2007年VOA标准英语-Sudan Expels Aid Group's Top Official

By Nick Wadhams
Nairobi
27 August 2007

Sudan has given the country director for the U.S.-based aid agency CARE 72 hours to leave the country, the latest in a series of expulsions of western envoys². As Nick Wadhams reports from Nairobi, it is also seen as part of a systematic³ clampdown on humanitarian⁴ agencies working in the Darfur region.

The Sudanese government delivered the expulsion letter to Paul Barker on Saturday. No reason for the expulsion was given, but Barker says it may have to do with an internal e-mail he wrote a year ago about safety precautions that CARE staff should take in the Darfur region.

CARE's Nairobi-based spokeswoman, Bea Spadacini, says the group had been given no warning about Barker's expulsion, but CARE would not stop working in Sudan. She says CARE employs 550 people in Sudan and the memos⁵ like the one Barker wrote are routine.

"According to Paul, this was leaked and the government was irritated by this and it is surprising because we are one of the few organizations that has been able to operate all along," said Spadacini. "It does not mean that all of a sudden CARE has stopped working there. It does not mean like everyone has to evacuate⁶. So I do not know what the implications are, but it is a clear signal of discontent if you are kicking out the country director. It is a signal to the organization."

Sudanese Foreign Ministry⁷ spokesman Ali Sadiq Ali refused to comment on the expulsion and Sudan's Humanitarian Aid Commission could not be reached for comment. CARE, which is based in Atlanta, has been working in Sudan for 27 years and estimates it has spent $60 million in Sudan during the past three years.

Spadacini refused to comment on the conditions that CARE works under in Sudan, but numerous aid groups in the past have reported that the Sudanese government monitors them closely, often limits their movement, and in some cases even must approve their news releases.

The expulsion was only the latest ordered by the Sudanese government. The lead Canadian and European Union envoys were ordered out last week, though the E.U. envoy¹ will be allowed to return to finish his term.

And most famously Sudan expelled top U.N. envoy for Sudan Jan Pronk, after he posted a blog entry about the difficult humanitarian situation in Sudan.

The United States has suggested that Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's government may be using the expulsions to stall international efforts to quell⁸ the ongoing⁹ crisis in Darfur, where about 200-thousand people have been killed in four years of conflict between local rebels and government-backed militias¹⁰.

Late last month, the U.N. Security Council overcame Sudan's long-standing objections and approved a 26,000 member peacekeeping force for Darfur. But some of the rebel groups say they are reconsidering whether to join future peace talks because of ongoing raids by government forces and the militias.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。

3 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

4 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。

5 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

6 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

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