VOA标准英语2008年-Conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan Drive Up World R

By Sonja Pace
London
17 June 2008

The U.N. refugee agency says the number of people fleeing violence and repression¹ worldwide has risen to 11.4 million, largely due to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. VOA's Sonja Pace reports from London on UNHCR's status report for 2007.
　

An Afghan girl carries her infant sibling2 in Iran's Sistan Baluchistan province

Launching the report, the U.N. High Commissioner³ for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, said that for the second year in a row the number of people fleeing their countries and displaced from their homes is on the rise.

"We have today 11.4 million refugees worldwide, but we have 26 million people displaced within the borders of their own countries," he said.

Guterres says conflicts are largely to blame. Refugees from Iraq and Afghanistan alone make up half the world's total. The 11.4 million tally⁴ does not include the millions of Palestinians living as refugees in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world.

Guterres describes a band of conflict and instability that includes mostly Muslim countries.

"Now, together with the Palestinians more than half of the group of refugees are concentrated in the same area," he said. "That area starts in Afghanistan, it includes Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Chad and Somalia. And this is an area of great concern for us all and I can only ask the international community to be more and more involved together, acting⁵ together to make sure that these conflicts find an end."
　

Darfurian refugees chidren play in the Sudanese refugees camp run by the NGO 'Eastern Chad' in Gaga, near the border with Darfur (File)

While Afghanistan, Iraq and the Darfur region of Sudan are highly publicized hotspots, UNHCR's Guterres says many other refugees are created by lesser⁶ known conflicts and hardships - often forgotten by the international community.

"And looking only at one continent Africa, we have been having since the beginning of the year, with people crossing their borders in big numbers, in thousands we are having new arrivals of Darfurians in Chad and Central African Republic, of Chadians in Cameroon, of Central African Republicans in Chad and in Cameroon, of Eritreans in Sudan and in Ethiopia, of Somalis in Yemen, in Kenya, in Djibouti, we have Kenyans crossing the border into Uganda and we are now witnessing the worsening situation in Zimbabwe," he said. "Now, this demonstrates a trend that represents a multiplication⁷ of crises, with more and more people on the move."

The U.N. agency says global refugee numbers had fallen for five years before rising again in 2006 and 2007. While conflicts are largely to blame, UNHCR says climate change, the rise in energy and food prices and ensuing poverty are also factors.

1 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

2 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

3 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

4 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。

5 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

6 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

7 multiplication   

n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法

参考例句：

• Our teacher used to drum our multiplication tables into us.我们老师过去老是让我们反覆背诵乘法表。
• The multiplication of numbers has made our club building too small.会员的增加使得我们的俱乐部拥挤不堪。