美国国家公共电台 NPR--The Pentagon may evacuate U.S. citizens from Sudan

The Pentagon may evacuate¹ U.S. citizens from Sudan

Transcript²

The Pentagon is preparing for a possible evacuation of US citizens from Sudan, as the fighting there shows no signs of letting up, and the humanitarian³ situation grows increasingly dire⁴.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The leader of the Sudanese military today claimed he is committed to transition to civilian⁵ rule.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

But in his first speech since fighting began, General Abdel-Fattah Burhan made no mention of accepting a three-day-long cease-fire offered by the paramilitary forces. Gunfire was heard on the streets of Khartoum and other cities on Friday morning, and the U.S. is moving a large number of additional troops to its base in nearby Djibouti to prepare for a possible evacuation of U.S. citizens in Sudan.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu has been monitoring the situation. He joins now from Lagos.

Emmanuel, before we hear more detail about the humanitarian situation, what more do we know about the U.S.'s plans to evacuate citizens?

EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE⁶: Not very much. You know, the airspace is closed. The airport in Khartoum has been actually at the center of the fighting. If there was a cease-fire, it would offer a window. But there isn't one. The fighting hasn't stopped, even this morning. There's an estimated 16,000 Americans registered in Sudan. It would be a major operation to evacuate them at any time, especially now. And the State Department spokesperson said yesterday that due to the fluid situation, it's not safe to undertake an evacuation. So essentially⁸, these are preparations, but the conditions for an evacuation just isn't there.

Egypt managed to evacuate about 177 troops from northern Sudan this week, but 27 remain in Khartoum. And obviously, now the situation is very precarious⁹.

MART?NEZ: And I know that thousands of Sudanese have become displaced by the fighting. How bad is the humanitarian situation there?

AKINWOTU: The speed of the collapse¹⁰ in Khartoum and other areas surrounding it has been tragic¹¹ and surreal. In places, there are dead bodies on the streets, we're hearing. At least 330 people have died, thousands of people injured. The majority of hospitals have shut down, and the few that are open are absolutely overwhelmed.

And people are sheltering at home, but people are also dying at home. I spoke⁷ to someone yesterday whose mother died in her living room in Khartoum, killed by shrapnel. And we've been hearing stories like this all week. The fighting has been most intense in the center of the city and areas around it, so so many people in their homes are exposed to this.

And then tragically¹², we've also seen reports of RSF fighters - Rapid Support Force fighters, the paramilitary group - taking over hospitals and bedding in people's homes, kicking residents out and committing abuses and sexual abuses. Everyone who can are trying to flee Khartoum right now.

MART?NEZ: Meanwhile, this instability and all this fighting is making neighbors of Sudan very, very nervous. Remind us what's at stake for those countries that are right nearby.

AKINWOTU: You know, Sudan borders seven countries, many of them with ethnic¹³ groups that cross these borders. And the borders are porous¹⁴, some of them - and, you know, countries like Chad, the Central African Republic, South Sudan. And there's a potential that this conflict brings in other militia¹⁵ and ethnic militia. For now, that hasn't been the case. And the other militia groups in Sudan and international actors with a stake in Sudan have largely advocated peace talks. But as we can see, those calls have completely been unheard.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu in Lagos. Thank you very much.

AKINWOTU: Thank you.

1 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。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 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。

4 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

5 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。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

10 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

11 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

12 tragically   

adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地

参考例句：

• Their daughter was tragically killed in a road accident. 他们的女儿不幸死于车祸。
• Her father died tragically in a car crash. 她父亲在一场车祸中惨死。

13 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。

14 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

15 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。