VOA标准英语2015--欧盟拒纳外来移民及难民

Amnesty: EU Failing Migrants, Refugees 欧盟拒纳外来移民及难民

Amnesty International has reported migrants, asylum¹ seekers and refugees fleeing conflict and violence often face abuse and extortion in Europe. The rights group said many also find themselves in legal limbo² in Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary.

While about 60 thousand migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean³ from Libya to Europe, an equal number has taken a different route. They first travel to Turkey, followed by a short boat ride to the Greek islands. From there, they try to make their way through Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary. That’s the group Amnesty International is raising concerns about in its new report, Europe’s Borderlands.

Amnesty’s Balkans team researcher Sian Jones is tracking their movements. She said, “What we’re finding is that at each of the borders there are pushbacks. People are being pushed back from Macedonia into Greece. And there is quite a large presence at the border of Macedonian police and we understand maybe some Macedonian military.”

Refugees and migrants have been taking the Balkans route since 2014. Most are Syrians, but others are from Afghanistan, Egypt, Eritrea, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia.

She said, “What we do is we follow the journey that people make through the region and we look at the human rights violations⁴.”

There are other dangers. Nearly 30 are believed to have been struck and killed by trains in the Balkans. The refugees and migrants follow the rails to towns and cities.

“They’re also subject to abuses by armed gangs who rob them, steal their money, beat them up,” said Jones.

If they’re arrested along with a smuggler⁵, she said, they’re held as a witness, often in harsh conditions.

“They’re detained at what’s called the reception center for foreigners, which is a place called Gazi Baba, which has been condemned⁶ by the U.N. Committee Against Torture and various other human rights bodies as inhuman⁷ and degrading in terms of the conditions there.”

And they can be detained indefinitely.

“They are detained until such time as the smuggler is brought to court. That can be in some cases over six months. They don’t have any appeal. They don’t have any access to a lawyer,” she said.

She said photos of the Macedonian detention⁸ center that were smuggled⁹ out show conditions are “appalling.”

“There can be up to 400 people there detained at any one time and there are two working showers in the men’s section. Families are separated. Children are detained. Not only children and families, but also unaccompanied minors¹⁰.”

Amnesty reported that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers are regularly detained in Serbia. But many reach the northern town of Subotica about 30 kilometers from the Hungarian border. Here is where they may make arrangements with smugglers to get them across the European Union border. While waiting, most find accommodation in an old and unused brick factory known as the “jungle.” There, they try to hide from the police. Aid agencies have been providing food, clothing and shoes there since 2011.

The rights group said some refugees and migrants told them Serbian police pushed, slapped, kicked and beat them at the border with Hungary.

The Amnesty report does not go into detail about conditions in Hungary. However, it said those who claim asylum there are detained and fingerprinted¹¹.

The Hungarian parliament has passed new laws tightening¹² its asylum rules. The laws spell out how the government can erect¹³ a fence along the Serbian border. They also make it easier to reject asylum claims. The U.N. and the Council of Europe have criticized the new laws.

Jones said Amnesty is calling for legal and safe routes into Europe.

“I was interviewing some Syrians and they said why can’t we apply at an embassy? Why do we have to be illegal? People are being criminalized by this journey. They’re being arrested for being irregularly in the country. They’re given no status. They may be detained in Serbia for being illegally in the country, even if they are asylum seekers. And that’s actually against the refugee convention. So we’re looking for measures that would not criminalize them.”

She said it’s a European problem. She said they arrive in Greece, an EU country, which is not able to deal with them. And they make their way to Hungary, another EU state.

“We’re also asking the EU to make sure that they support Serbia and Macedonia in developing an effective asylum system so people, who aren’t really fussy¹⁴ about where they claim asylum, would be able to claim asylum there. But essentially¹⁵, it’s not really a problem that Serbia and Macedonia can resolve on their own. It really needs to be looked at in the context of the whole migration¹⁶ policy of the EU.”

Since Serbia wants to be an EU member state, Amnesty said it could be pressured to take action on establishing “effective asylum.” It added, “The increasing numbers of refugees and migrants taking the western Balkans route can, in part, be attributed to measures taken by the EU to enhance controls at other land borders.” 

A large number hope to make it to Germany or Sweden where they have family or friends.

1 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

2 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

3 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

4 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

5 smuggler   

n.走私者

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight, awaiting extradition to Britain. 这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• The smuggler was finally obliged to inform against his boss. 那个走私犯最后不得不告发他的首领。

6 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

7 inhuman   

adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的

参考例句：

• We must unite the workers in fighting against inhuman conditions.我们必须使工人们团结起来反对那些难以忍受的工作条件。
• It was inhuman to refuse him permission to see his wife.不容许他去看自己的妻子是太不近人情了。

8 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

9 smuggled   

水货

参考例句：

• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Those smuggled goods have been detained by the port office. 那些走私货物被港务局扣押了。 来自互联网

10 minors   

n.未成年人( minor的名词复数 )；副修科目；小公司；[逻辑学]小前提v.[主美国英语]副修，选修，兼修( minor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors. 法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had three minors this semester. 这学期他有三门副修科目。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 fingerprinted   

v.指纹( fingerprint的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The criminal was fingerprinted in the sheriff's office. 罪犯在警长办公室里被取下指纹。 来自辞典例句
• They were then taken to be photographed and fingerprinted. 然后，他们被带去照相、留指纹。 来自互联网

12 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

13 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。

14 fussy   

adj.为琐事担忧的，过分装饰的，爱挑剔的

参考例句：

• He is fussy about the way his food's cooked.他过分计较食物的烹调。
• The little girl dislikes her fussy parents.小女孩讨厌她那过分操心的父母。

15 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

16 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。