美国国家公共电台 NPR A German Far-Right Group Aids Syrian Refugees — To Stop Them From Reaching Europe

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Syrian refugees who are in Lebanon need all the help they can get. But now they're getting it from a group of anti-immigration extremists from Germany. This group's help comes with a catch. For them, it's part of an effort to keep Muslims out of Europe. NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports from Lebanon's Bekaa Valley where she went to meet some refugees.

RUTH SHERLOCK, BYLINE²: Raja and her family are refugees from Syria. She's afraid to give her last name but invites us into her simple home next to some tents where other refugees live.

RAJA: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: Over coffee, she tells us about the two young German men who arrived at her door some months ago. They told her they were researchers for a charity.

RAJA: (Through interpreter) They seemed fine. They just wanted to come in and film the house. We said we have nothing to hide. They filmed everything, even the kitchen.

SHERLOCK: The men are actually connected to a far-right group in Germany that calls itself the Identitarian Movement. It wants to stop families like Raja's from coming to Europe.

RAJA: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: She says she wouldn't have let them in if she'd known. Her sister-in-law, Mouna, says she'd like to beat them up.

MOUNA: (Speaking Arabic, laughter).

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

SHERLOCK: The men used the footage of children in Raja's home in a slick new video they posted online to pitch their new plan - give aid in Lebanon to stop refugees coming to Europe.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Speaking German).

SHERLOCK: They call the effort the Alternative Help Association, or AHA. Sven Engeser is in the Identitarian Movement, a leader of AHA and one of the men who came to Raja's home. He says they told people they were a relief organization focused on local help. Now back in Germany, I reach him by Skype.

SVEN ENGESER: We want to save our borders because of the mass immigration to Europe. I think we lost our identity.

SHERLOCK: He rejects the label far-right. He says he's a, quote, "patriot," which to him means stopping immigrants, especially Muslims, migrating to Europe.

ENGESER: We want to stop Muslim migration¹ to Europe and to stop support them in Germany. It's a problem because it's not easy to integrate them, and Europe is a Christian³ continent.

SHERLOCK: Simone Rafael is from the Amadeu Antonio Stiftung, a Berlin-based group that researches extremist movements. She says though the Identitarians try to cloak it, they are part of Germany's far-right.

SIMONE RAFAEL: What they really want is that these ideas are main principles for the whole society in Germany, which they aren't. And so they try to hide their intentions to gain more influence.

SHERLOCK: She says they promote racism⁴ and are so Islamophobic that they don't even consider Muslim citizens Germans. Rafael says authorities are watching the group, worried that though it may number just a few hundred, it has extremist connections and a growing reach on social media. And German aid organizations have warned their partners in Lebanon to steer⁵ clear of AHA.

TILL KUSTER: What they do is they misuse⁶ the need of refugees in Lebanon for their political goals.

SHERLOCK: Till Kuster from the German nonprofit Medico International believes AHA is largely an exercise to win the group more support in Germany. There are lots of other groups, including the United Nations, spending hundreds of millions on Syrians in Lebanon. Right now, AHA admits it's only raised enough funds to pay the rent for 10 refugee families. For some, that's around a hundred dollars a month to live in a tent. Um Mahmoud is one of the recipients⁷ who also asks not to use her full name.

UM MAHMOUD: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: She's a widow and lives with her disabled daughter in a basic tent. In the summer heat, it's stifling⁸ inside.

It's too hot, isn't it?

MAHMOUD: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: Um Mahmoud says the rent payment isn't enough to keep her in Lebanon. She'd still go to Europe if she could. I ask her which country she wants to go to.

MAHMOUD: (Speaking Arabic).

SHERLOCK: "Germany," she replies. "Isn't that the best?" Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon.

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

5 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

6 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

7 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。