VOA标准英语2009年-Youths Return Amid Probe Into Kenyan M

Dozens of ethnic¹-Somali youths in northeastern Kenya, have returned home amid a parliamentary inquiry² into allegations they were recruited by the Kenyan military and taken to a military training camp under false pretenses³. As our correspondent reports from the northeastern town of Garissa, there is concern that anger over the recruitment efforts could end up radicalizing some ethnic-Somali youth in Kenya.

Alisha Ryu | Garissa, Kenya 30 November 2009

Dozens of ethnic-Somali youths in northeastern Kenya, have returned home amid a parliamentary inquiry into allegations they were recruited by the Kenyan military and taken to a military training camp under false pretenses.  As our correspondent reports from the northeastern town of Garissa, there is concern that anger over the recruitment efforts could end up radicalizing some ethnic-Somali youth in Kenya.

Two months ago, 24-year-old Garissa resident Siad Dhaqane signed up for a three-month training course that he believed would lead to a well-paying job as a Kenyan border guard. 

Dhaqane says that is what the recruiters told him when he went to inquire about the job.   He and about 150 others signed up that day.  Several hours later, they were on military trucks, heading south toward Manyani, a training center for the Kenya Wildlife Service outside the port city of Mombasa.

For hundreds of young men in Garissa, including Dhaqane, the training opportunity was nothing less than a way out of the vicious cycle of unemployment and poverty that have long defined a young man's life in the pastoral, desert community. 

On the way to Manyani, Dhaqane says he dreamed about how he would spend the $600 the recruiters said the border guard job would pay every month.

Dhaqane says he was overjoyed by the job offer and was looking forward to the training.  But after arriving in Manyani, he and the others were told that they were not going to be trained as border guards, but as soldiers to fight Islamist insurgents⁵ in Somalia.   Dhaqane said the recruits were then warned that anyone who tried to leave Manyani would be thrown into jail.

Mohamed Abdullahi Sirat also signed up two months ago with a recruiter, who told him the United Nations was looking to hire workers for a monthly salary of $600. 

Sirat says he was sent to Manyani, where he, too, discovered he was being trained to fight in Somalia.  He says he and 90 other men recruited with him from Garissa were told they were to identify themselves as Somalis, not Kenyans. 

Since the collapse⁶ of Somalia's last functioning government in 1991, Kenya has feared the civil war there would create instability in ethnic Somali regions of the country.  For the past several years, the rise of an al-Qaida-linked militant⁷ group called al-Shabab in southern Somalia has only deepened worries about security. 

In early October, reports began surfacing that the Kenyan government was recruiting ethnic-Somali Kenyans and Somalis in refugee camps to fight for the U.N.-backed transitional government in Mogadishu.  New York-based Human Rights Watch said its investigations⁸ in Garissa and Dadaab refugee camps found recruiters for the Kenyan government were using deceptive⁹ practices and false promises to lure¹⁰ young men.

Since then, the Kenyan military has repeatedly denied it is carrying out a recruitment drive on behalf of the Somali government.  Officials in Somalia have acknowledged a recruitment drive in Kenya for its armed forces, but they say it is only targeting Somalis living in Kenya.

It is not clear how many young men in Garissa have been recruited since October.  Local media reports have put the number at around 300. 

Two weeks ago, several parliament members visited Garissa, Dadaab and Manyani to investigate the recruitment allegations.  Soon after their visit, dozens of recruits from Garissa, including Dhaqane, say they were suddenly ordered to return to their homes.

Dhaqane says his name was called from a list.  He says each person on the list was told that if he went home, he would be given a job in Garissa or elsewhere in Kenya and a cash reimbursement¹¹ for the days he spent in Manyani.  Dhaqane, who has been back in Garissa for a week, says he has not received anything yet. 
 
In one Garissa neighborhood, some residents are still waiting to hear from their loved ones. 

Medina Moge last spoke¹² to her brother, Ahmed Moge Omar, three months ago.  She says he called her from Manyani camp, telling her he was being trained to fight militants¹³ in Somalia. 

Moge says he begged her for some money so that he could escape from the camp.  She sent him the money.  But she had heard from other people that he had been caught and beaten.

Moge says she and other residents with missing relatives have tried to contact Kenyan authorities, but have received no help or support.  She says there is growing suspicion that Kenya's recruitment drive is being backed by a more powerful country, such as the United States. 

She says some people believe the United States is funding this activity because it is a staunch supporter of the Somali government. 

Horn of Africa analyst¹⁴ for the International Crisis Group, Rashid Abdi, says he is concerned that even if the recruiting stops, rumors¹⁵ the West played a part in it may linger on.

"This is a suspicion which many have voiced," said Rashid Abdi. "This is a misperception.  But again, it is amazing how much traction¹⁶ it has with increasingly alienated¹⁷, young generation, who basically believe that there is an anti-Islamic conspiracy¹⁸ at work."

Abdi warns the Kenyan government must quickly address the rising sense of betrayal and anger in ethnic-Somali communities or risk aiding radical⁴ Islamists in their own efforts to recruit Kenya's poor, disaffected¹⁹ youth. 

 

1 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。

2 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

3 pretenses   

n.借口（pretense的复数形式）

参考例句：

• They obtained money under the false pretenses of patriotism. 他们以虚伪的爱国主义为借口获得金钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He obtained money from her under false pretenses. 他巧立名目从她那儿骗钱。 来自辞典例句

4 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

7 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

9 deceptive   

adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• His appearance was deceptive.他的外表带有欺骗性。
• The storyline is deceptively simple.故事情节看似简单，其实不然。

10 lure   

n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引

参考例句：

• Life in big cities is a lure for many country boys.大城市的生活吸引着许多乡下小伙子。
• He couldn't resist the lure of money.他不能抵制金钱的诱惑。

11 reimbursement   

n.偿还，退还

参考例句：

• He received reimbursement for his travel expenses.由于出差的花费他可以得到公司的补偿。
• Which forms do I need to complete for my travel reimbursement?我需要填什么表来报我的旅费？

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

14 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

15 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

17 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

19 disaffected   

adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的

参考例句：

• He attracts disaffected voters.他吸引了心怀不满的选民们。
• Environmental issues provided a rallying point for people disaffected with the government.环境问题把对政府不满的人们凝聚了起来。