VOA标准英语--欧盟签证壁垒威胁欧盟土耳其移民政策

EU Visa Block Threatens EU-Turkey Migrant Dea 欧盟签证壁垒威胁欧盟土耳其移民政策

LONDON—

Turkish citizens could soon benefit from visa-free travel to Europe, as part of the deal between the EU and Ankara to stem the flow of refugees. In return, Turkey has pledged to crack down on the smugglers and keep the migrants on Turkish soil.

However, many European lawmakers have threatened to use their veto on the visa issue to block the migrant deal.

European Union figures show just over 26,000 refugees arrived on the Greek islands in March — less than half of February's total. EU officials point to those numbers as proof that the deal with Ankara is working.

"If we did nothing, we will condemn¹ Greece to become a huge, huge refugee camp with hundreds of thousands refugees stuck. That is what we needed to solve," Frans Timmermans, the European Commission's vice-president, said last week.

Turkey says it is on track to meet all the criteria² laid down by Europe ahead of the June deadline — and insists visa-free travel is a non-negotiable part of the migrant deal.

But in Germany, analysts³ say fears over a wave of Kurdish asylum⁴ seekers from Turkey are driving up anti-immigration support. Exacerbating⁶ those fears is the escalating⁷ conflict between Kurdish PKK rebels and the Turkish government.

But such concerns are misplaced, according to Ibrahim Sirkeci, RIA Professor of Transnational Studies at Regents University in London.

"Any Kurdish citizens of Turkey applying for asylum in Europe will be refused,” he said. “It will be desk rejection⁸, immediate⁹ rejection. This has been the case anyway for a long while."

Targeting human rights

While right-wing politicians look to benefit from fears of migration⁵, some lawmakers in Brussels have threatened to try to block the deal with Turkey over human rights concerns.

Amnesty International accuses Ankara of forcefully returning hundreds of unregistered refugees back to Syria — and even of shooting Syrians trying to cross the border illegally.

"Just as it's illegal for Turkey to be sending refugees back to the very conflict zones that they're fleeing, it's no less illegal for the EU to be sending refugees from those areas back to a country that's sending them on," said Amnesty's John Dalhuisen.

It's not only the rights of refugees in the spotlight¹⁰. Critics say fundamental rights are under attack in Turkey.

Prosecutors¹¹ have opened more than 1,800 cases against people for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2014.

Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk spoke¹² out Tuesday following a court hearing against a fellow writer.

"This is about only silencing political opposition,” he told reporters. “This is about intimidating¹³ people and scaring the country so that no one criticizes the government."

Sirkeci argues that Europe's actions negate¹⁴ any claim of moral superiority in Brussels by "… abandoning a huge population who are in need of humanitarian¹⁵ protection. Europe says, ‘OK, instead of taking and helping¹⁶ you, we will just let you stay wherever you are, and instead we will pay Turkey 6 billion euros to keep our borders shut down.' That is what Europe is losing."

But even as Europe attempts to close one route, another is expanding fast. Tens of thousands of migrants have made the journey from Libya to Italy in recent weeks, and more are expected as summer brings calmer seas.

1 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

2 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 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。

5 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。

6 exacerbating   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• This pedagogical understretch is exacerbating social inequalities. 这种教学张力不足加重了社会不平等。 来自互联网
• High fertilizer prices are exacerbating the problem. 高涨的肥料价格更加加剧了问题的恶化。 来自互联网

7 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

8 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

9 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

10 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

11 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

14 negate   

vt.否定，否认；取消，使无效

参考例句：

• Our actions often negate our principles.我们的行为时常与我们所信奉的原则背道而弛。
• Mass advertising could negate the classical theory of supply and demand.大宗广告可以否定古典经济学的供求理论。

15 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。