2007年VOA标准英语-UN Pleads For Access to Besieged Refugee Camp i

By Peter Heinlein
United Nations
24 May 2007

The United Nations is appealing for access to a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon where Islamic militants¹ are holed up after days of fighting with Lebanese troops. VOA's Peter Heinlein has details from U.N. headquarters in New York.

Two Lebanese army vehicles patrol the entrance of the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, 22 May 2007

With tensions high at the Nahr al-Bared camp, U.N. emergency aid coordinator² John Holmes urged Lebanese authorities to allow relief workers and goods to reach thousands of stranded³ refugees.

"What we want to see is access for humanitarian⁴ actors and humanitarian goods to the camp to enable basic supplies to reach people, food, water, whatever they need, and also particularly of course medical care and medical evacuation for the wounded. That seems to be one of the major problems," he said.

A truce⁵ has halted the violence that broke out Sunday, killing⁶ scores of people. But Lebanon's defense⁷ minister Wednesday rejected negotiations⁸ with Fatah al-Islam militants, raising the possibility of more violence.

Holmes appealed to Lebanese authorities to use restraint in heavily-populated civilian⁹ areas.

"We accept the right of the Lebanese government to try to deal with an armed group of that kind conducting unacceptable activities on their territory. At the same time, we call upon the Lebanese government to exercise maximum restraint inside this civilian camp, and in particular the use of heavy weapons, tank fire and artillery¹⁰ in a very confined space in a civilian area is not in conformity¹¹ with international humanitarian law, and we hope they will exercise the maximum restraint in whatever action they feel obliged to take to deal with this armed group," he said.

Karen Koning AbuZayd, Commissioner-General of the U.N. Agency for Palestinian refugees says eight-thousand to 10-thousand civilians¹² fled the camp Tuesday and Wednesday, but estimated another 20,000 may still be there. "We need to be able to get into the camps to see what the needs are there, and to start repairing the damage if the truce holds," he said.

AbuZayd said the really worry is public health in a camp that has had no water or electricity since Sunday. She said the refugee agency is sending two emergency officers to Lebanon from the West Bank and Gaza to arrange safe passage for aid deliveries.

Authorities say several Red Cross truckloads of food are due to arrive at the outskirts¹³ of the camp within the next day.

1 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。

2 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

3 stranded   

a.搁浅的，进退两难的

参考例句：

• He was stranded in a strange city without money. 他流落在一个陌生的城市里， 身无分文，一筹莫展。
• I was stranded in the strange town without money or friends. 我困在那陌生的城市，既没有钱，又没有朋友。

4 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。

5 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

6 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 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。

10 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

11 conformity   

n.一致，遵从，顺从

参考例句：

• Was his action in conformity with the law?他的行动是否合法？
• The plan was made in conformity with his views.计划仍按他的意见制定。

12 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

13 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。