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Words
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INTRO
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The
UN, marking World Refugee Day on 20th June, says there are 12 million
refugees worldwide and twice as many internally displaced people -
refugees in their own countries. One of the largest groups of displaced
people is in Sri Lanka. More from the BBC's Francis Harrison in Colombo. |
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IN
FULL
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to the report in full |
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20th
June 2001
Refugee crisis in Sri Lanka
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NEWS
1
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Listen
to the first part of the report |
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The
United Nations says there 800,000 internally displaced people
in Sri Lanka who fled their homes because of bombardment,
shifting front lines and policies of ethnic cleansing. Many
receive government food rations, and about a quarter are
living in welfare camps. The majority, but by no means all,
are from the country's Tamil minority. Then there are at least half
a million, if not more, Sri Lankan Tamil refugees living
in Europe, North America, India and the Middle East. Accurate figures
are hard to come by: there's been no census since the war
began, but it's clear a huge proportion of Sri Lankan Tamils have
been uprooted from their homes by this conflict.
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Listen
to the words |
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WORDS
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displaced
- forced to move away from the area where they live
bombardment
- a strong and continuous attack of gunfire or bombing
ethnic
- connected with different races or cultural groups of people
rations
- when something is scarce, your ration of it is the amount you
are allowed to have
welfare
- here: intended to help to improve people's living conditions and
financial problems
refugees
- people who have been forced to leave their country because of
war or their political or religious beliefs
census
- an official examination of the details of a country's population
uprooted
- made to leave a place where you have lived for a long time
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| NEWS
2 |
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to the second part of the report |
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Half
the displaced are children and the UN says its important they don't
grow up in overcrowded camps, hotbeds of resentment
and frustration, with the government and donors waiting for an end
to the conflict before they provide a permanent solution. The UN is
now considering relocating displaced people to a third location,
neither their home nor a camp, but a place where they can put down
roots and offer their children a settled future while they
sit out the war. |
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Listen
to the words |
| WORDS |
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overcrowded
- if a place is overcrowded, there are too many people in it
hotbeds
- situations or places in which there are large amounts of unpleasant
feelings
relocating
- moving to a different place
put
down roots - to make a place, where you feel you belong, your
home
a
settled future - a calmer and more stable way of life, living
in one place
sit
out - wait patiently until something ends
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Read
about the background in BBC News Online |
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