VOA常速英语2007年-Conditions Continue to Worsen in Somalia

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
25 December 2007

The International Committee of the Red Cross says the humanitarian¹ situation in Somalia continues to worsen. It says a year of relentless² conflict and several natural disasters have taken a heavy toll³ on the population. A Red Cross Official tells VOA the situation is particularly desperate in the capital Mogadishu, which has been the scene of repeated fighting.

The United Nations estimates around 600,000 people this year have fled fighting in Mogadishu between insurgents⁴ and Ethiopian-backed government forces.

But many people remain trapped in the capital. Red Cross spokeswoman, Anna Schaff, tells VOA the extent of the emergency can be seen in the massive increase in medical needs in Mogadishu. She says the number of war wounded keeps growing.

"The main concern is that this year there have been about 4,000 patients treated already at the hospitals in Mogadishu that we are supporting, and this figure is actually double of the patients we treated last year," said Schaff.

"Also, those who are wounded have difficult access to medical facilities. The ICRC is supporting two hospitals in Mogadishu but the worse is that the population, it is very difficult for the population to access the medical facilities," she continued. 

Schaff says one third of this year's patients were women or children under age 15. Also, during 2007, she says the number of surgeries in the two hospitals increased by 62 percent over the preceding year. In addition to medical services, Schaff says the Red Cross has been providing assistance to people forced to flee their homes because of the fighting.

"During the whole year, for example, we have assisted over 800,000 people with essential household items," said Schaff. "That is in different areas of Somalia in the south as well as in the center and the areas around Mogadishu."

"We also gave food rations⁵ in 2007 to over 230,000 people who were forced to flee Mogadishu. We are also providing drinking water. This year in 2007, around 21 million liters of water were distributed to those who had to flee," she added.

Red Cross officials say they are worried about how the humanitarian situation in Somalia is going to play out. Besides the continuing conflict, they say there is the threat of possible flooding and drought.

They say they have no idea when the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled Mogadishu will decide to return home. Until then, they say, the strain on the displaced and on the communities that have taken them in will remain huge.  

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 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

3 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。

4 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

5 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。