Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Spanish term or phrase:
a cuenta gotas
English translation:
in dribs and drabs / little by little / a few at a time
Spanish term
a cuenta gotas
Here's how it appears in the sentence in quesiton:
XYZ es uno los departamentos donde históricamente el conflicto social y armado ha generado el mayor número de desplazados del país; especialmente en la región del XYZ donde no existe un censo confiable del total de desplazados; sólo es posible conocer aquellos sitios en los cuales ocurre el desplazamiento de manera masiva, pues hay lugares en los cuales este se da a cuenta gotas y de manera muy discreta y que difícilmente son catalogados como tal por la entidades encargadas de ello.
Apr 22, 2008 11:29: Fabio Descalzi changed "Term asked" from "a cuenta gotas (idiomatic expression)" to "a cuenta gotas" , "Field" from "Law/Patents" to "Social Sciences" , "Field (specific)" from "Government / Politics" to "Idioms / Maxims / Sayings"
Proposed translations
Spain
Especialista de marketing
Native in: English 
Works in: Spanish to English, Catalan to English
in dribs and drabs / little by little / a few at a time
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Note added at 3 hrs (2008-04-22 14:52:39 GMT)
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Here are articles, some similar in context to your text, using DRIBS AND DRABS:
However, instead of arriving as expected en masse[1] Iraqi refugees **have arrived in dribs and drabs** – threatened both by bullets and loss of livelihoods – as the situation in Iraq has continued to deterioratehttp://www.fmreview.org/text/FMR/23/17.htm
http://www.economist.com/research/Backgrounders/displaystory...
Local staffer: In that sense it’s every day. They go to churches looking for help separately, in dribs and drabs.
http://www.northkoreanrefugees.com/2006-1-interview.htm
It would be wrong to say there were two clear and
organised camps. Most were making up their minds as
individuals and people left in **dribs and drabs**.
http://www.liberator.org.uk/media/lib-1204.pdf
Uruguay
GER>SPA Translator in Architecture
Native in: Spanish
Works in: German to Spanish, English to Spanish, Spanish to English
little by little
| agree |
María Angélica Fernández
5 mins
|
| agree |
Rosa Elena Lozano Arton
1 hr
|
| agree |
Noni Gilbert Riley
: For this context.
2 hrs
|
United Kingdom
I read the Alethiometer
Native in: Spanish 
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English, French to Spanish, and 1 more.
trickle in
Una idea :-)
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Note added at 13 mins (2008-04-22 11:40:28 GMT)
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Sorry should have specified that it would be "refugees trickle in..."
| agree |
Sandra Rodriguez
: muy apropiado para el contexto
1 hr
|
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¡Gracias Sandra!
|
|
| agree |
Janine Libbey
4 hrs
|
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¡Gracias viva Madrid!
|
Israel
30 years of experience+satisfied clients
Native in: French , Hebrew
Works in: English to Hebrew, Hebrew to English, French to Hebrew, and 8 more.
Sparingliy
| neutral |
Lisa McCarthy
: This doesn't work in this context - you use something sparingly but people can't enter a country `sparingly'
2 hrs
|
pues hay lugares en los cuales este se da a cuenta gotas
year-they have finally started to give them to me in drips and draps but they refuse to indicate what time frame they are paying me for. ...
También podríamos decir:
trickle...
very slowly, little by little, bit by bit
in a restrained manner
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From Oxford Spanish
cuentagotas m (pl cuentagotas) dropper; dar algo con cuentagotas (fam): los permisos los
dan con cuentagotas it’s very difficult to get a permit out of them, they’re very mean with
the permits; nos van dando la información con cuentagotas they just keep feeding us tiny snippets of information
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From Maria Moliner
Con cuentagotas (inf.). Aplicado a la manera de dar o recibir algo, con tacañería o muy poco a poco.
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From Shorter Oxford
restrained /rstrend/ a. L16. [f. RESTRAIN + -ED1.] That has been restrained; repressed; kept under control or within bounds; confined; held in place, as by a safety belt or harness; characterized by restraint or reserve, not excessive or extravagant.restrainedly /-ndli/ adv. in a restrained manner, with restraint
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