VOA标准英语2009年-UN Fears for Civilians Trapped in Sri Lankan Fi

The United Nations Humanitarian¹ Chief says he is concerned about the deteriorating² humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka, where thousands of civilians⁴ are trapped in a rebel-controlled area, unable to flee combat between the fighters and the government.
　
John Holmes speaks during a media briefing in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 19 Feb 2009

John Holmes made a three-day visit to Sri Lanka last week as a sign of the international community's growing concern over the humanitarian situation in the island-nation's conflict zone.

There, the government says it is finally about to crush the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE, after 25 years of civil war.

In a closed-door session Friday, Holmes briefed the 15-member Security Council on his trip. Afterwards he told reporters the United Nations top priority is helping⁵ the thousands of civilians, who along with the rebels, have been pushed by the government into a small, narrow area along the coast.

"There are extreme concerns about the safety of civilians in that pocket," he said. "Concerns about civilian³ casualties, concerns about humanitarian access to them and humanitarian relief supplies for them. That is the top concern we have, which is one of the main reasons I went there myself last week, to talk to the government about that. To try to make sure they were doing everything they could to protect the civilians there."

Holmes said there is strong evidence that the LTTE are preventing the civilians from leaving. He said the estimate of the number of civilians caught in the violence varies from 70,000 according to the government, to around 200,000 by the United Nation's count, to as high as 300,000 or more according to Tamil groups.
　
Sri Lankans who escaped from Tamil Tiger controlled areas wait to board a bus in government controlled area at Vishwamadu, 07 Feb 2009

Holmes said displaced persons were in generally good physical condition, but there is serious overcrowding in some of the transit⁶ centers. He said U.N. agencies and aid groups have relatively⁷ free access to these sites, but that movement into and out of them is very restricted - which he said is unacceptable.

He said the Sri Lankan government expressed its commitment to helping the displaced return home, promising⁸ some 80 percent would be home by the end of this year.

Regarding reports that the government has stopped using heavy weapons in an effort to spare civilian casualties, Holmes said he could not confirm that.

"I am afraid we cannot verify that. They assured me at every level that they had virtually stopped using heavy weapons, and that indeed, they were taking more casualties as a result of that [heavy weapons]," he said. "But I cannot verify that. It is simply unclear how far that is true."

But he said the U.N. believes dozens of people are being killed and many more wounded each day.

The U.N. humanitarian chief said he also urged the Sri Lankan government to refrain from any final military battle in order to give civilians time to get out safely.

Tamil Tiger rebels have been fighting the government since 1983 to establish an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's ethnic⁹ minority Tamils, who they say face second-class treatment by the Sinhalese majority. More than 70,000 people have died in the conflict.

1 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。

2 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

3 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。

4 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。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 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。