VOA标准英语2012--Somalis Flee Fighting Near Afgooye Corridor

Somalis Flee Fighting Near Afgooye Corridor
 
In Somalia, thousands of already displaced people are fleeing new fighting northwest of Mogadishu. Many are heading for the capital where humanitarian¹ agencies are setting up emergency relief operations.
U.N. refugee agency spokesman Andy Needham said more than 7,000 Somalis have left the Afgooye corridor in the last two weeks, more than 5,000 of them in the past few days.
The Afgooye corridor is the largest single concentration of internally displaced people in the world. There are over 400,000 people along a 40 kilometer stretch of road, which snakes out from Mogadishu head eastwards².
It’s where many Somalis from Mogadishu went when intense fighting in the city was a daily occurrence in recent years.
Advanced warning
Needham said civilians³ did receive a warning of possible violence from the Transitional Federal Government and the African Union mission in Somalia.
“Well, basically in the last number of days, the TFG and AMISOM forces gave an indication to residents within Afgooye corridor that there may be increased military activity in the area. Basically advising people – perhaps for their own safety – to move,” he said.
The UNHCR and other aid agencies are gearing up operations in Mogadishu.
Needham said, “What we will be delivering to those people will be emergency assistance packages. They need again, just as in the case of the famine, very basic items – shelter, food, water – because literally⁴ they’re fleeing with their homes and their possessions on their back. And they need to start again or find somewhere to bed down in Mogadishu.”
They’re traveling by foot, donkey and minibus. But not everyone is heading for Mogadishu.
“Often in these situations the Somali people are very resourceful and we are receiving some reports that they may be heading to other villages along the way. So perhaps if this displacement⁵ continues in the coming days, we may see also different patterns emerging where they’re going in different directions. That in some sense will ease the influx⁶ into the city,” he said.
Overall, the UNHCR estimates there are nearly 1.4 million displaced people within Somalia. There are nearly a million Somali refugees in neighboring countries. Most of the refugees, about a half million, are in Kenya at the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps.

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 eastwards   

adj.向东方（的），朝东（的）；n.向东的方向

参考例句：

• The current sets strongly eastwards.急流迅猛东去。
• The Changjiang River rolls on eastwards.长江滚滚向东流。

3 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。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 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。

6 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。