[ti:Humanitarian Groups Seek Ways to Reduce Attacks on Aid Workers] [00:00.00]如果您也喜欢 恒星英语学习网 www.hxen.com 请与您的朋友分享... [00:00.00]Humanitarian aid workers [00:01.95]are often the target of armed groups in conflict areas. [00:06.16]Recently in Nigeria, Boko Haram militants [00:10.39]killed two aid workers they had kidnapped. [00:13.87]In the Democratic Republic of Congo, civilians threw stones [00:18.39]at health workers fighting the spread of Ebola Virus Disease. [00:23.51]One day earlier, [00:24.92]rebels shot and killed two Congolese army medical workers. [00:30.56]A research group called Humanitarian Outcomes [00:34.89]has examined records documenting the problem. [00:38.58]It says 139 aid workers were killed worldwide in 2017. [00:45.55]Another 102 were wounded, while 72 others were kidnapped. [00:52.81]The group says most attacks against aid workers took place [00:58.25]in South Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan and the Central African Republic. [01:04.88]Already this year, over 80 aid workers have been killed. [01:10.84]The findings were published [01:13.43]in the report of a project of Humanitarian Outcomes, [01:17.11]called the Aid Worker Security Database. [01:20.61]The London-based group says the kidnapping of aid workers [01:25.47]by armed groups is becoming increasingly common. [01:29.44]Abby Stoddard is a partner with Humanitarian Outcomes. [01:35.24]She says it noted an increase a few years ago [01:39.21]in attacks involving the Taliban in Afghanistan. [01:43.26]Taliban militants would detain and question aid workers. [01:48.35]The Taliban would then release them a few days later [01:52.24]after negotiations with local officials. [01:55.87]Stoddard told VOA, "It has a lot to do with showing they are the boss [02:01.73]in that area by intimidating aid groups, including local [02:05.75]and national organizations who do a lot of the aid work." [02:10.32]In South Sudan, [02:12.75]armed groups appear to be targeting national aid groups, [02:16.69]not international non-governmental organizations. [02:20.30]Armed groups kidnapped 26 local aid workers last year, [02:25.52]with at least 17 others kidnapped this year. [02:29.28]Humanitarian groups have been exploring ways [02:33.26]to cut down on attacks against aid workers. [02:36.76]Today some groups are more likely to move goods in unmarked vehicles, [02:42.84]use more than one vehicle when transporting aid or take local taxis. [02:48.90]They also avoid road travel at night, work in secure, gated communities, [02:54.68]keep up radio communications with headquarters and examine security reports. [03:00.92]Some groups say one difficulty in protecting aid workers [03:05.96]is identifying and negotiating with the leaders of armed groups. [03:11.05]A study by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) [03:16.25]noted that more than 40 percent of conflicts worldwide [03:19.62]involved between three and 10 groups. [03:23.57]Many groups have no strong central leadership. [03:27.69]Their members also have little training in treating civilians [03:32.32]and often do not observe international humanitarian law. [03:37.65]In answer, the ICRC has created a plan for aid agencies [03:44.00]to help identify leaders with whom they can negotiate. [03:48.70]The ICRC seeks to find common ground between human rights law [03:54.76]and local traditions that influence armed groups. [03:58.94]For example, it found that two militant groups in Mali [04:04.16]are influenced by Islamic religious law and local courts. [04:09.26]Brian McQuinn is an advisor working with the ICRC. [04:14.85]McQuinn says Islamic law has its own rules on behavior [04:20.70]during conflict, including the treatment of prisoners. [04:25.27]He adds that the similarities between Islamic law [04:29.63]and international humanitarian law [04:32.24]can help with the protection of aid delivery, aid workers and hospitals. [04:39.35]The ICRC is testing the process of identifying [04:43.92]and working with armed group leaders in South Sudan. [04:49.04]It plans to expand the process to other areas in the future. [04:55.18]I'm Jonathan Evans. 如果您也喜欢 恒星英语学习网 www.hxen.com 请与您的朋友分享...