VOA标准英语2008年-UN: Thousands of Somalis Fleeing to Kenya

The U.N. refugee agency reports the number of uprooted¹ Somalis arriving this year in the sprawling² Dadaab refugee camp in northeastern Kenya has surpassed 45,000. The UNHCR says thousands of Somali refugees, desperate to escape fighting in their country, make the difficult journey to Kenya every month. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from UNHCR headquarters in Geneva.

The U.N. refugee agency says about 5,000 refugees arrive in Kenya's remote Dadaab refugee camp every month. The camp is located some 80 kilometers from the border with Somalia.

The Kenya-Somalia border has officially remained closed since early 2007. But, UNHCR spokesman, Ron Redmond, says this has not stopped thousands of desperate people from coming.

"It is a fairly porous³ border," he said. "It is a very remote area. So, it is not all that difficult to get across the border. Once they do get across the border there are teams, mobile teams, which are able to reach them. There is a reception center where they are interviewed and then they are taken to the camp. So, it is not all that difficult for them to get across aside from the official checkpoints."

Dadaab is one of the world's oldest, biggest and most congested refugee camps. The UNHCR says the population is now more than 215,000. This is a 25 percent increase since the beginning of this year. It says most of the refugees arriving in Dadaab are from the Somali capital, Mogadishu where the fighting is most intense.

The UNHCR says Dadaab camp has twice as many people as it should have. It says the recent influx⁴ has worsened the overcrowding and it is planning to build another camp to house newly arriving Somali refugees.

Aid agencies describe this week's fighting in Mogadishu as the worst since the beginning of the latest insurgency⁵ in February 2007. Redmond says at least 15,000 residents have fled their homes.

He says almost half of the newly displaced civilians⁶ have moved to safer parts of Mogadishu. The others have fled toward the Somali town of Afgooye, which, he says is already jammed with more than 300,000 internally displaced people.

"The new wave of displacement⁷ in Mogadishu is worsening an already catastrophic situation in a war-torn country where more than one million people are displaced," he said. "Some 700,000 people fled Mogadishu last year alone. And, we estimate that since the beginning of this year, another 160,000 were forced to leave the Somali capital. Our partners in the city say people are confused, traumatized and fleeing in panic and despair. Many have no idea where to find shelter as they try to escape the massive and indiscriminate shelling and violence."

This upsurge of violence reportedly has killed some 200 people and wounded scores of civilians, including women and children. Redmond says the UNHCR fears the movement out of Mogadishu is likely to increase with the end of the month of Ramadan next week.

1 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》

2 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

3 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

4 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

5 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。