VOA标准英语2013--Fighting Triggers New DRC Refugee Crisis

 

Fighting Triggers New DRC Refugee Crisis

Aid agencies are rushing food, water and shelter to thousands of Congolese refugees who have fled to western Uganda. They began crossing the border more than a week ago to escape fighting between government forces and the Al Qaeda-linked ADF rebels.

Multiple agencies are involved in the humanitarian¹ effort. Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, said, “We’ve had a very dramatic situation along this border over the last eight days. We saw an estimated 66,000 people fleeing from fighting in the eastern part of Democratic Republic of Congo.”

And they didn’t have time to pack any belongings².

“When the rebels approached a town, people literally³ fled for their lives. They brought nothing with them. They ran. They went into the bush. They stayed there for several days. We’ve had reports of women giving birth in the bush in these conditions,” he said.

Congolese refugees found along the border are being transported by truck to a transit⁴ center.

“This is an area about 250 [to] 300 kilometers, more or less, due west of Kampala, the capital of Uganda. We have set up with the Ugandan Red Cross and the Ugandan authorities a small transit center at a place called Bubukwanga, just 20 or so kilometers inland from the border itself. But this is a temporary facility only. It’s already becoming over-stretched because of the numbers of people who have been brought in there,” said Edwards.”

Besides UNHCR, other agencies involved in the humanitarian effort include the World Food Program, UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, the Ugandan Red Cross, Oxfam and the Lutheran World Foundation.

The fighting between government forces and ADF rebels is taking place several hundred kilometers north of fighting between the Congolese army and M23 rebels.

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 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 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。