美国国家公共电台 NPR--Dozens of U.S. embassy staffers have been airlifted out of Sudan's capital

Dozens of U.S. embassy staffers have been airlifted out of Sudan's capital

Transcript¹

As Sudan enters a second week of fighting, the exodus² of international diplomats³ from the capital continues. But what about the fate of those foreign nationals and millions of Sudanese left behind?

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

I've been...

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Yes.

INSKEEP: ...Away a few days. I have heard about the clashes in Sudan. But can you catch me up on why armed groups are fighting there?

MART?NEZ: Sure. Yeah. It goes back a few years. Essentially⁴, the country has two armed forces. One is the regular army; the other is a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces. They worked together in a military coup⁵ a couple years ago, but now they disagree over a plan to merge⁶ them, part of a transition to civilian⁸ rule. So the paramilitary forces, the RSF, they're attacking the government, which is why we've been watching efforts to evacuate⁹ diplomats and others who want out.

INSKEEP: OK. Thanks for the basics. So now we're ready for an update from NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu, who's been covering this from his base in Lagos. Welcome back.

EMMANUEL AKINWOTU, BYLINE¹⁰: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: All right. U.S. Embassy staff have been airlifted out of Khartoum, the capital. What about other Americans?

AKINWOTU: Well, there are about 16,000 Americans registered in Sudan. The State Department says it's assisting the citizens who are trying to flee, we think, largely with up-to-date information and advice on routes out of Khartoum and the country. And we're seeing other countries - many other countries - ramp¹¹ up their evacuations. Many people, especially foreign nationals, are trying to get to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. That's a transit⁷ point out of the country. But many of them have to get there on their own. The U.S. evacuations we saw this weekend were for government staff and their families, about under a hundred people who were airlifted out of Khartoum. It was a very precarious¹² operation overnight by U.S. military, of course, in the midst of this ongoing¹³ conflict.

INSKEEP: You mentioned people going to Port Sudan, which is, of course, on the water, which Khartoum, the capital, is not. Airlines are not an option at this point or any kind of civilian or military flights out of that Khartoum airport? Do people have to go over land to get out?

AKINWOTU: Yes. Flights are not an option. The airspace is shut. And so that is not an option for people who are trying to leave the country right now.

INSKEEP: OK. So people who get out of Khartoum have to go over land. Countries are evacuating¹⁴ their staff in various ways that they can. How are people feeling who are left behind?

AKINWOTU: Everyone who can is trying to leave the capital, Khartoum. That's the epicenter of this awful conflict. But there are also complicated feelings. You know, with these evacuations and the closure of a number of foreign embassies, there's clearly this fear that, at a perilous¹⁵ moment, countries are retreating from Sudan. And these are countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and others who backed the transition and trusted these warring parties to give up power for a democratic process. And, of course, this process has completely unraveled with neither the Army or the RSF backing down.

What we know at the moment is about 400 people at least have been killed, thousands injured, according to the U.N. It's been just over a week since this conflict erupted, and the speed of collapse¹⁶ has been shocking. The health system has been hit hard. At least 11 facilities have been attacked. Most have shut down. People are either sheltering at home with no power, running out of food or trying to leave. You know, many resistance groups, community groups are helping¹⁷ people trying to escape. Twenty thousand people have fled to Chad. The internet coverage¹⁸ in Sudan has dropped to just a few percent of normal levels. So our sense of what's happening in the country is diminishing. And, of course, there's no sign of a cease-fire between the two warring parties.

INSKEEP: Yeah. And when you talk about complicated feelings, I'm imagining those 16,000 U.S. citizens, many of them, of course, would have family connections, close connections. They've built their lives in Sudan. It would be hard to walk away. But is there danger of a full-scale civil war here?

AKINWOTU: You know, there are a number of international actors, local militia¹⁹ that have a stake in this. So far, this is not a civil war. But the longer this goes on, there's the danger that it could become one.

INSKEEP: NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu, pleasure to talk with you. Thank you so much.

AKINWOTU: Thanks, Steve.

1 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。

2 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

3 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

6 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

12 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。

13 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。

14 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

15 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

16 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。

17 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。

18 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

19 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。