新奇事件簿 兰佩杜萨岛惨剧促欧改革

European leaders want to change the system for refugees¹ trying to reach Europe. They are shocked by the Lampedusa tragedy. More than 250 people from Africa drowned after their boat sank. They were just a few hundred meters from the beach. Almost 20,000 asylum² seekers have died in the Mediterranean³ Sea in the past ten years. After every boat sinks, European politicians call for change. However, after a little time, the talking stops and nothing happens. No one knows if the current disaster near Lampedusa will lead to action from European governments. One suggestion is more money for search and rescue operations that will cover all of the Mediterranean, "from Spain to Cyprus".

欧盟领导人希望更改难民向欧洲的偷渡制度。兰佩杜萨岛惨剧让人们震惊不已。来自非洲的250多名偷渡者在沉没之时被淹。而沉船距离海滩只有数百米的距离。在过去十年当中，有将近2万名庇护者死在了地中海。每次沉船之后，欧洲领导人呼吁进行改变。但是，不久之后谈论停止，什么也没有发生。兰佩杜萨岛惨剧是否会让欧洲政府采取措施，谁也不知道。有人认为政府会加大对地中海领域搜救的资金投入，区域将从西班牙覆盖到塞浦路斯。

The answer to the problem of asylum seekers is very difficult. The perfect solution is for Europe to completely open its borders to anyone. However, no country in the world does this. It would be very unpopular in all European countries. Many countries in Europe already want to make their borders stronger to slow down the number of people coming in. Italian interior⁴ minister Angelino Alfano said: "[Italy is] in the middle of the Mediterranean and we have saved thousands and thousands of lives. We now ask for some help from Europe." He added: "The Mediterranean represents the Africa-Europe border, not the Africa-Italy border." He called for Europe to share the responsibility.

庇护者问题依然难解决。对于欧洲来说，最好的办法就是让欧洲全面开放边境。但是，还没有国家这么做过。所有欧洲国家都不会认为这是最佳方案。许多欧洲国家已经希望加强对边境的管理，减少难民越境的数量。意大利内政部长安杰利诺·阿尔法诺称：“意大利位于地中海的中部，我们已经挽救了数千条生命。我们现在需要欧洲的帮助。”他还说：“地中海是非洲和欧洲的交界处，而不是非洲和意大利的交界处。”他希望欧洲也能够承担责任。

1 refugees   

n.避难者，难民( refugee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The UN has begun making airdrops of food to refugees. 联合国已开始向难民空投食物。
• They claimed they were political refugees and not economic migrants. 他们宣称自己是政治难民，不是经济移民。

2 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。

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 interior   

adj.在内的，内部的，内地的，国内的；n.内部

参考例句：

• There is water in the interior of the cave.在山洞的内部有水。
• They went into the interior room.他们进了内室。