun," she said. "I don't want my son growing up in that fear."

Mohamed Bashir, 36, is a devout¹⁶ Muslim worked as a waiter in the Ramadhan hotel, but was forced into exile.

"What I fled was the Islamic courts and Islamic Sharia," he said. "When they captured the town, they called me to join their soldiers and I refused them and they threatened me that if I didn't joint¹⁷ their soldiers they will kill me. Also, I was a waiter in a hotel. They came to the hotel, they eat there, then they asked all the youth to join their group, I said I can't join them, I don't even know how to shoot the gun. I am a Muslim, the situation now is Mogadishu is divided, some welcoming the Islamic courts others want the government, but the government is far away, in Baidoa."

These refugees are destined¹⁸ to a plot of dusty land and makeshift constructions built out of sticks and loose material in one of Dadaab's three camps, while they wait for peace in their country. Camp residents, 97 percent of whom are of Somali origin, feel this current influx destroys their hopes for a return.

Agencies are struggling to provide for the current influx of refugees. Many of their community development programs, aimed at getting the refugee populations self-sufficient in most of their basic services, have succeeded. A lack of rain for more than a year in one of East Africa's worst droughts has made the situation worse. Azak Issa, one of the program officers, voices his concerns.

"Right now we have new arrivals up to 21,000, but if the influx continue[s] and then we have more than 30,000, we may need government permission to establish a new camp," said Issa. "The number of refugees arriving per day is more than 200."

Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya is home to more than 140,000 people. The current influx began in March when fighting between the two parties and other militia⁹ groups spread outside Mogadishu. There are estimates that another 50,000 will be arriving by the end of this year.

1 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

2 desolate   

adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂

参考例句：

• The city was burned into a desolate waste.那座城市被烧成一片废墟。
• We all felt absolutely desolate when she left.她走后，我们都觉得万分孤寂。

3 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

4 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

5 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

6 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

7 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

8 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

9 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

10 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

11 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。

12 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

13 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

14 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

15 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

16 devout   

adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness)

参考例句：

• His devout Catholicism appeals to ordinary people.他对天主教的虔诚信仰感染了普通民众。
• The devout man prayed daily.那位虔诚的男士每天都祈祷。

17 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。

18 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。