VOA标准英语2014--尼日利亚冲突影响孩子

 

Nigerian Conflict Takes Toll¹ on Children 尼日利亚冲突影响孩子

Children are bearing the brunt of much of the violence in northeastern Nigeria – including killings², rapes³, abductions and attacks on schools. A new report blamed Boko Haram militants⁴, Nigerian security forces and self-defense militias⁶.

The group - Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict --has released the report called Who Will Care for Us? – Grave Violations⁷ in Northeastern Nigeria. It’s based on a six-week research mission earlier this year.

Watchlist research officer Janine Morna, author of the report, said, “Since 2009, the level of violence and the scale of violations against children in northeastern Nigeria have worsened. The conflict has displaced about 650,000 people – primarily women and children – and affected⁸ millions of others. Of particular concern to Watchlist is the recruitment and use of children by Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad, commonly known as Boko Haram, as well as armed self-defense militia⁵ who operate in the northeast.”

Morna said the children carry out surveillance and sometimes take part in attacks.

“Children are increasingly in the line of fire. Interviewees told Watchlist that they had seen children as young as 14-years-old working alongside Boko Haram to carry ammunition⁹, set houses alight. They’d also seen children as young as 13-years-old among civilian¹⁰ self-defense militia.”

Boko Haram, she said, abducts¹¹ boys and girls. It forces boys to join their ranks or face death.

“Some times the group pressures families to have their children join Boko Haram. And in one case documented by Watchlist a 13-yearold who refused to join had two of his family members killed. In other cases, the group incentivizes disaffected¹², unemployed¹³ youth in Borno State and other areas of the northeast to join for money,” she said.

The report said that girls are not immune from taking part in the bloodshed.

“In recent months, there’s been a disturbing uptick in the participation¹⁴ of girls in attacks by Boko Haram. A young woman formerly¹⁵ abducted¹⁶ by the group told Watchlist of how she was made to raid hospitals during attacks, carry ammunition and in one case even slaughter¹⁷ somebody, who had been brought back to the camp. In July this year, reports emerged of a 10-year-old girl, who had been detained by authorities and was suspected to be acting¹⁸ under the direction of Boko Haram,” said Morna.

Christian¹⁹ children, the report said, are often forced to convert to Islam by Boko Haram.

The Watchlist report also said the rise in child recruitment by self-defense militias is not as widely reported. The militias have increased due to security gaps left unfilled by the military. The report said the “most notorious” of these is the Civilian Joint²⁰ Task Force that was formed in Borno State. It is now believed to be made-up of a number of different groups.

Morna said, “Initially, new recruits joined to avenge²¹ the deaths of family members, who had been killed at the hands of Boko Haram. However, as the group has come under increasing fire from Boko Haram, villages have described a process of recruitment where representatives from the civilian self-defense militia negotiate with chiefs of different villages for new members. This includes any able bodied member and children as young as 13-years-old. One youth told Watchlist if you refuse to join you are killed.”

Morna added that the militias have been praised by Nigeria’s president and received support from the military and the Borno State government. She said current government policy is to detain children – sometimes incommunicado -- who are suspected of being soldiers.

Due to the threat to children, many schools in the northeast have been closed, affecting hundreds of thousands of children. Parents have also taken to hiding their children.

The Watchlist report called on the Nigerian government to take action to end the recruitment of child soldiers and to care for those who have been. It also recommends collecting evidence of violations and abuses.

Saudatu Mahdi, of the Bring Back Our Girls Campaign, says of the 276 girls abducted by Boko Haram in Chibok earlier this year only 57 have escaped. Of the rest none has been rescued.

1 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。

2 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

3 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

6 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

7 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 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。

11 abducts   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的第三人称单数 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Magua himself abducts Cora. 马古亚劫持了科拉。
• So when the evil queen abducts her, it is up the dwarves to save her life. 后来邪恶的皇后协持她，究竟救不救她的性命就由七个小矮人来决定。

12 disaffected   

adj.（政治上）不满的，叛离的

参考例句：

• He attracts disaffected voters.他吸引了心怀不满的选民们。
• Environmental issues provided a rallying point for people disaffected with the government.环境问题把对政府不满的人们凝聚了起来。

13 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

14 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

15 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

16 abducted   

劫持，诱拐( abduct的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（肢体等）外展

参考例句：

• Detectives have not ruled out the possibility that she was abducted. 侦探尚未排除她被绑架的可能性。
• The kid was abducted at the gate of kindergarten. 那小孩在幼儿园大门口被绑架走了。

17 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

18 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。

19 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

20 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

21 avenge   

v.为...复仇，为...报仇

参考例句：

• He swore to avenge himself on the mafia.他发誓说要向黑手党报仇。
• He will avenge the people on their oppressor.他将为人民向压迫者报仇。