2006年VOA标准英语-Chadians Increasingly Feel Impact of Darfu

By Raymond Thibodeaux
Gouroukoun, Chad
21 April 2006

For the past three years, Chadians have taken in Sudanese refugees fleeing attacks by Arab militias¹ backed by Sudan's government. Now, they say they are being targeted by those same militias. It is part of a larger, emerging crisis as the violence from Sudan's Darfur conflict spreads west. Raymond Thibodeaux has more for VOA from Gouroukoun in southeastern Chad.

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So far this year, more than 55,000 Chadians have been displaced by marauding Arab militias, known as "Janjaweed."

The attacks signal that Sudan's worsening Darfur conflict, which has spawned² many rebel movements and roving militias, is spreading westward³ into a region of Africa long plagued by civil wars and cross-border incursions.

And as the violence spreads west, so does the civilian⁴ death toll⁵ and the numbers of those seeking refuge in larger villages and towns, widening a humanitarian⁶ crisis that United Nations officials are calling the world's worst.

The 200,000 Sudanese refugees already in Chad are being joined by tens of thousands of displaced Chadians as well as thousands of people from Central African Republic who are fleeing attacks by government troops there.

Halima Abakar, a 30-year-old mother of two, came to Gouroukoun three days ago. She says Arab "Janjaweed" militias attacked her village of Koloy, about 110 kilometers away, killing⁷ at least three of her relatives.

"Arab people attacked them and that's why they moved here," she said. "They took away all their animals and livestock⁸ and the essential items they had [such as] clothes and their food stocks."

In the village of Goz Beida, about two kilometers from Gouroukoun, nearly 14,000 displaced Chadians have set up a make-shift village of straw huts on land set aside for them by the area's tribal⁹ leader, Seid Brahim Mustafa, the Sultan of Dar Sila.

"We have been saying for a very long time that Sudan has been interfering¹⁰ in our affairs over on this side," he said. "We have said it over and over and over again. We were talking to deaf ears. Nobody listened. And look at the problems we are now facing."

Many Sudanese continue to pour into Chad, crossing a national boundary that entitles them, by international treaty, to aid and haven¹¹ as refugees. There are already 200,000 Sudanese refugees in Chad. Most of them live in squalid camps, but at least they have access to food aid, health care and even primary and vocational education, most of it supplied by U.N. agencies.

"It is much worse for those who are internally displaced," says Olivier Bercault, a Human Rights Watch investigators¹² who has traveled extensively in western Sudan and eastern Chad. Like many Sudanese, the Chadians are suffering from the threat of starvation and also need protection, he says, but they are not getting much help right now because they are not refugees.

Chadians are forced to seek shelter near larger villages and towns that have better access to food aid and water, and are more likely to be within walking distance to the tiny, but reassuring¹³ outposts of government troops or Chadian police.

So far, international efforts have been unable to resolve Sudan's Darfur conflict. Seven rounds of peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, between rebels and the Khartoum government have failed, prolonging the conflict and further hampering¹⁴ international aid efforts.

1 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

2 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

3 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 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。

7 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

8 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

9 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

10 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

11 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

12 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 reassuring   

a.使人消除恐惧和疑虑的，使人放心的

参考例句：

• He gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 他轻拍了一下她的肩膀让她放心。
• With a reassuring pat on her arm, he left. 他鼓励地拍了拍她的手臂就离开了。

14 hampering   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• So fraud on cows and development aid is seriously hampering growth. 因此在牛问题上和发展补助上的诈骗严重阻碍了发展。
• Short-termism, carbon-trading, disputing the science-are hampering the implementation of direct economically-led objectives. 短效主义，出售二氧化碳，进行科学辩论，这些都不利于实现以经济为主导的直接目标。