VOA标准英语2009-Thailand Confirms Thousands of Karen Village

Thailand has confirmed reports that thousands of ethnic¹ Karen villagers have fled into the country to escape fighting in neighboring Burma.
　
Karen civilians² take shelter on the bank of the Moei river after fleeing the fighting between Burmese soldiers and Karen guerrillas in Tha Song Yang district of Tak province, Thailand, 06 June 2009

Rights groups and aid organizations were the first to report as many as 3,000 ethnic Karen villagers fled from Burma to Thailand, in the past week. The groups say villagers crossed Thailand's western border to escape escalating³ fighting between Burmese forces and Karen rebels.

Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn confirmed the reports for VOA. He says it was not the first time fighting in Burma had forced villagers to flee to Thailand and would not be the last.

"We believe that, with the experience of Thailand handling this situation in the past two decades, where at times there were several hundred thousand came over the Thai borders - this is, on one hand, serious issue," said Panitan. "But, on the other hand, I think Thailand is capable of handling this. And, there shouldn't be any problem."

Panitan says the Thai authorities have emergency procedures to handle large flows of villager refugees. He says they will be given temporary shelters and medical care, while immigration authorities decide what to do with them.

Thailand has tens of thousands of refugees living in camps along its borders. Many of them fled fighting in Burma.

This latest flood of villagers came as Burmese forces moved in on rebel fighters from the Karen National Union.

Burma has been increasing pressure on Karen rebels to end decades of fighting, ahead of next year's controversial Burmese elections. Burma's military-run government wants the country's many ethnic groups to support the elections.

Thailand has been acting⁴ as a go-between for the Burmese authorities and the KNU to try to end the fighting, but with little success.

Burma's last elections were in 1990, when the party of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi won by a landslide⁵. The military ignored the results and placed her under house arrest.

Aung San Suu Kyi is now on trial for allowing an uninvited guest to stay in her house without official permission and is expected to be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

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 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 landslide   

n.(竞选中)压倒多数的选票；一面倒的胜利

参考例句：

• Our candidate is predicated to win by a landslide.我们的候选人被预言将以绝对优势取胜。
• An electoral landslide put the Labour Party into power in 1945.1945年工党以压倒多数的胜利当选执政。