2007年VOA标准英语-Negotiations Under Way for Peacekeeper Deployme

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
17 August 2007

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is urging the U.N. Security Council to approve a new peacekeeping force for the volatile¹ border region between Chad and Central African Republic. The newly revised proposal would address the concerns of Chadian President Idriss Deby, who opposed Mr. Ban's original proposal for deployment³ of a U.N. military force. Phuong Tran brings us this report from VOA's West African Bureau in Dakar.

Under the new proposal, a unit of Chad's police force would maintain law and order in refugee camps, key towns and areas that have large numbers of displaced civilians⁴ in eastern Chad.

U.N. staff would mostly offer support from the capital, N'Djamena, rather than be posted on the ground in eastern Chad.

The European Union would provide military forces, most likely to come from France, to serve with Chad forces on the border, for a period of at least one year.

Chad originally had rejected having U.N. peacekeepers on the border, saying it preferred to have its own security forces watch over the camps. But last month, President Idriss Deby agreed to an EU peacekeeping force.

Mr. Ban said the main cause of insecurity is not clashes between government troops and rebel forces, which have occurred only sporadically⁵ in recent months, but "widespread criminality and banditry and an associated breakdown⁶ in law and order."

 

The U.N.'s top official in Chad, Kingsley Amaning, says while leaders negotiate, the security of about 400,000 refugees and displaced persons living in Chad's poorly guarded camps suffer.

"What is important for us is that at least there is restoration of state protection," he said. "The state has becoming increasingly weak because of its military operations. Its focus has been diverted from state to regime protection. It is important for the international community to strengthen the capacity of the state to protect its citizens."

Humanitarian⁷ workers in eastern Chad report on-going inter-ethnic violence, even during heavy rains that usually halt fighting.

Amaning says the European Union is expected to send a delegation⁸ next week to Chad to decide whether it will deploy², how many troops, and which countries would participate.

He says the United Nations cannot move forward without this EU decision.

The U.N. and African Union are hoping to get all the rebel groups in Darfur and the Sudanese government to the peace table in September to try to end the four-year conflict that has claimed over 200,000 lives and uprooted⁹ 2.5 million people.

1 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

2 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

4 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。

5 sporadically   

adv.偶发地，零星地

参考例句：

• There are some trees sporadically around his house. 他的房子周围零星地有点树木。 来自辞典例句
• As for other aspects, we will sporadically hand out questionnaires. 在其他方面，我们会偶尔发送调查问卷。 来自互联网

6 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

7 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。

8 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

9 uprooted   

v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的过去式和过去分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园

参考例句：

• Many people were uprooted from their homes by the flood. 水灾令许多人背井离乡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The hurricane blew with such force that trees were uprooted. 飓风强烈地刮着，树都被连根拔起了。 来自《简明英汉词典》