VOA慢速英語：數十萬索馬里人因為干旱和沖突流離失所

Hundreds of Thousands of Somalis Displaced by Drought, Conflict

數十萬索馬里人因為干旱和沖突流離失所

Drought and conflict have caused a new displacement crisis in the southern part of Somalia.

干旱和沖突造成了索馬里南部新的流離失所危機。

Gerard Waite is chief of mission for the International Organization for Migration Somalia. He said about 800,000 people fled their homes over the past seven months. This is in addition to the 1.1 million people already displaced in the country.

杰拉德·威特(Gerard Waite)是國際移民組織索馬里地區(qū)的任務負責人。他說過去七個月里有80萬人逃離了家園。這是該國已有的110萬流離失所者之外的新增人口。

"We have a displacement crisis on top of a drought crisis," Waite said.

威特表示：“除了干旱危機，我們還面臨著流離失所危機。”

Poor camp conditions

難民營條件糟糕

He also said that the newly displaced people have put heavy pressure on existing camps.

他還表示，這些新增的流離失所者已經對現有難民營造成了嚴重壓力。

"These camps are, by and large, not very well managed. They are normally on private land in very cramped conditions. They do not have the basic services in these camps," Waite said.

威特表示：“這些難民營總體來說都管理不善，它們一般都處于非常擁擠的私人土地上，不具備基本服務條件。”

The displaced people are not living in healthy conditions, and are forced to drink unclean water. This has caused over 71,000 cases of cholera or severe diarrhea in 2017, resulting in nearly 1,100 deaths.

流離失所者健康狀況不佳，并且被迫飲用不潔凈的水。這已經造成了2017年發(fā)生7.1萬例以上的霍亂或嚴重腹瀉，并導致近1100人死亡。

"Water shortages have meant that people are drinking higher-risk water, taking water which they know to be contaminated but they drink it anyway," Waite said.

威特表示：“水資源短缺意味著人們正在飲用高度危險的水，取用明知道已經污染的水源。但是他們只能喝下去。”

Difficult weather patterns

艱難的氣候模式

Climate experts say the recent rainy season was well below average this year. It usually lasts from April to June. The next rainy season is not expected until October, but experts warn there will be heavy crop losses.

氣候專家表示，最近這次雨季遠低于今年的平均水平。這次雨季從4月持續(xù)到6月。下次雨季預計要到十月份之后，但是專家警告說這將會造成嚴重的作物損失。

In addition, climate estimates suggest that there is a 45 percent chance of an El Niño weather event late in 2017. That could cause a further reduction in rain.

此外，氣候評估表明，2017年末有45%的幾率發(fā)生厄爾尼諾現象，這可能會進一步減少降雨。

An El Niño is an irregular weather event usually resulting in warmer-than-average temperatures in some places around the world.

厄爾尼諾現象是一種不規(guī)律的天氣現象，它通常會導致全球某些地區(qū)的氣溫高于平均水平。

Waite said about 6.7 million people in Somalia are either suffering or near suffering from a food crisis.

威特表示，索馬里有670萬人要么正在遭受，要么接近遭受糧食危機。

Managing and preparing for drought

管理和應對干旱

According to Waite, the International Organization for Migration has learned from Somalia's drought in 2011. In that period of extremely dry weather, 200,000 people are believed to have died.

威特表示，國際移民組織已經從索馬里2011年的干旱中學到了經驗，據認為有20萬人在那次嚴重干旱天氣期間死亡。

"The need to deliver health systems to these places is extremely pressing," Waite said. However, he said they are also trying to work with the Somali government to create spaces that are better controlled and managed.

威特表示：“向這些地區(qū)提供衛(wèi)生系統(tǒng)的需求非常迫切。”不過他表示，他們也正試圖同索馬里政府合作，創(chuàng)造出管理良好的空間。

Somalia's finance minister, Abdirahman Duale Beyle, told VOA in May that the droughts in Somalia are cyclical. He also said Somalia has become too dependent on external aid.

索馬里財政部長阿布迪拉赫曼·杜阿萊·貝爾(Abdirahman Duale Beyle)在5月對美國之音表示，索馬里的干旱是周期性的。他還表示，索馬里已經變得過于依賴外部援助。

"We have to change that kind of attitude," Beyle said.

貝爾表示：“我們必須改變這種態(tài)度。”

There are projects meant to prepare Somalia for droughts, however.

然而目前有多個項目意圖幫助索馬里應對干旱。

The IOM, for example, is introducing drought-resistant potatoes. The U.N. Development Program is helping with several projects, including creating below-surface water tanks, wells, and community water storage ponds in Somaliland.

例如國際移民組織正在引進抗旱的馬鈴薯。聯(lián)合國開發(fā)計劃署正在通過幾個項目幫助索馬里，包括在索馬里蘭建造地下儲水罐、水井以及社區(qū)儲水池。

Beyle said now is the time for Somalis themselves to take responsibility for solving the problem.

貝爾表示，目前是時候讓索馬里自行承擔起解決問題的責任。

"We have the technology, the intelligence and the know-how to break the link between drought and famine," he said.

他說：“我們有技術、有才智和實際經驗來打破干旱和饑荒之間的聯(lián)系。”

I'm Phil Dierking.

菲爾·德爾金報道。