2015年经济学人 难民-艰难的旅途

Refugees The hard journey Europe's plan to cope with maritime¹ refugees needs to go further

THE gulf² between sentiment and action is as wide as the Mediterranean³ itself.

On May 13th the European Commission issued its plan for dealing⁴ with immigration,

including the multitude who take to boats on the shores of north Africa in the hope of reaching asylum⁶ on European Union soil or,

more likely, of being plucked from the wavesby a passing vessel⁷.

The report's authors clearly lament⁸ the shameful⁹ drowning of thousands of migrants,left to their fate because of cuts in marine¹⁰ patrols that were deemed to be picking up too many people.

Nevertheless, the commission's ideas on what to do fall lamentably¹¹ short.

A nut to crush a sledgehammer

War in the Middle East, oppression in Africa and the ubiquitous human desire for a better life: all have played their part in causing a surge of migration⁵ into the EU.

The fighting in Syria alone has crammed¹² 4m fugitives¹³ into refugee camps in Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. The tide is hardly about to dry up.

Not all of these people can find a new life in Europe. The UN convention is clear that refugees automatically qualify once they reach the EU,

because they need protection. By contrast, economic migrants do not. A country picks its economic migrants and deports¹⁴ those it does not want.

That is the theory. The reality is a tide of human misery¹⁵. Traffickers charge thousands of dollars, and rob and rape¹⁶ their customers.

Refugees and economic migrants are mixed in together, so those that survive the sea journey are cooped up in camps to be sorted.

Fewer than 40% of those who fail to gain asylum are ever deported¹⁷. Some countries, like Sweden and Germany, accept a lot of refugees,

many others, including Britain, are grudging¹⁸. There was international outrage¹⁹ after more than 1,000 people drowned in a few days in the Mediterranean in April.

This week's report is supposed to ensure that such a catastrophe²⁰ never happens again.

Some of its recommendations were expected. It suggests, for instance, that the budget for maritime patrols should triple,

that the EU should take on the traffickers by force, and that countries must accelerate the sorting of refugees from economic migrants.

Others go further. Refugees are now the responsibility of the country where they land.

The commission rightly wants EU countries to share the burden according to their capacity, going by GDP, population,

unemployment and how many they have taken in the past.

In graphics²¹: Why Europe's boat people are such a huge problem

Compared with Thailand and Indonesia, the plan is a model of compassion²².

Those countries are callously²³ pushing boat people from Myanmar and Bangladesh back out to sea.

Yet the EU's plan fails in two ways. One is that the scale of the effort is unequal to the task.

The traffickers will not be stopped. Development assistance of a few hundred million euros will not prevent economic migrants setting out.

Too little aid is going to countries that host the vast majority of Syria's refugees.

The commission calls for the EU to take in a total of 20,000 refugees who are still in third countriesthe UN says the EU should take in 20,000 a year.

The other is that the plan is sure to be watered down. Britain, unlike Ireland, has refused to share the burden—which,

thanks to a long-standing waiver,it is legally allowed to do, even if that course is morally reprehensible²⁴.

When the plan is debated in June other countries will also seek to wriggle²⁵ out of their responsibilities.

The only way to keep migrants off the Mediterranean is to set up camps in north Africa that can take in people rescued at sea and sort through asylum applicants²⁶.

Getting it right will be hard. North African countries will need money to host them.

The processing must be fair and fast. Economic migrants can be sent home. But the one thing EU countries cannot avoid is taking in more refugees.

1 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

2 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

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 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

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 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。

7 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

8 lament   

n.悲叹，悔恨，恸哭；v.哀悼，悔恨，悲叹

参考例句：

• Her face showed lament.她的脸上露出悲伤的样子。
• We lament the dead.我们哀悼死者。

9 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

10 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

11 lamentably   

adv.哀伤地，拙劣地

参考例句：

• Aviation was lamentably weak and primitive. 航空设施极其薄弱简陋。 来自辞典例句
• Poor Tom lamentably disgraced himself at Sir Charles Mirable's table, by premature inebriation. 可怜的汤姆在查尔斯·米拉贝尔爵士的宴会上，终于入席不久就酩酊大醉，弄得出丑露乖，丢尽了脸皮。 来自辞典例句

12 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

13 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

14 deports   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的第三人称单数 )；举止

参考例句：

• She deports herself like a lady. 她的举止像淑女。 来自辞典例句
• A so-called democratic country arrests, oppresses and deports the freedom and democratic fighters of Nepal. 一个所谓的民主国家逮捕、镇压并驱逐尼泊尔的自由民主战士，所有这一切都是在美国的指使下发生的。 来自互联网

15 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

16 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

17 deported   

v.将…驱逐出境( deport的过去式和过去分词 )；举止

参考例句：

• They stripped me of my citizenship and deported me. 他们剥夺我的公民资格，将我驱逐出境。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The convicts were deported to a deserted island. 罪犯们被流放到一个荒岛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 grudging   

adj.勉强的，吝啬的

参考例句：

• He felt a grudging respect for her talents as an organizer.他勉强地对她的组织才能表示尊重。
• After a pause he added"sir."in a dilatory,grudging way.停了一会他才慢吞吞地、勉勉强强地加了一声“先生”。

19 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

20 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

21 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

22 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

23 callously   

参考例句：

• Sri Lanka has callously ignored calls for a humanitarian cease-fire. 斯里兰卡无情地忽视人道停火的呼吁。 来自互联网
• The pendulum ticks callously, heartlessly. 这是谁的遗训？ 来自互联网

24 reprehensible   

adj.该受责备的

参考例句：

• Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
• It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠，应受谴责。

25 wriggle   

v./n.蠕动，扭动；蜿蜒

参考例句：

• I've got an appointment I can't wriggle out of.我有个推脱不掉的约会。
• Children wriggle themselves when they are bored.小孩子感到厌烦时就会扭动他们的身体。

26 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。